The Old Songs

In my first post about the term ACE IT, I discussed the first element for singing any song: accuracy. Once you have mastered the accurate singing of notes, words, and breath spots, the next element begins to creep into your singing. That’s where the letter C comes in.

The C in ACE IT stands for confidence. With confidence, you are assured now that you’ve got it right.

Timid singing is the bane of every chorus director. It is expected when learning a new song, for example, because the accurate notes are not learned. When singers are not sure of their notes, they tend to sing quietly. They don’t want to make a mistake or be heard singing wrong notes. It’s like singing with an invisible pillow in front of your mouth. The director asks for a powerful sound and gets little in return.

However, once a singer knows the accurate words, notes, and breath spots, and KNOWS that he or she knows, then the singer can sing in confidence. There is no longer the invisible pillow in front of the mouth. The chest is higher, the spine is straighter, and the attitude is more self-assured. The director can now ask for more power and get it.

Singing is a process. You must first learn the correct notes and words before you can sing with any amount of confidence. And it is that confidence that is conveyed to the audience as much as the music of the song.

Partial confidence won’t cut it. You can’t exude confidence for parts of a song, and be unsure about other parts. That kind of performance is as transparent to an audience as if you are holding up a sign: “I don’t know this part of the song that well, but wait until I get to the tag!”

So if you are finding yourself less assured about a particular phrase, or an entire song in general, go back to the accuracy stage. Because now you know that you can’t be confident in what you are doing if you are not positive that you have memorized the correct notes.

Next up, the letter E.

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