​Growing up in Durham, NC I was always a Durham Bulls fan. I have fond memories of going to the ballpark and I loved hearing the organ, and I always asked to get there early enough to hear the national anthem. *When I was in elementary school, I was asked to sing the National Anthem at the “old ballpark” which was the park from the movie Bull Durham! 
 
Since the Bulls are a minor league team, I don’t have an allegiance to a professional team. My husband grew up just outside of Philadelphia and his family pulls for the Phillies, naturally! They were all so excited to see the Phillies make the World Series this year, and I’m excited to hear the National Anthem before the games!!! 
 
Last night before Game 1, the National Anthem was sung by Eric Burton (lead singer of the Black Pumas). His tone quality was nice, but on the second verse he lost track of the lyrics. As a professional singer, my heart goes out to him; he’s singing on one of the biggest “stages” with millions of people watching. The nerves must be insane! It is not surprising that he got a little turned around with the lyrics. Messing up the Anthem is actually a pretty pervasive issue---a ton of examples can be found here from Steven Tyler to Christina Aguilera.  
 
In my opinion, there’s no shame in showing the lyrics on the Megatron. The song is vocally challenging (picking the right key will take you forever!) and the lyrics aren’t exactly colloquial. Showing the lyrics on the Megatron would help the performer, but also perhaps encourage fans to sing along! 
 
I’ve read other opinions that bash Eric Burton to the effect of, “He’s making so much money to do this and he’s a professional. How could he get it wrong?” No performance is ever perfect, and that’s the beauty and curse of live performance. You prepare as much as humanly possible, but nerves, distracting fans, and audio issues (hearing yourself) can be major hurdles. 
 
What are your thoughts: 
-Forgive and forget
OR
-How could he?!?
 
Leave a comment below!

We hope your school year is off to a singing start! Here at Finely Tuned Voice Lessons we have had many students auditioning for select choirs, musicals, and solos already! It’s always so exciting to help folks through the process of preparing for, auditioning, and nailing a singing performance of any kind. It’s what we do best ;) 
 
While the process is super exciting, one commonality we’ve noticed is an abundance of stage fright, audition anxiety, etc. Singing in front of people is always an adrenaline-producing event, so it’s no surprise that a singer may feel some jitters. Here are a few ways to prepare for and cope with those fears:

1. Focus on breathing! Breath is almost always the first thing to call it quits when we get nervous. This is terrible because breathing is the power source you need for singing! Try this exercise: breathe in for 4 SLOW beats (1-2-3-4) *hold your breath for 4 SLOW beats (1-2-3-4) and exhale for 4 SLOW beats (1-2-3-4). Repeat this exercise at least 3 times! You should feel more centered after this series. 
2. Trust the preparation. Sometimes I get nervous if I don’t feel quite so prepared for an audition. That’s the worst feeling! The best way to prevent that feeling is to make sure the singer *knows* the notes, words, rhythms, and acting interpretation. This is not to say a singer needs to plan every little nuance, but they should give themselves the preparation time to allow their artistry to shine through in the moment. Prepare as much as possible until the main focus is what the song truly singing about: who are you singing to and why does it matter?
3. Practice auditioning for a supportive audience. A first public run-through should not be the actual audition or performance; perform for some friendly faces first! I’ve performed for my family, friends, and even my dog to help prepare for a public performance. It really helps! 
4. Do a proper warm-up. If the voice/body is warmed up and ready to go the singer won’t have to stress about vocal concerns the day of the audition/performance. We have a great warm-up sequence featured here. Soprano/Alto voices use the purple shirts, Tenor/Bass voices in green and the blue shirt exercises are for Treble voices or kids (but you can sing them in whatever octave suits you). 

 
We hope these tips will allow the singer to trust themselves, their voice, and their artistry! Have fun auditioning, out there! ​