Quick! Fast! Karaoke tips: As heard on ABC News Radio

2 days ago

4 min read

You can listen here [time stamp 20.57-26.15]:

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/melbourne-drive/drive/107119526

A couple of weeks ago I had an interview with Charlie Pickering on ABC News Radio and he wanted to know what some of the best ways are to go about choosing a song for karaoke.

Some callers had the right idea:

Choose songs that will get your crowd going, and choose songs that are comfy for you to sing.

That is BANG on the money.

Singing feels awesome and our bodies often thank us for doing it.

But what if that's combined with the adrenaline rush of performing in front of people? An even better feeling and a DOUBLE WHAMMY of endorphins.
But what if instead of positive feelings you become crushed because you felt exposed and people didn't join in and you think you did a bad job?
Or maybe you feel crushed because you feel exposed and people took over your song and you didn't get to show off your skills!

It's all in song choice and attitude.

Read on for your fast karaoke tips.

What is the key to being your best karaoke self? Is it about song choice or does it come from within?

I really think there's two options. You can either take it seriously but sing something not too hard and it's quite comfy but it's a crowd pleaser, or just be ridiculous. If you know you're bad and you just want to get up for the confidence you take the piss out of yourself and people will cheer you on and it'll just be fun.

When you are picking a song what do you look for?

I always sing Valerie! But I always suggest that easy ones for people are Country Roads or Sweet Caroline.

Is it a good idea to sing one where the room will want to sing along to support you?

Yes. Choose something that's going to be a crowd pleaser. Choose something that will get people to have a good time. If you really can't sing, and you know you can't, maybe Smoko, by the Chats! Or Bohemian Rhapsody. No one is going to expect that to be good!

Bohemian Rhapsody is a massive challenge to take on. There's so many movements; highs, lows, light and shade.

And everyone is just going to sing with you.

How much does confidence have to do with succeeding at karaoke?

I think it depends on your motivation for doing the karaoke. Confidence does go a long way in freeing up your voice and freeing up your breathing to be able to hit different notes.

Can it be a mistake and really go for it, and take it too seriously? And can it cross over into something a bit cringey?

It's really hard not to say that Ray Gunn exists...if you think you're really good, then go for it. Life is about having fun. Karaoke is about having fun. It's up to the individual with that one. If too much confidence is going to pull you down, well that's a different field to be looking into.

Before I let you go, can anyone learn to sing? Or are there some people who are just tone deaf and they can't do it. They can't actually connect their voice and their ears to the point that they can make it sound right.

Everyone can learn a language. And you're using the exact same parts of the brain to learn music and to learn to sing. It's just a far more abstract concept because it's just individual notes with no context of consonants around it. You can, it's just a matter of learning how to move your voice around.

If you have the capacity to learn a language you have the capacity to learn to sing. Unless you are clinically tone deaf.

In which case, maybe you're the DJ.

I have had students who are tone deaf and they just wanted to sing Christmas carols during Christmas time with their family without the family telling them to shut up. They still managed to learn something and just move their voice a little bit. But that's very different. When they hear high notes they hear the similar sound as clanging pots and pans so it's quite a significant thing.

It's pretty human to want to sing. Some of us do it for fun, some of us want to challenge ourselves. So you do what is within your capacity, and for the reason you want! Nevermind anyone else.

I may have taken a stab at Ray Gunn, but honestly, she did THE THING. She followed and continues to follow her passion (and I know, I know! There's a big argument around should she have done it. But this? This isn't about that). Ray Gunn did THE THING. Ray Gunn is proud of herself. I know in Australia we don't like people to be proud of themselves. We don't want people to be proud of themselves especially when they can't back up with what we deem a good enough reason. But to be proud of yourself you want to try the thing you want to get good at. You've got one life.

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, YOU want to TRY. You want to know you TRIED.

You have things you want to accomplish. Start working towards them!

Karaoke is a fun night out! It's an affordable way to have a fun night in too. Singing in front of people, for me, is NOTHING. But I teach people every day, from 6 to 90 years old, who are terrified of singing in front of me, let alone others. And after that band-aid is ripped off I watch their confidence unfold in front of me. Confidence helps us be social. And social is lacking.