What to Sing?

[Essyne]

What do you sing for someone when they ask for you to sing for them? I mean, how does one choose that *perfect* song that one knows will fit the situation like a glove? I've had more and more people ask me to sing for them, and I just kind of freeze up a capella (lol - like in the grocery store, w/e). How can I choose a Song when I don't even KNOW the person? A song is a special thing! Do I just learn songs for the "Oh, DO sing me something!" moments?

What if it's family/loved ones asking you to sing? And you STILL can't find the perfect Song? Do you just flip through and choose something? I mean, you know THESE people, but you still don't know!

Erg.

[Petter]

Something with Barbra Streisand of course!

[general disarray]

Yodel real loud or do a Tarzan call.  That'll get em off your back.

[Essyne]

But - I love gifting people with Song. My Music isn't a selfish thing - it's a very selfless thing, in my humble opinion. I want to give them a song. A really wonderful, magical song. Something that will speak to each individual, you know? Music is about reflecting the Humanity within the audience, showing them "Look, you! Look here - I am YOU! This is the way you felt last night or the way you will feel 2 weeks from now!"

Now how do I DO that w/ an unfamiliar person? Actually, I'm incapable of doing it with a familiar person! I can reflect the Humanity, or whatever, within each individual song, but how do I get that sense of "This is the perfect song for that man" or "This is the perfect song to sing for that lover in his time of mourning".

I mean, it's got to be the same with piano, right? What do you guys do w/ piano? Just say "forget the audience," or do you take them into account? I'm not talking about the program order. . . I'm talking about something bigger, I think. How will you reflect the audience in your performance? How will you take them and put THEM onstage? How do you do that with a thousand people in the audience? I mean, the composer gives you hints, but there's only so much hinting he/she can do. At the end of the day, YOU pick which rep you're going play (sometimes. .. well, in the case I'm talking about). So how do you choose it?

^ Probably a bit redundant, methinks. . . but I don't have the energy to go back and change it.

[general disarray]

Now how do I DO that w/ an unfamiliar person? Actually, I'm incapable of doing it with a familiar person! I can reflect the Humanity, or whatever, within each individual song, but how do I get that sense of "This is the perfect song for that man" or "This is the perfect song to sing for that lover in his time of mourning".

I mean, it's got to be the same with piano, right? What do you guys do w/ piano? Just say "forget the audience," or do you take them into account?

bzzz bzzzz bzzzz.

Essy, I play what I love.  if I do it with conviction, the audience will respond . . . or not.  In that case, I bring out my stripper backup girls.  (Sometimes I throw in a stripper guy, too.)  Audiences love it.

[Essyne]

Hmmm. Okay.

Thanks.

[maul]

general disarray, I think a "stfu" is in order. Thank you for your cooperation.

[Essyne]

Essy, I play what I love. 

You really just play for you? I can't imagine doing that. I don't know. It's like - Music is capable of so much Healing, of so much Life. It's Phenomenal. I can't imagine keeping that all to myself. It's too much for one person to keep inside. They always say (don't ask me who "they" are) that "hidden emotions fester" - Maybe THAT'S where so many musicians go "insane" with the Craft. They just try to keep it all in. To keep it for themselves, never really noticing that it's a Gift.
It's not meant to be selfishly controlled. I'm a believer that Music is Sheer Passion and Emotion that is too grande to just be stated or  thought. It needs a bigger, bolder escape route. If you never let that escape, if you never give it away. . . where does that leave you?

I dunno. Rambling again.

[lina rose]

if you know the person, you should sing a song that means something to them. That's a way of saying that you care about them, because you picked a song that has a history in this person's life. For an example, let's say your mom asks you to sing to her. Why don't you sing her a song that was very famous - and that she liked, of course - when she was a teenager?

if you don't know the person, you can't tell which song the person will like, so i would suggest that you sing a song that you wrote yourself or that isn't famous. This way the person will pay more attention to your singing.

[pianistimo]

lounge music will always 'pass.'  buy a book of cole porter songs and just sing them when you haven't anything else.  or...if you are motivated by being 'in the moment' - just sing what comes natural.  for instance, today when cycling - i kept thinking of the song 'i get by with a little help from my friends' - and was singing the introduction over and over.  can't really tell you why.  i guess that's where 'inspiration' comes in.  you feel the moment and you sing (although i sing in my head) what you feel.

ps i loved lina rose answer, too, because a freely composed song can be directed right at the person and can be about something they like.  kind of like poetry except added music.

[general disarray]

general disarray, I think a "stfu" is in order. Thank you for your cooperation.

maul, I think "kma" is in order.  And I don't give a rat's a** for your cooperation.

[maul]

Did you say something? *Original topic re-alignment sequence has been initiated*

[concerto_love]

I just try to think, what makes this song so special for them? Why they want us to sing this song? 

[Bob]

Just sing a 30 second or 4 minute piece that you like that most people will probably like too.  Jazz should work fine.  Make it something easy for you so it's not a big pain and you can keep it up. 

Then when someone asks you can whip that out and keep them happy without it being a big deal to you. 

I really wouldn't go too far out of my way for that though.  School stuff will be more important.  Those random singings will be random and probably won't have a lot of impact on things for you.  But it is nice to do.  It could have some unanticipated result down the road too.  Gigs and things. 

But don't worry about tailoring it to individuals.  Just finding a short piece like that in the first place it tailoring enough. 

[popdog]

Anything by Judas Priest.

[rc]

Well, what makes a lot of songs popular is that they appeal to a lot of people.  That might be a good start.  People are always predisposed towards familiar music, but I tend to think there's more value in showing them something they don't know they need.  Besides, I'd rather do something a little off the beaten track anyways...  So I might aim for a middle ground, something very accessible but not overly common.

With piano, I usually only have a few pieces in my head at a time, besides that pianos are never around when ya need 'em   But I've always thought I would one day keep a super-familiar tune or two on hand, just to please the average passer-by.  People who don't play piano love to hear 'fur elise' and 'alla turka', and I wouldn't mind throwing 'em out from time to time.

I have theme songs for some of my friends...  Simple things, a girl named Mack = Mack the Knife.  crazy friend = Paranoid Android.  A friends dad loves ragtime so his themesong is the only rag I know

I like Lina's idea of choosing a song based on when the person grew up!  Another thought I had is how such a popular tune as "oops I did it again" would be recognizable to anybody, but played as a fugue

lounge music will always 'pass.' buy a book of cole porter songs and just sing them when you haven't anything else. or...if you are motivated by being 'in the moment' - just sing what comes natural. for instance, today when cycling - i kept thinking of the song 'i get by with a little help from my friends' - and was singing the introduction over and over. can't really tell you why. i guess that's where 'inspiration' comes in. you feel the moment and you sing (although i sing in my head) what you feel.

I get that all the time too!  Just walking around, I might see a bird and 'bird on a wire' by Cohen will come into my head.  Cole Porter's good stuff, Beatles too of course, another idea that comes to my mind is perhaps some Blue Rodeo - a lot of love songs, easily relatable and fun melodies that infect.

(rc just figures out what kma is )

[ihatepop]

You should really sing what you WANT to sing, and it should be something which you can sung before, memorized the lyrics (would sound stupid if you suddenly stopped and said, "Opps. I forgot." Happened to me many a time ). You don't need to care whether that person likes that song or not. Just sing it.

[timothy42b]

You should have a repertoire, and one way to develop it is to buy those "100 Best" books.

You know, 100 best Show Tunes, 100 best Country Songs, 100 best Love Songs, 100 best Folk Songs.

Come to think of it, if you bought those four books you could gig for a long, long time making everybody happy.