Movement: You Know You Should do Something, but What?

by Tom Jackson

I was sitting at home one afternoon and the phone rang. It was a great vocal coach and good friend, Brett Manning. He said “I’ve got someone sitting here that you should talk to.”

I said “Put her on.” She said, “Hi, this is Taylor.” “Taylor?”

“Yeah, Brett tells me you’re the guy I’m looking for. For the last two years I’ve told my manager I want help on my show. They’ve sent me dance instructors, drama dudes, and choreographers. Every time I worked with them, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted someone to help me with my show…not teach me how to dance.”

I recall the first rehearsal with her. She’d always kept her guitar on. She didn’t know what to do with her body, her movement. I took her off the guitar and taught her the fundamentals of movement. Placement. The 4 ways to get places onstage. How to work an area, accept applause, do cut-offs…

Movement for most artists isn’t about dancing, choreography, and certainly not drama. It’s about understanding how to bring the song to life visually, so the audience can see the music, not just hear it.

Your songs don’t sound the same, so they shouldn’t look the same. So how do we make the songs look different, but not look goofy, or like we’re trying to “put on a show” to do it?

Many of you on my email list have purchased my All Roads Lead to the Stage DVDs. But you need to do more than watch them. The importance of DVD #5: Don’t Fall Off the Stage, and woodshedding and working on the fundamentals in your bedroom, your livingroom, or wherever is huge!

You need to get comfortable with movement before you ever walk out on the stage.

Then you need to understand the concept that the song is the script. For example, if you’re singing a ballad, walking across the stage is different for that song than when you sing a song with a lot of energy. You need to know: do I walk, walk with authority, skip or run? If you know WHAT to do, WHEN to do it, and WHY, you’ll connect with your audience more.

Remember, communication is: 15% words/content – 30% tone or emotion – 55% what the audience sees. ?If the audience sees the same thing for every song, you’ll lose a lot of them.

I understand you don’t want to look hokey, canned, or pre-planned. You want to be spontaneous. But when it’s new, or you try it the first time, it will look hokey! That’s why I recommend taking the time to develop these fundamentals before you go into a musical rehearsal or walk out on the stage. So that you look comfortable with the movement.

Re-printed with permission by On Stage Success