Being a frontman - can you learn it?

thecolourbox

If you were to try, along with lots of practice, could the "frontman" role be sort of learnt?

A very wide question I know, but I'm thinking of getting my singing up to scratch this year and was wondering whether I could try to join or start a group where I would be a singist - however I'm also thinking that being the mouthpiece of the group would be quite a responsibility and would need some attention too. Is it a case of confidence being key? Could I learn by watching my favourite frontmen and others that are acknowledged as good and acting it from there on?

Thinking it would be quite fun to be honest, I'm quite shy as a person but do enjoy being the opposite of that when performing

camf

Yes, I think you can do it... but you'll only find out if you're any good once you've stood in front of a few audiences. Then, or maybe better before then, you need to be really honest with yourself or you can end up feeling pretty silly. I think.

Many years ago I moved from being guitarist/songwriter to frontman a few weeks before our first German tour when our singer decided to pack it in. My only previous singing experience had been as an unremarkable choirboy when I was about 10 years old. I survived.

BahHumbug

You're dead right that being a front person is a separate skill to being a singer.....and TBH, the fact that you've noticed is possibly half the battle in terms of learning how to do it.  I'm not the main singer in any band but I find myself doing frontman duties quite a bit, because there are plenty of singers that just don't get it.
I'm not sure that there's a huge amount to learn though.  The main thing is to put your shyness and self-consciousness away for gigs and take on a different persona.  Just be careful to tread the fine line between 'uninhibited' and 'obnoxious show-off'.

slacker

Keep it short and superfluous. Dont talk between every song. Say hello welcome etc, do batches of  songs with little delay between them. Be aware of the band, if someone is tuning say something and not 'knobhead's tuning again'. Keep it all flowing and at the end thank the audience. 

You need to get into the gig as strong as you can so if you are a confident singer start on a fairly demanding song, if you are a gobshite, say something first, if you want to warm up up, start on an instrumental. In my old band I always started on a strong instrumental, then some talk, then as easy song to sing and ended on the most demanding one. 

Stick to your strengths and work on the weaknesses. 

EricTheWeary

 IMHO anything live that's rock music ( in the very broadest sense) is a performance and not a recital. That's anything from shoegazing to leaping off the drum riser but I want something more than just playing the notes. Some of the great live bands were barely able to play their own songs ( Blondie, The Jam, Sex Pistols come to mind as band's who at their peak could apparently hardly carry a tune)but performed in ways people loved. To paraphrase Bob Geldof you are on stage to be on a holiday from being yourself. 

The front person role is equally varied. If it's music you want people to dance ( or mosh or frug or headbang) to then talk as little as possible anyway. Rehearse the set in order, only stop if there's a need to, play the music, look as excited by it as you want your audience to be ( they are looking to you for cues). If it's fifteen minute folk songs in Icelandic then your audience will probably appreciate a chat in between numbers. Dead air is the enemy. Clearly people change and develop as front persons and there usually a bit of stealing going on from their own favourite performers. 

The issue tends to be do you treat every gig the same. Is it ' The Old Cow Hinckley rock and roll centre of the fucking universe, c'mon' or ' good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to this delightful venue, a there is a fine selection of traditional ales here at The Old Cow.' I'm okay with the former but I know it rankles some people.

Ian, our singist and front person, whom @thecolourbox has met as it happens, has stuff he has worked out or at least if he says or does something and it works he keeps it. To me he often talks too bloody much but generally it works and one audience doesn't know they are hearing the same bloody awful pun intro that another audience heard a week before. 

So, err, yes I think you can learn it. However, the more your band ( or you as a solo performer) have your act together the less you need to worry about it. 

hotpickups

I'm no expert on these things possibly but I know I'm no frontman. I think it has to be natural and can't be learnt as the audience can somehow tell. It's a skill and a very important one that will make or break a band. If the frontman can't connect to anyone at a gig then it doesn't matter how good a singer they are. 

My previous singer had a voice of an angel and very versatile but although a lovely person she just didn't have the personality / charisma that could get across to an audience.

What do I know anyway it's only my opinion

EricTheWeary

We had something about Robert Cray on here the other week. Apparently he used to be very shy on stage and didn't talk to the audience at all. These days he is very chatty and witty. Took a long time but got there in the end. How easy that was I don't know but I think it's possible. 

camf

I'd guess it is very different being a singer or frontperson for a covers/function band than an originals band. Never tried the former but I can see it would be a real skill.