How to get over my fear of singing in front of the camcorder

[Flern]

Or should I say how to get over my fear of singing behind the camcorder. (I don't like how my face looks when I sing)

I want to start putting more videos of me singing on YouTube to help boost my self-esteem. When I sing without my camcorder on I'm fine, but when I sing when it's on I get nervous. I imagine people looking at the video and saying, "Wow, she really sucks." When this happens my mouth locks up and my throat tightens up. I have tried to ignore the camcorder, but that doesn't seem to work. What should I do? Thanks!

[Panda L]

Flern

You Should just record your voice and save the track on your computer, then add start a movie and upload a video of cats of something, then people couldn't see you and they would see cats instead .

[skumskull]

It's an inanimate object, suck it up.
Being nervous is certainly not helping the quality of your performance, is it?
Self confidence doesn't come from the internet, it is manufactured in your brain, make the choice to believe in yourself and just do your thing.

[Flern]

Panda L

Flern

You Should just record your voice and save the track on your computer, then add start a movie and upload a video of cats of something, then people couldn't see you and they would see cats instead .

This made me laugh so hard! cat_xd

[Flern]

skumskull

It's an inanimate object, suck it up.
Being nervous is certainly not helping the quality of your performance, is it?
Self confidence doesn't come from the internet, it is manufactured in your brain, make the choice to believe in yourself and just do your thing.

You are right. I really need to start having faith in my own abilities and learn to take criticism in a positive way. Thanks!

[a porg]

Flern

skumskull

It's an inanimate object, suck it up.
Being nervous is certainly not helping the quality of your performance, is it?
Self confidence doesn't come from the internet, it is manufactured in your brain, make the choice to believe in yourself and just do your thing.

You are right. I really need to start having faith in my own abilities and learn to take criticism in a positive way. Thanks!

Personally, I find that if I'm calm, my performances suck. My nerves make me better. I pay more attention to myself and I'm more aware of where I'm messing up and how to fix it.

Just choosing to believe in yourself isn't going to be a quick fix. Trust me. It's a constant battle in my head between thinking I'll never be good enough and thinking I can do it. I even broke down crying in front of one of my professors on my performance final because of the battle. It's not impossible, but it is very difficult. Something I've noticed with my fellow music majors, and even among the faculty in my department is that musicians tend to be very hard on themselves. Yes, taking criticism will help, but that's not going to help you become more confident. Well, that's not the only thing.

As far as getting in front of the camera. Just keep doing it. So what if the first few tries are crap? Keep doing it. You don't have to post them. Just get used to the idea. Once you feel like you've produced something you're proud of, put it up. Of course, YouTube being what it is (and knowing my roommate...she's vocal ed, and is sometimes a total troll on YouTube) you'll probably end up with some trolls. Don't let them get you down. Keep going. Take everything with a grain of salt.

[passerella]

I do nearly all of my singing practice in front of the mirror. I find it helpful for a number of reasons:

-You can pay attention to the shape of your mouth when you sing, which will help you understand how different shapes produce different sounds
-You can visually note your posture and get into the habit of having good singing posture
-You can see how you perform. You can get used to what your face and body do when you sing, and how they look. Most singers have some little quirk they might not be aware of, like tilting their head or raising and eyebrow or clenching their hands. Singing in front of a mirror allows you to note these things and change them if you want, as well as getting comfortable seeing yourself perform.

As for singing in front of the camera, remember you call the shots with youtube! There's no law saying once you've recorded something you have to upload it, so just think of it as experimenting for your own learning and fun, and don't worry about uploading anything until you make something you're comfortable with and proud of : )

[...Aurora Dream...]

Focus on something else. Instead of focusing all your thoughts to what other people might be thinking, perhaps you should focus more on the emotion of the song, or what it is that you really love about singing. Why do you sing? What is it about singing that makes you feel good? That's what you should be thinking about whether or not the camcorder is on. (And if it makes you feel better, put a piece of masking tape or something over the little red light so that you can't tell if it's on or off... heck you could even have someone you're comfortable with come on in and push record / not push record, and you won't know which take is actually being filmed and which one isn't).

[Flern]

passerella

I do nearly all of my singing practice in front of the mirror. I find it helpful for a number of reasons:

-You can pay attention to the shape of your mouth when you sing, which will help you understand how different shapes produce different sounds
-You can visually note your posture and get into the habit of having good singing posture
-You can see how you perform. You can get used to what your face and body do when you sing, and how they look. Most singers have some little quirk they might not be aware of, like tilting their head or raising and eyebrow or clenching their hands. Singing in front of a mirror allows you to note these things and change them if you want, as well as getting comfortable seeing yourself perform.

As for singing in front of the camera, remember you call the shots with youtube! There's no law saying once you've recorded something you have to upload it, so just think of it as experimenting for your own learning and fun, and don't worry about uploading anything until you make something you're comfortable with and proud of : )

Thanks. I have been practicing opening my mouth wider when I sing. I think that is one of my biggest struggles.

[Flern]

...Aurora Dream...

Focus on something else. Instead of focusing all your thoughts to what other people might be thinking, perhaps you should focus more on the emotion of the song, or what it is that you really love about singing. Why do you sing? What is it about singing that makes you feel good? That's what you should be thinking about whether or not the camcorder is on. (And if it makes you feel better, put a piece of masking tape or something over the little red light so that you can't tell if it's on or off... heck you could even have someone you're comfortable with come on in and push record / not push record, and you won't know which take is actually being filmed and which one isn't).

Thank you. I have actually thought about having someone push the record button when I'm not aware. I just don't know anybody I would be comfortable with. ^ ^;