Recently I had a young student ask me how Hayley Williams (lead singer of platinum selling, Grammy-nominated rock band Paramore) has so much energy on stage. "How is she able to run around and yet sing so well?" Hayley is one of many performers who has the ability to get into the music, and run around while maintaining vocal prowess. These singers, often the front man/woman, gain a fan base from not just great album sales, but great live shows. There are many factors that go into positive energy on stage.

The most important of these is, like any physical activity, is to be healthy. Eating the right foods before a performance can be crucial to making it through the show. I personally had a bad experience playing a show in Nashville, after eating from a popular fast food restaurant chain. This show featured 8 bands, and each played no more than 3 songs. Three songs is a very short set and shouldn't be hard to give it your all. But after eating food that didn't provide the proper amount of energy and a light feeling in the stomach, there was a small disaster. After the second song, I had a feeling of gastrointestinal distress accompanied by a feeling of lightheaded-ness. Not a way to end a 3 song set. While barely anyone knew I wasn't feeling up to par, I knew I had to change the way I approached even a short show.

After that show, I got smarter and ate less throughout the day of a show, and made sure the food I ate was mostly fruits, vegetables, and a light serving of carbohydrates. With a lighter feeling in my stomach, I have fewer problems with bouncing around on stage, such as head banging and jumping off amps. Also, stay away from dairy products and other vocal inhibiting foods when a show is a few hours away. Remember, your vocals still should come first if no one has heard you sing before.

As you can imagine, daily exercise comes in handy when you hit the stage. Not only does your body look better when you are in-shape under the lights and off stage, but you have more physical endurance. If you don't have to push your body harder than usual, you will have more energy you can focus on your vocals. N*SYNC might not have been the biggest rockers of all time, but, I do remember seeing an interview where they talked about running 5 miles a day while singing through their show. That, to me, does not sound easy and it shows true commitment to your craft. When you watch a performer that has to dance on stage for an entire set it looks as hard as it truly is. When you add vocals, it makes it twice as tough.

So take the time if you haven't already and go for a daily run. If need be, run as long as your set lasts. You will feel better on stage and when the show is over, you won't feel like you're ready for bed. You can mingle with your fans. One more thing, if you only perform around a few times a month, on the day of your show, take exercising out of your routine. After your body is used to burning those calories every day, if you hold out before your show, you will have that energy you've made available on top of your adrenaline. Remember, nothing will get you pumped up more than the natural rush before jumping up on stage.

The last, but not least, factor to remember for blowing up the stage, is breathing. Breathing, something you do 24/7, sounds like it should be easy to remember. But for many performers, sometimes it's not. When performing, your mindset is usually different than any other time of day. When your mind is thinking about remember the words, jumping around, and using built up energy to smash guitars, breathing can be put on the back burner. While exercising and vocalizing, get used to nice, slow, quiet, deep breaths. While you practice this at high velocity times of the day, you'll notice it feels more natural to take short breaths in your chest. Work on pushing the air down into your stomach. When you breath in, the air itself is obviously not going to your stomach, it's still in your lungs. While breathing in, push your abs out and keep your chest relaxed. This will cause your diaphragm which sits right below your lungs, to expand downwards leaving the lungs with more space to expand. When this happens, your lungs have more room to expand in the downward position as well. This lets your lungs expand more than usual as well as pump that extra oxygen into your bloodstream and muscles. This will cause you to have more air and support for everything. This will not only help your vocals, but your overall stamina while being able to showcase your vocals and still hit the high and long notes, after running around like Axl Rose.

It is very possible to perform like the most energetic singer you've ever seen. Remember, some of these artists have a tendency to use certain "substances" that are not legal. These "substances" cause harm and negative effects to your voice, body, and energy in the long run. Build up your show the right way, and the better way. This will cause you to tear a stage apart while still maintaining your friends, band, and most of all, music. Now go out, pump some iron, and show your band who's in charge of the stage.

To learn more about Brett Manning Master Associate and vocal coach Chris Keller, visit http://www.brettmanningstudios.com/coaches/chris-keller.

Chris Keller is also available for vocal lessons either in-person in Nashville, TN, over the phone or via SKYPE. Please email booking@singingsuccess.com or call 615.866.1099 to inquire about or schedule a lesson!