When you perform, you get nervous. That will probably always happen because you care about doing well and that causes a surge in adrenaline. Stage fright is a more extreme reaction. Your heart beats hard, your breathing becomes short, your voice shaky and you are too self-conscious to have any comfort or freedom.

Every day someone brings a CD into my studio and asks me 'how did she sing that high?' or 'how does he scream like that?' I'll try to answer some of these questions by making a pretty good guess based on my experience with thousands of singers for 30+ years.

Breathing is the single most important element in singing. In order to control your voice you have to put out exactly the amount of breath you need for the sound you want.

A singer has an intense job. No matter what your mood, or how difficult your day, you need to be able to jump up in front of the audience and do a great performance.

A singer is an artist. Whether you sing your own material or interpret other people's, you're bringing insight about life and your worldly perspective to your songs.