How to Sing the National Anthem at a Baseball Game
It is a great thrill and a great honor to have the chance to sing the National Anthem before the start of a baseball game.
It needs to be a memorable experience for the audience, too.
The Star-Spangled Banner is a difficult song, full of pitfalls.
Here's how to avoid them and sing it right.
First of all, dress well.
A tank top, jeans, and flip-flops are not appropriate even if it is summer.
The dignity of your attire should reflect the dignity of the song.
As to the singing, find your key.
The S-SB has a broader range than most popular songs.
Figure out the highest that you can sing the phrase, "o'er the land of the free," without forcing, and find your starting note from there.
Tempo is important.
Tempo is everything.
This is a stirring song, a song of joy and hope.
When you hear a military band play the song, it is always at a brisk, but majestic pace.
There is a modern tendency to sing this song quite slowly, in almost a reverential manner.
Don't do that.
Sing the song in 60 seconds or less.
That's what people want to hear.
There are several places where the words can trip you up.
Pay close attention to these phrases.
"By the dawn's early light," not, "by the Don Zearly light.
" Make a clean break between the words "dawn's" and "early.
" "Through the perilous fight," not, "through the perolous fight.
" The word "peril" is spelled with an "i", not with an "o.
" "The bombs bursting in air," not, "the bombs bursting i nair.
" Again, make a clean break between the words "in" and "air.
" The word "banner" sometimes gets more help that it needs.
The first syllable gets only one note, not two.
Finally, when you get to the phrase, "o'er the land of the free," please do not hit the note on "free" and jump up a fifth.
That's showing off.
This performance isn't about you, it's about the song.
Working with a sound system might be new to you.
The benefit is that it will do all the work of making your voice heard, so sing easily.
With a vocally demanding song like this, that's a good thing.
Ask ballpark staff how much of a delay there is in the sound system.
That is, how long after you sing a note will it be heard over the speakers.
If the delay is near a half-second, you can get thrown off unless you concentrate on your singing voice only.
Now, I'll let you in on a little secret.
This is true.
I am not making this up.
The players put a stopwatch on the singer because they have a pre-game pool over how long it will take tonight's singer to get through the song.
They are so worn out hearing renditions that take 90 seconds or longer, night after night, that they have to get something out of their suffering.
I sing the S-SB briskly.
It takes me 56-57 seconds to sing.
Every time I walk off the field, players in the dugout I pass give me their appreciation, and some even come out to shake my hand.
One night, even the manager came out.
I heard after one game that my name is on the clubhouse board as the record-holder.
So be bright when you sing this song.
Be uplifting.
That's the way it was written, that's the way is needs to be sung.
It needs to be a memorable experience for the audience, too.
The Star-Spangled Banner is a difficult song, full of pitfalls.
Here's how to avoid them and sing it right.
First of all, dress well.
A tank top, jeans, and flip-flops are not appropriate even if it is summer.
The dignity of your attire should reflect the dignity of the song.
As to the singing, find your key.
The S-SB has a broader range than most popular songs.
Figure out the highest that you can sing the phrase, "o'er the land of the free," without forcing, and find your starting note from there.
Tempo is important.
Tempo is everything.
This is a stirring song, a song of joy and hope.
When you hear a military band play the song, it is always at a brisk, but majestic pace.
There is a modern tendency to sing this song quite slowly, in almost a reverential manner.
Don't do that.
Sing the song in 60 seconds or less.
That's what people want to hear.
There are several places where the words can trip you up.
Pay close attention to these phrases.
"By the dawn's early light," not, "by the Don Zearly light.
" Make a clean break between the words "dawn's" and "early.
" "Through the perilous fight," not, "through the perolous fight.
" The word "peril" is spelled with an "i", not with an "o.
" "The bombs bursting in air," not, "the bombs bursting i nair.
" Again, make a clean break between the words "in" and "air.
" The word "banner" sometimes gets more help that it needs.
The first syllable gets only one note, not two.
Finally, when you get to the phrase, "o'er the land of the free," please do not hit the note on "free" and jump up a fifth.
That's showing off.
This performance isn't about you, it's about the song.
Working with a sound system might be new to you.
The benefit is that it will do all the work of making your voice heard, so sing easily.
With a vocally demanding song like this, that's a good thing.
Ask ballpark staff how much of a delay there is in the sound system.
That is, how long after you sing a note will it be heard over the speakers.
If the delay is near a half-second, you can get thrown off unless you concentrate on your singing voice only.
Now, I'll let you in on a little secret.
This is true.
I am not making this up.
The players put a stopwatch on the singer because they have a pre-game pool over how long it will take tonight's singer to get through the song.
They are so worn out hearing renditions that take 90 seconds or longer, night after night, that they have to get something out of their suffering.
I sing the S-SB briskly.
It takes me 56-57 seconds to sing.
Every time I walk off the field, players in the dugout I pass give me their appreciation, and some even come out to shake my hand.
One night, even the manager came out.
I heard after one game that my name is on the clubhouse board as the record-holder.
So be bright when you sing this song.
Be uplifting.
That's the way it was written, that's the way is needs to be sung.
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