I have a friend who has a great voice but no musical instrument ability. He has shown some interest in wanting to emcee events and maybe sing solo (& maybe a capella). I explained to him how I do my shows for small groups and such and he wants to know how to get started.

I can help him with a lot of stuff, but I'd like to find some video online that might give him a clue of what to do and what kind of backing music to use He is bi-lingual and actually wants to sing Polish songs and Christmas carols.

Any help? Suggestions for a keyboardless solo singer?

I would say it's something that can't be taught it has to come from within. This is a hard road to follow for someone with no musical ability....I would go out and look for other people doing what he wants to do to see if he can handle it.....and then dig in and take the years of preparation,rehearsal, backing track editing, or pay someone to create the song tracks & arrangements in the right keys, etc, and perform everywhere and anywhere to get the experience to fine tune the act before you even think of playing for paying customers...
this is a tall order that can be done, but it wont be easy.
good luck

Let me try this again; I think I started this all wrong.

My friend wants to do a OMB type of product, but he doesn't have any instrumental ability. He's a great singer and does a fine job of conversing with the crowds. He wants to focus on a Polish-American style, but needs backing music. He can easily do a capella, but I feel some sort of MIDI, mp3 setup would be better. Looking for music source suggestions...

Actually, you can teach him to be an emcee, and or, singer. There are lots of great community college courses that offer courses along these lines. The best advice I have is to have him look into courses in broadcast news, which will provide him with the proper phrasing techniques to be an emcee as well. I took a course called "Voice and Articulation" at the local community college, which was provided by a local jazz singer. It was a great course, and for me, it was highly beneficial in improving my breath techniques and song phrasing diction.

Now, getting a job as an emcee will be a challenge in itself. You can have the best voice in the world, but getting your foot in the door in this business can be very difficult. Usually the first step is to get a job at a small radio station as a newscaster. It will not pay very much, but he will get some great, on-air experience. After a couple years on the air, and recording local commercials, he might get lucky and be able to work his way into a larger station, then pick up some voice-over jobs. I was able to do this, which eventually led to me emceeing the largest fishing/boating expo in the mid-Atlantic region. The job paid very well, and I had that job for 25 years. However, that emcee job was only 4 days a year. I tried to get into the wedding hall emcee business, but after trying for a couple years unsuccessfully, I gave up.

As for the singing aspect, well, Cass, you know how fickle that business can be. If he's good, and he could well end up being quite talented, he'll have to pay his dues as a business person as well. He'll have to be a salesman, PR guy, bookkeeper, accountant, soundman, etc..., all balled into one neat package. If he's willing to do all that, well, then maybe he has a shot at it. But there's nothing online that will teach him all that stuff. Like Donny said, a lot of this has to come from within. You have to really want it, and there is no short cuts, no instant gratification.

Good Luck,

Gary

Based on your opinion "He's a great singer and does a fine job of conversing with the crowds." sounds like he should give it a try. He will always regret not trying.

Here is a source of Christmas Karaoke. He doesn't even need a karaoke machine, since they will play on a DVD player hooked up to a Monitor.

http://www.polandbymail.com/d/258/karaoke-vcd.htm

Good Luck.

Jerryghr

Tell him to sit in at open mic nights and hang out with every solo artist he can find. Watch and learn. Then, when he's ready, he'll have an idea of who went over best in his travels. Working a crowd is a natural gift, as is singing. You can teach breathing and diction, but not singing. Best singing lesson I ever took was studying clarinet. It taught me phrasing, articulation, dynamics .... it's all there.

As for gear - a laptop, ipad or even ipod will do the trick, but the larger the item - the more complicated the setup. Personally - if I ever started just singing over tracks ... I'd use a DJ style controller linked to a laptop ... and into a BOSE, of course.

cass ... reading your second post made his goal a lot clearer to me ...
I would agree with some of the other comments such as singing at 'open mic' nights, karaoke clubs, etc. so he gets a feel for performing in front of a crowd ...
As far as music accompaniment, in today's environment a lap-top or iPad would certainly suffice, and backing track sites can be found all over the i'net ...
Basically, to me, it sounds like he wants to become a 'karaoke' act ...
Good luck to him ...

It sounds like he just needs an MP3 backing to sing to.

"and then dig in and take the years of preparation,rehearsal, backing track editing, or pay someone to create the song tracks & arrangements in the right keys, etc,"

Donny, I disagree. from what I've seem lateley Nigel has the answer. Get the tracks, an all in one Kareoke machine, and lots of them have transpsoe adjustments so he can find where he feels comfortable, and go for it. If he can be personable on stage and sing decent he's there.
Very few acts are putting in years of preparation anymore. Everyone who can sing or thinks they can sing is out there.

And this is why I say again .....
"The more they play, .....The more I make"