But first… create a daily singing routine!
What used to stop me from practicing my singing is not knowing what to do exactly.
And to be completely honest, I went through my music degree not knowing how to structure my practice. This confusion led to a lot of self-doubting and a general sense of not trusting my voice, especially during a performance.
The unsexy truth of building this instrument is that we need to exercise it daily.
It’s the same as working out at the gym; we know that if we show up every day and do targeted exercises, we will yield all kinds of results.
Our vocal muscles are just miniature versions of our other muscles that we exercise.
The great news is, our vocal workout does not need to go for a long time, and it does not need to be complicated.
When talking with my students and my muso friends, I discovered that few of us know how to practice singing. So, here are few tips:
- Practice in small chunks: just like going to the gym, we will injure ourselves if we try picking up weights beyond our limits for long amounts of time. It’s the same with singing. If you are new to singing, start with 10 minutes of vocal exercises every day. As you go on, this can increase to 10 minutes, two times a day.
- Schedule Your Practice: make a time and set it as a reminder on your phone. When you make this a non-negotiable, you are more likely to do it. Remember, start small.
- Don’t just sing a song over and over again: isolate the areas that you need to improve. Otherwise, you are just reinforcing incorrect singing. Just focus on one or two of these ‘need for improvement’ areas each day. You may only sing through your song once or twice at the end of the week after doing this micro-work.
- Practice in front of a mirror: hello mirror, my old friend! Eyeballing yourself in front of the mirror may sound confronting, but it is a powerful tool when developing your voice. You can check in with your posture, the shape of your mouth. I always need to check that my head and body aren’t doing an interpretative dance while practicing my scales. This excess movement takes energy and focus away from my vocal muscles.
- Be reflective and keep a practice journal: always check in with yourself during the exercises. How does this feel? What does the shape of my mouth look like? Am I moving unnecessarily? Do I feel a tickle in my throat when I make these sounds? Keep track of what you practice in a journal and any of these sensations.
- Record yourself: Look, I’ll be honest, I don’t do this enough. Like the mirror, your phone’s voice recorder is a powerful tool to hear what’s happening in your voice. It also keeps track of your progress. Not only this, but by listening to yourself regularly, you will notice later down the track that you will no longer cringe when you hear yourself. I promise!
To take the guesswork out, I’ve developed a daily singing exercises routine called Free Your Voice. It’s only FIVE exercises that will work out your voice daily.
They will help you:
- Commit to a daily singing practice (they take under 10min to do!)
- strengthen your voice
- increase flexibility
- improve your tone
- improve pitch
- make you feel more confident in your voice.
There is also a short video that explains how to set up a singing practice space; how to stand (postural alignment is vital) and how to assess whether you are pushing your voice.
Anyhow, this invaluable resource is yours for free. You can access Free Your Voice here.
My intention is that it is the impetus you need to bring about a daily singing practice. Honestly, the more you show up for your voice, the more it will reward you.
Feel free to send the link to anyone you know may benefit from this resource.
Lots of love
Mel Xx
