Practice tips for fast results

Like everyone else, I started singing as a total beginner. I am not a naturally talented singer, so my voice did not always sound fantastic, haha! Just like many of my clients, I had to practice quite a bit to get a handle on things. High notes, a bit more power, a less hearable vocal break, I had to work for it. Quite frustrating sometimes! 

Singing for half an hour after work was nice and relaxing and that was the reason I started singing in the first place. After the daily grind of sitting behind the computer, meetings and traffic jams for desert, singing was a great release!

I noticed that I got ahead faster than many of my fellow, far more talented, students. Why? I practiced almost every day and they practiced an hour on the day before the next voice lesson. I know now that it made all the difference, because I looked into efficient practicing years later.

How can you practice well without having a singing lesson every day? I always recorded my voice lessons and still do that. One focusses on learning something new during the lesson, so you do not always get all the instructions. When you listen back to the recording, you start noticing the differences and details that went past you during the lesson.

Always start with the recording with the vocal exercises. Whatever you decide on singing afterwards, your voice is warmed up properly and you run less risk of overuse and voice problems when you do the exercises first.

Practice how often?

First and foremost: there is no obligation! Regular practice however, helps you to learn something faster. How often do you need to practice then? Practicing 4-5x a week is most ideal: regular practice with a day off now and then to “digest” what you have learned. A quick practice just before your next lesson is not very useful, regular practicing is.

You may wonder: why so often? The nerve connections between your muscles and brains get stronger with repetition, making the action become easier step by step. It becomes routine when you do something often.

You can compare it to sports: if you want to learn to play tennis, you must first practice certain movements well before they are routine. A movement becomes easier and even second nature when you have more control over that movement. You can then move on to the next step. Let’s continue to use tennis as an example: you want to learn how to use your back hand, so you practice until you are able to use it. The next step could be learning to use your backhand softly, medium or strongly and in the subsequent step learning to add an effect to the bal. It works the same way for singing: you first learn a certain coordination or technique and then how to use it. The next step could be to learn how to use that technique to add your own style to your song.

What if I don't have time to practice?

We all lack time or will to practice sometimes. Same goes for me. That is no problem really! You do not forget what you have learned before immediately. Even hardly practicing at all will you get you ahead, but only far more slowly than with regular practice.

Regular practice is therefore a choice to make progress faster in mastering vocal technique or learning songs.

Have fun singing and see you soon!