Practicing singing productively is its own art form.
No matter what your skill level is or what natural gifts you have, we all need to practice. One way to stay motivated about practicing is to understand that you are in a process of self-realization. Think of practicing as a way of finding an explanation for your instinctive musical inclinations.
When you are practicing, make an effort to be a good observer of your singing. Ask yourself questions like: How did I do that? What made that work? Value your unique gifts by paying sincere and serious attention to yourself.
Making music with your voice, or any instrument, is a synthesis of emotion, intellect, and physical coordination. The more you visit these processes, the more you will grow and develop as a singer.
Serious Play
I like to call practicing “serious play.” Serious, because you are making a time commitment to yourself and your music each day. Time is precious, and the time you invest has value. That’s something you should take seriously.
Play, because within the time frame you set aside for practicing, you want to explore with a light touch. No critics allowed! You get to mess up and make mistakes. You get to sound just terrible, if that’s what happens. This is your time to use your imagination and your vocal sounds to explore and experiment with your connection to the music, and I encourage you to approach that process with a spirit of play.
Goals and Games
While you are practicing, you will want to set goals and create playful games to help you explore and achieve these goals. I like to divide goals into two categories: technical goals and musical goals.
Technical goals include:
- developing your body alignment and breath
- exploring your vocal range, balance, and tone quality
- practicing relaxation and releasing tension, especially in the tongue and jaw
Musical goals include:
- exploring the phrasing and tempo of the music
- playing with your emotional connection to your music and your approach to storytelling
- supporting your performance with your face, body, and gestures
For each of these goals, you will want to develop games you can play to help you in practicing that area. In the coming weeks, I will go into these areas in more depth with you and share some of the games I use with my students to advance their training toward each goal. Focusing on these goals with an approach of playful exploration will help you deepen your artistry, gain confidence, and make the most of the serious play of practicing.
