https://privatelessons.com/article/how-practice
There are lots of good insights shared but one that particularly caught my attention was the idea of having goals for each practice session.
The author says, for instance, "Practicing should be highly goal oriented. For example, “Today I intend to clean up the runs in my Handel aria, and bring measure 8 up to full tempo.”"
Then he gets even more specific:
Practice Plan for Tuesday
4:00 - Warm up with open vowel exercises and some light runs. Warm up to a “g” and down to a “c”
4:10 - Practice bar 12 of French aria until it is clean at 72 bpm
4:15 - Run Italian piece multiple times until memorized
4:35 - Practice speaking in rhythm French piece
4:45 - Work baritone entrance in choir piece on pgs. 5 and 6
I think we all have goals when we practice, but some of them might be too broad: learn this song, improve high notes, etc. Maybe we could benefit from getting even more specific: learn notes of the A section cleanly, speak the B section of my Italian text in rhythm until it's solid, work an [i] vowel into the passaggio without raising the larynx, etc.
Maybe it would help to have an overall goal in mind as you are also working on a smaller goal. A couple of my goals lately have been to explore two frequent areas of tension that I keep running into: my neck muscles (specifically the sternocleidomastoids, if you must know!) and the muscle under my chin (the mylohyoid). As I'm vocalizing and working toward my other mini goals, I also try to be intentional about keeping those muscles as uninvolved as possible as an overall goal.
Do you use small practice goals? Consider taking a few days to plan out a practice session that is as detailed as the one above and see if you can stick to it. Identify some big goals and then see how specific and task oriented you can be about breaking them down into smaller, manageable steps. You can even use the first couple of minutes of your practice session to create an outline of goals.
Give it a try and let us know how that works.
Now go practice.
I, unfortunately, do not use small practice goals as often as I should. I often come from a more broad perspective with my practicing tactics. EX: "I need to clean up my Italian", "I need to practice", etc. I don't think my long term singing goals are achieved with this type of practice and/or mindset. I get wrapped around the "big picture" and don't use my energy as often as I would like to to realize and make my goals come into fruition.
ReplyDeleteA specific plan I came up with to practice this week was this:
8 - Warm up on "Ah" vowels because that's my toughest vowel to sing. "Ah" "Ah" "AhhVACADO"
8:05 - Use recording of my previous voice lesson to warm up on
8:20 - Breakdown Italian text
8:25 - Monologue "Vittoria, Vittoria!" several times
8:30 - Practice vocal running section
8:35 - Work piece in rhythm until it's engrained in my muscle memory
As far as big goals are, I really want to continue expanding my higher register and finding the resonance up there. I need to relax my brow, jaw, shoulders, neck, and upper back to find ease in singing. It's holding me back and I know it, that doesn't feel too good and while I usually would just panic and go into automatic "change" mode, I learned from this blog that I need to be more objective and patient with my voice and my goals. Magic doesn't happen overnight and I believe I put too much immediate pressure on myself (which effects my voice) to get it "right" and "change" and "be better". Unfortunately with no objective progression to the state I want to be, I panic, over do it, and then I'm exhausted and have no energy.
I need to become more proficient at sight reading, rhythm, and being grounded. My energies are so often scattered that I have a hard time being grounded while I am singing and my technique and time working on a piece can fly out the window and I have looked up different blogs and tips for singers on that particular problem.
I really like the idea of making specific goals and keeping them In mind while practicing. I'm am very guilty of big broad goal setting, not that that is bad. Also, I feel like maybe I kinda go through the motions while I practice. That's not to say that I'm not being focus on the work I'm doing, I just don't really keep specific goals in mind while I practice and I like the idea of having one or two very specific things to be thinking about during a session. Good thoughts to put into practice.
ReplyDeleteI really want to start working on adding in little goals to work on when I go to practice, because I never really start practicing with a goal in mind, I just go for it and find what I need to work on from there. So maybe if I were to start practicing with little goals in mind I can get more done when I practice.
ReplyDeleteI have been sick this week and as a result was unable to practice vocally. I found that I really missed the meditative and therapeutic sense that using my voice gives me. And while I know that singing could have caused more harm, I still missed being able to access my voice. I was able to work on my text and listened to my lesson recordings in order to keep my brain active, but not using my instrument was difficult. I think this week was a good reminder to me that my practice times are a reward, not a chore. They are a form of therapy and help me continue my day positively. I think that is a really important thing to keep in mind as I continue on in my vocal studies.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of adding "specificity" into my practice! Something that I've heard acting teachers say over and over is that the more specific you make a piece, the more a teacher or director has to work with, and thus the more incredible and unique the piece may become. I've always treated acting and singing completely different, but this post makes me realize that perhaps I've been in error. After all, the same basic principles apply to both: working on a piece requires that keen attention for detail, but at some point, you have to trust your body and mind to remember what you've taught them and just let go. Otherwise, you run the risk of appearing forced and overfocused instead of natural and easy. I love discovering little pinpoints of overlap between different disciplines, and although singing and acting are often closely related, I believe that many areas of study or play can benefit from the idea of working hard enough that the finished product conveys an effortless and confident feel. Isn't it beautiful how the world works? Even though we all work different places and pursue different hobbies and love different things, we can be brought together by something like this singular concept of focus on detail! This week's post has inspired me to remember that singing is not an isolated art, and to play with bringing in philosophies and mantras from other areas to my practice.
ReplyDeleteFrom Kellie Rae Williams:
ReplyDeleteThrough the last couple of weeks, I have been changing up my time spent on practicing. Instead of breaking it up in 15 minute sessions, I have been doing 45 minutes a day and the next day doing the 15 min. increments. I have noticed when I do this, the following day of the 45 min., I notice my vocal muscles are more stiff than the following day of the 15 min. As a dancer in this new study of mine, I relate it to wearing of the muscles and over use of the vocal chords. As a beginner in developing my own research to my body in a new way, I have to remember that I have to ease into such practice.
I have noticed my voice developing, slowly but surely. Just have to keep in mind that patience is key.