Many of you have been finding that out over the last couple of weeks since it seems about half of you have been fighting colds or some other illness. Having no voice because you are sick, of course, does not excuse you from practicing. It just means you have to practice differently.
This article includes a list of things you can do for practice that don’t require vocal use. Since it’s written for choral singers, not everything on the list applies to you, but most of it does:
http://doreenfryling.org/2015/09/15/practicing-choral-music-ten-ideas-for-the-singer-who-doesnt-think-they-can-practice-on-their-own/
#2 on the list suggests listening to a recording. Hopefully when I assign you songs you don’t just run to a professional recording or youtube in order to learn the piece. If you have you probably found out just how different some renditions can be from the notes and rhythms printed on the page. But at this point in the semester, now that (most of) you know (most of) your music well, this is a good time to listen to some recordings to compare interpretive ideas. You may hear some things you like that could work in your voice or you may decide you like your own choices best. Either way, it’s good to see what other singers have done with the same song.
I find #8 particularly helpful. I get some of my best text work and memorization done when I’m on my morning run or sitting on the train heading to campus. I just let my mind go through the songs and the repetition helps solidify the parts I know and clues me in on the sections that still need more work.
Experiment with the list this week. Which exercises do you find helpful? Which are difficult for you to do?
Now go practice.
I too like #8 a lot. Whenever I am first learning a song I will enter everything in Finale (A Software You Should All Have) So I always have the ACCURATE music rather than a recording with twists and personal artist choices. I find that after listening to that a few times I'm confident enough to do a sing through, and whenever I encounter problems with rhythm and pitch later in the process, I can go back and replay those measures to build back the muscle memory quicker. Right now I am really focusing on stamina. I had trouble getting through a 5 minute jury and a 10 minute one is concerning me somewhat. I think the main thing to focus on is breath support and keeping a sustained low larynx.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with #10 and #2. Number 10 is simple, i always feel like i have to push myself just to practice but when i do then it works and I'm glad i did it. Like going to the gym, the hardest part is getting yourself there but when you finish its always a great feeling. Number 2 is great for those who know their sound but i sometimes find that i sing the way i would if i haven't heard any rendition of a song. Listening to covers is helpful but can be sometimes distracting as well. I really liked number one, i think having to connect and mean what you are saying helps you not only perform better but sound as well. You know how you feel etc. So you can portray that more clearly. Lastly i think number nine is just the smart thing to do, though i am guilty of not doing this at times. I will work on it.
ReplyDeleteI use #2 fairly frequently. That is how I learn all my different songs is through listening to the cast album repeatedly and singing along with the recording so that I get a sense of the tempo as well as the pitch. And then after I know the song well enough, I find a karaoke track online and sing along to that instead, adding different techniques to make the song different from the rendition. And listening is very easy to do. Whenever i'm doing other homework or if I'm simply on my computer at night, I listen to the track. It's also really nice when you are sick and have no voice. One thing that I've also found very helpful is by combining both #2 and #8. I will listen to the audio track while following along with my sheet music and so I get both an auditory and a visual sense of the piece.
ReplyDeleteI really like #10, specifically "But 99% of the time, once I start practicing, I get stuff done." I often think I don't have time to practice in any capacity. I think I won't get anything done if I don't spend a half hour to an hour in a single session. The fact of the matter is, even revisiting a piece of music I have long been off book from may help the performance of that song in the future. It's always nice to warm up my voice, even if I don't know if I'll ever need to use it that day. That small amount of time I do have can go to practicing quite productively, if I allow it.
ReplyDeleteBeing sick this past week has forced me to perform a lot more silent practicing since my voice was too tired and wrecked to use it frequently. And many of things I did this past week show up on this list. #8 is a big one that I have been using more, not only this past week, but also this entire semester. Living in the dorms with a roommate, having to walk to classes and be out in public for most of my day, and not having much time in a space alone to practice vocally, I find going through the piece in my head is usually the only thing I can do to practice. And it is very beneficial because I am able to solve some issues I may have with the song or memorize the piece.
ReplyDeleteI really liked #3 and #7. Lately (as you well know) I find myself straying away from the music as its written and modifying the melody without really meaning to. Going through the music as she suggests and analyzing the notes and patterns should be beneficial for me in keeping me honest to what's written. Going through and pecking it out on a keyboard will remind me of the notes and keep me from straying into my own rendition! As for #7 that's just something I'm really guilty of, always working the first part of the song and neglecting the end. I'm going to use her idea of backwards to forwards and pay specific attention to the areas of my songs that I don't normally.
ReplyDeleteThis semester, I have been focusing a lot on #5 and #6. When practicing, I tend to redo the parts that I feel comfortable and confident in because, frankly, it is fun to feel like I sound good. While repeating and tweeking are extremely important elements in practice, that is not the most efficient way to use my practice sessions 100% of the time. Instead of just repeating the parts I am confident in, I need to delve into the sections that have been particularly challenging for me. I'm proud of how much I have been doing that these past few weeks. Especially with my classical selection, Una Voce Poco Fa, I have been repeatedly focusing on the difficult sections, as well as tweeking, and speeding up the sections that I feel more comfortable with. While I have a lot more work to do on this song, I can absolutely see the improvements I am making by not avoiding the problem areas.
ReplyDeleteSilent practicing has helped me a ton in the past. It works for memorization of just about anything. I run through the entire piece several times. It gets really annoying when a small part isn't 100% solid. When I get the chance to go back and review the text I definitely make sure to address the parts that were most annoying and it usually ends up making them my stronger parts. I also really agree with focusing on parts of songs that I am not comfortable with. It is way more efficient and just a better use of time.
ReplyDelete"Solving the problem area" is one of my biggest issues. I always hate singing the parts that I don't sound good at. I have especially found that my classical piece is just hard for me to listen to. I don't think I sound like an opera singer and that's normally who sings it, right? Especially after listening to some recordings, I have found myself a bit discouraged. After putting more work in my classical piece and focusing on just the parts that are most difficult, the piece has become a lot easier for me. I have also noticed that listening to recordings of songs can mess me up. I am singing a lot of songs this semester that I fell in love with because of the broadway recording. I have learned that count singing the song and writing my counts in really helps me because the broadway recording normally doesn't match the sheet music... Repetition is key and sitting down and writing my lyrics has helped me with memorization.
ReplyDeleteI definitely do a lot of #9 during rehearsal and practice. Whenever a teacher gives me a note, I immediately put it into the music. This helps me picture where in the music a certain technique needs to be used and every time I see it, it reminds me to do that specific thing. I have problems with sight singing, so I have a lot of parts in my songs that I have to plunk through, that's where #6 comes in. I repeat the harder parts on my piano app a lot and then see if I can do it on my own. If I can't, the process restarts until I can get it down. Through this though, I begin to memorize the text in that particular part which in turn makes remembering the rest of the song easier for me.
ReplyDeleteWorking backwards to forwards is something I continuously find difficult, as I try to focus so much on the text of the song, and what it is I'm saying. Because of this, singing the text out of the order is extremely uncomfortable for me. To contrast, analyzing the music and the text that I'm singing is easiest. Monologuing the song, and finding my character is extremely important to me and also helps out with my singing. Once this is figured out, simply practicing becomes so much more intense and exciting.
ReplyDeleteSince I am so sick (and will be for the next week at least, according to the dr) I will most definitely be doing silent practicing. My goal is to finish memorizing all three of my songs by next Monday! It's not even that hard, I should have already done it.
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