Sunday, August 21, 2016

It's just the voice

When I was in college, I remember one of my wrestling teammates asking me, “What do you DO when you’re a singing major? I mean, it’s just the voice, right?” Even though, as an athlete himself, he understood the concept of building physical strength through weight training, building stamina through cardio, and building skills through technical practice, he didn’t see how those same concepts applied to the voice.

As singers, we need to consider ourselves vocal athletes and, as such, we should approach our practice with the same intention, discipline, and regularity as the Olympians we’ve been watching this summer.

Therefore, the primary purpose of this blog is to have an ongoing conversation about your vocal practice: what you are practicing, when you are practicing, how you are practicing, and even why you are practicing. In this regard, we are all each other’s best resources (coaches, teammates, and cheerleaders). By discussing our goals, successes, frustrations, and processes, we can motivate each other, support each other, and learn from each other. You all have something to offer this group in this forum.

If some of you returning students have come to see this blog as an inconvenience or just a way for you to lose points on your grade when you forget to do it, I hope the new school year can be an opportunity to take a new approach.

To start things off, I’d like everyone to post a couple of vocal goals they have for this year. Maybe it’s a specific technical issue (I want to find better ways to release jaw tension), an end-result issue (I want to add another two half steps to the top of my range), a process issue (I want to be better about sticking to my practice schedule), or something related to repertoire (I want to learn a new song every two weeks and memorize my songs earlier in the semester). For you beginners, it may be something even more basic but just as crucial (I want to think outside of the vocal limitations I have imposed on my voice and see where things go).

Here are my personal goals:

Since I have some new commitments this semester that will place additional demands on my time, my first goal is to stick to my scheduled practice time and not use it for other things.

Secondly, I want to continue to explore the specific techniques I learned this summer at the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute to see how they may impact my performance sound (and to see if I want to incorporate them into my teaching).

Tell us about your goals for this semester and this year.

Again, welcome back. Let’s get to work!

Now go practice.

46 comments:

  1. My goals include, but are not limited to:

    1. I really want to work on maintaining a nice consistent breath throughout phrases of music. I've noticed a lot this summer that my breath is fairly unstable and releases/doesn't release at different rates throughout a song/phrase etc. I think this will continue helping my vibrato to become more steady and even and pleasent.

    2. I want to continue to find ease in singing and especially in practice. I am a very impatient person so i'm afraid i tend to push things a lot of the time instead of relaxing into it and not using muscles that don't need to be used. That being said I also don't want to overuse. I had a lot of strain issues last year from overuse.

    3. I don't want to miss any blog posts. Hence why I am doing mine now.

    Meow,

    Cameron Lake Fleck


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  2. So, one thing in the past that I have always been kind of squeamish about is listening to my own voice on recordings, videos, etc.. I'm sure there are other people who feel similar, it's just weird to hear the sound of your own voice sometimes when it's not resonating in your head. I was never consistent with listening to recordings I got from voice lessons, or others that I picked up here and there. However, I realize how important it is to hear where I'm at when practicing and how I can use that feedback to improve. One of my goals with this semester will be to record myself singing along with a melody I need to learn, or a song I'm working on, so that I can hear it when I'm just by myself. I'll also make a point to use the old recordings I have from past voice lessons and use those during my practice.

    This is sort of tied in with the old voice lessons and listening to them; another goal I have for the semester is to recall as much as what I learned during my sophomore year in the ATP, as well as my past voice lessons. I'm no doubt rusty with taking a year off, but if I retain as much as I can, I'll be able to ease back into regular singing habits with more success.

    I'm sure it will be tougher at first, but I want to ease into doing singing performance again. Refreshing myself on how to calm my nerves, not get unnecessarily tense, properly breathe, and all the other things that may be easy to remember in practice, but could fall off during a performance.

    Not directly related to voice, but I'm excited to dive into more music theory, and I hope that with more ear training and a stronger voice, I'll have a much stronger understanding of music and music composition as the semester goes on.

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  3. I'm new to singing in college. I'm really excited to see what my voice can do. One goal I have is to find balance when singing. I don't want to push my vocal cords too hard this semester, but I really do want to grow and learn a lot. Singing is seriously such a great tool to have and I'm very excited to start my own journey.

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  4. I have a lot of goals...
    1. I would like to continue to strengthen my head voice (I'd like to note that I am extremely happy with how much my head voice has grown this past year.)
    2. I would like to get to the point where I can mix on command. I am relatively confident with my mixed voice, but I can't quite mix "on command" the way I can with my head or chest voice.
    3. I would like to continue to mature, mix, and expand the range of my chest voice.
    4. I would like to expand my range both higher and lower (lower especially... I'd like to be able to sing a G3 anytime, anywhere.) Specifically my upper head voice--I'd like to be able to sing higher and higher with a big, open sound. (Who wouldn't?)
    5. I want to look through all of the mid-period musicals and pick some of my own repertoire from those shows.
    6. As a final and general note, I want to do more work on my own between lessons so that I am as prepared as possible for my lessons and thus progress as quickly and efficiently as possible. :)

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  5. My goals for this semester :

    1. Break some of my bad habits. I push when using my belt voice in my upper range. With some of the songs we've discussed I know this will be worked on.

    2. Make a bigger effort to seek out more music. I want to find different styles that fit in my vocal range (jazz, some more classical pieces...)

    3. I want to try to work on my speaking voice. I often speak using vocal fry and I really want to change that.

    4. Have Fun! I sometimes forget because I am so focused and want to get everything right.

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  6. I'm brand new to voice lessons like these. I've always enjoyed singing, and took lessons for a few weeks when I was younger, but I didn't learn anything and didn't notice any improvement.

    This semester's goals:

    1. Practice everyday for at least 20 minutes.

    2. Be challenged. I want to feel like I'm constantly learning and improving.

    3. See what all my voice can do.

    I havne't sung in a long time, and have never done anything besides casual singing by myself. I'm excited to see where I'll be at the end of the semester.

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  7. 1. I want to have an audition book where I feel very comfortable with (with out them being necessarily easy)
    2. I want to make sure I stick to my practice schedule!
    3. I also want to transfer the things that I learn in ATP singing over to my Private Voice practice and use my theory knowledge to learn my songs rather than relying on my ear or the interpretation of others (i.e. on recordings)

    I'm very much looking forward to stepping up my vocal game, and being a better practiced and more serious voice user

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  8. My biggest Goal Is to start to be confident in my upper range more consistently, I want to go to being confident most days instead of some.
    I also want to get a wider range of songs for my audition book. I think I will shoot for 1 new song every 2-3 weeks (shooting for two but we will see how that goes). And finally very consistent practice, I have struggled before with always practicing.

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  9. Here are my goals for the semester:

    1. I want to make sure I stick to my practice schedule; I want to make sure that, at the very least, I will be warmed up so that I don't strain myself throughout the day.
    2. I want to expand my repertoire. I don't think I need to necessarily expand my vocal range as much as I need to expand the content that I'm capable of conveying through song.
    3. I want to work on performance. I feel relaxed and great about singing privately or in lessons, but when it comes to performance I always tense up and my anxiety gets the best of me.

    I'm ready to work this semester and bring myself back from my summer slump!

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  10. As a new student in this studio, I'm excited to work on a lot of new things for my senior year. Here are my goals for the semester:

    1. I want to really start a practice schedule. In the past three years, I've kind of just been practicing when I have the time and not structuring it. I think having a real practice schedule will help me work to improve my voice to where I am hoping to get it to by the time I graduate.
    2. I want to truly understand the difference between belting and mixing and how to do them safely in my voice. I've never fully understood these two concepts and I want to be able to actually sing these ways and not be afraid of them. I've always been scared of mixing and belting because I've always felt like I'm screaming.
    3. I want to work on confidence. I always sink in my shoulders when I sing and that makes my voice sound weak. Holding my shoulders back will help me keep my voice free and will show in performance and auditions that I am comfortable with my voice and the material.

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  11. My goals for this semester are:
    1. Stick to my practice schedule. I've always had difficulty practicing more than a couple times a week, so I want to develop more consistent and frequent practicing.
    2. I want to want to develop an audition book of songs with which I am comfortable, and that sound good in my voice. But not only songs that I put in my book, but songs that I go back to on a consistent basis and practice, in order to keep my auditioning the best it can be.
    3. I want to increase the top of my range, and make sure I am free and relaxed because I tend to tighten my jaw and neck at the top end of my range.
    4. I want to have fun singing! If there's a song I don't like, I'll try to find something enjoyable in it while I have to work on it. But ultimately, I want to find songs that excite me and that I love to sing!

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  12. I have thought a ton about my voice this summer. I feel like I am starting to enter the "conscious incompetence" phase of my singing where I know now what a lot of my issues are, and even though I haven't totally worked out how to combat them, at least I am becoming aware. That attention can lead me to the "conscious competence" phase of my training. As I prepare for the year, I have been listening to and thinking a lot about a lighter sound that will allow me access to the higher tessitura required in Bring It On and especially in Dogfight. Some of my goals for this semester are to continue learning how to sing intelligently, continue deciphering the different sound options I have and when to use them, strengthening my head voice, working to have a stronger CT presence in my technique, and opening my mouth more. I also want to really stick to my practice schedule. It’s a new thing for me to have planned out my time to practice and I think it’s brilliant and want to form that habit.
    My Cats audition posed an interesting dilemma for me yesterday. I sang with the light heady sound that I’ve been working on and it was completely unsatisfying. Michael and Denny and Christine all agreed that it makes me sound like I’m sixteen. They had me do a lot of vocal exploration and expression in my chest resonance with a very TA dominant sound. This was fine for one song, but I couldn’t negotiate that sound when I had to go in and out of a range that demanded my head dominant technique. They said the chesty voice “sounds the way that [I] look.” I completely believe them of course, but it has also completely disrupted what I thought my vocal goals were supposed to be. Perhaps the lesson here is that I need to continue to practice and strengthen that head voice without sacrificing the power and presence and expression and fullness of my chest sound in a performance setting. I just need to learn how to navigate the percentages of TA and CT dominance in my sound and allow that notion to be more prevalent when I’m preparing for something that I have to present.

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  13. Singing is new to me but I'm beyond excited to jump into the unknown. I have been wanting to take voice lessons for awhile now and I can't wait to dive into all of this. I've decided to stick to only three goals so that my growth will remain simple, clear, and manageable. I could probably come up with about thirty goals right now and then end up not accomplishing any of them because its too much. The three main goals I will accomplish by the end of the semester are Practice Schedule, Range, and Fullness/Quality of the Voice.

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  14. This year, my goals include:
    1. Sticking to my practice schedule. As things progress and get more hectic, it becomes more difficult for me to give my vocal practice the weight it deserves.
    2. Being more risky (but keeping healthy) when exploring a chestier part of my voice. Having studied purely classical voice with the School of Music, I find I have a lot of fear jumping into a more contemporary belt sound.
    3. Memorizing music faster and developing a readily available audition book. Whenever an audition comes up, I feel I have to resurrect and old piece or learn and entirely new one, so creating (and reviewing) a repertoire that will make that process easier and more prepared will very much benefit me.

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  15. My goals this semester are relatively simple, I have been singing for a very long time, but it was only last year that I really started to discover massive growth in my vocal ability and it was truly exciting.
    There fore I would like to be able to
    1. Add a step or two up to my range in a healthy manor. Last year I attempted to sing Heaven on their minds from Jesus Christ Superstar and my range just was not quite there so I'd really like to be able to sing that and pieces like it this year.
    2.Continue to work on using mixing and strengthen my voice and sound in a healthy way.
    3.Get better at sight reading, I have always struggled a lot with finding the starting notes in pieces and I think it is a very useful skill for practice.
    4. and last but certainly not list is add a few more songs to my audition book that I can whip out for any audition. I successfully did this with Lost in the Wilderness last year and would like to have a few more options that I am really sure of when auditions come up.

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    Replies
    1. Who is this? (I think I know but please sign your name. Thanks!)

      Delete
  16. I am surprised at how much my voice has grown from last year, so reaching my goals should be completely possible and if it's anything like this last year in singing, it should be a blast! My goals are:

    1) To find a way to release tension in my neck and shoulders while singing. I seem to still have issues with this.

    2) I want to explore the higher parts of my register. I want to make them stronger, as my voice tends to weaken out when singing higher notes

    3) I want to put time into my schedule to exercise my soft palate. I've noticed that it tends to be really lazy.

    4) I want to continue to face my fear of singing in front of others, so that my natural voice can come through and my "nervous singing voice" doesn't become such a problem in auditions.

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  17. The vocal goals I set for myself a year ago are still the same goals I am striving for this year. After working with Brian over the summer, I have seen much improvement with my voice and am now aware of how to begin my ongoing growth even more. Just like Jesse said, I have also reached my "conscious incompetence" phase. A year ago, my vocal goals consisted of wanting to be able to sing without movement in my larynx, releasing my jaw tension, and growing my range. I am getting much better at singing with little to no movement in my throat while also relieving tension in my jaw. This was with the help of Brian's technique of slowly moving my head from left to right finding as much release and ease as possible. My range has grown as well, only one note difference, but that's still progress and growth in the right direction. New vocal goals I have set for myself this year are to bring the notes in my head voice lower, to help bring my chest voice higher. Another vocal goal of mine is to continue smoothing out my passagios. Brian helped me become aware of how to healthily and correctly do this, and this has become one of my main focuses for my voice. I am very very excited to see where my voice will be after this year, and am excited to start working on material that best fits my voice and that I enjoy singing as well.

    - Aaron Eskelson

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  18. I have a few goals this year. One of my goals is to just be able to have a good clean sound and to grow my vocal range higher. I would also really love to do more in the bass part of my voice because I don't often get to use it.
    -Dylan Watson

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  19. Since I haven't taken a voice lesson in over a year, I am really looking forward to working on good vocal technique again. My goal this year is to find a way to be more comfortable singing in the higher range of my voice and to familiarize myself what what I am capable of. Also, I know I am not the best to keeping to a practice schedule so my second goal will be to make sure I spend the recommended amount of time daily singing.
    -Kalla Nielsen

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  20. My goals for this year are ones I have been wanting focus on for the past couple of years. I am glad to be getting back into improving my instrument of voice.
    1. I want to learn proper technique for switching from head to chest voice smoothly within a scale, i would like to also build confidence with switching registers.
    2. I would like to also add a half step or more to the top of my register. I’m excited to see what will come with tackling higher ranged songs.
    3. My last goal would be to schedule out my time to practice efficiently, and on top of that making a habit of my practice so I can have set practice times weekly.

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  21. I have a few goals for this last semester of our singing class:

    1) Practice! I will admit that last year I did not practice as much as I should have, and I could hear it in the songs we were singing. I feel like if I give myself more time to go over songs so that I can better understand them and (hopefully) perform better. I also think I should practice my music theory more as I still feel very confused about lots of things.

    2) I find that a lot of times my jaw and throat get very tense while singing. Sometimes it's nerves and sometimes it's just me not thinking about it. I'd like to be able to find release in these areas, I think it will help me open up my voice more.

    3) I want to be able to find the characters in songs. Last year I had trouble adding character to certain songs because of my nerves about singing in front of people. I want to be able to break free from this and make bolder choices in my singing/acting.

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  22. Being that I have not had a consistent voice teacher for a little under a year, I am looking forward to studying weekly once again. Over the summer, I began to face some of the insecurities I have about my voice. For example, I know that I have a bad habit of getting tense in my neck and shoulders as I sing higher due to my overall fear of singing high because I do not have much experience using that part of my voice. I need to learn to get out of my own head and not allow it to effect my singing. This semester, my primary goal is to challenge myself to go out of my comfort zone, because that is truly the only way one can improve when wanting to improve.

    -Burke Schoeppl

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  23. My goals for this semester of singing:

    1. PRACTICE. And experiment! Sometimes I get wrapped up solely in practicing only what I know and think sounds 'good', when I could be trying out new sounds that could potentially tell the story of the piece better.

    2. Find techniques that allow me to prepare my breath prior to, and during, performance. I often find my breath getting stuck in my shoulders and chest; finding a way to deepen that before I begin singing-- and especially during--- would be incredibly helpful.

    3. Performing in front of others outside of class. I rarely sing in front of people, and I think multiple performances could help calm the nerves, aid the breath, and take away *some* of the fear that plagues my in-class work.

    -Isa

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  24. Here are a few of my goals that I've been working towards this summer and will continue to work towards throughout the school year.

    -I would really like to become more familiar with my head voice so that it can become an asset to my singing. I want to be able to mix as well as various Broadway singers in the distant future. I've really been listening to Adam Pascal so that I can use him as my inspiration.

    -I would really like to add more vibrato and spin to my voice. I can do this by, as stated above, learning to release tension in my jaw and freeing the neck and shoulders. It's been an ongoing issue that I clench my jaw when I sleep, and so I would like to remedy this in hopes of improving my voice, allowing more air to flow.

    -Lastly, I want to challenge myself to get rid of some of the 'spider webs' (as David refers to them) out of my head. I have had a long-standing fear of my low bass voice simply because there aren't that many bass voices written into musicals. I have felt that I've ignored my low voice for too long and I want to make it a goal of mine this year to really strive to improve it.

    Skyler DeVries

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  25. Singing is a new part in my training, and I'm excited to begin this semester. Here are my goals:

    Goal 1: This may seem like a tall order, but in general I'd like to become more comfortable with my singing voice.

    Goal 2: I'd like to have better control of my higher register.

    Goal 3: I'd like to be better about hydrating, even when I'm busy.

    Goal 4: This past summer I started speaking in vocal fry more frequently and I'd like to stop that.

    Goal 5: I want to keep up on my practice schedule.

    -Emily Nash

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  26. I'm very new to singing so I am excited to see where this class will take me. Here are my goals for the semester:

    1. I want to maintain a regular practice schedule. I'll practice at least four days a week for 20 minutes a day. Since I know that I tend to be forgetful, I will set reminders for myself.

    2. I want to feel more comfortable singing solo in front of an audience. With my experience in the past I have gotten really nervous singing in front of an audience and have forgotten lyrics because I think I psych myself out.

    3. I want to find more looseness in my body when I am singing. I've found that I hold a lot of tension, especially in my jaw and shoulders and I want to release that.

    4. I want to challenge myself this semester. I know so little about singing and I want to remain open to trying anything that will help me learn something new.

    -Hannah Ensign

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  27. I've had a lot of trouble the last few years with my voice and jumped from studio to studio. So this year I have a few goals not only with my voice but with my relationship to my voice.

    I would like to stabilize my technique and understand it so that I may fall back on to it in a time of need, especially when I am nervous like in dem lab.

    I want to feel comfortable with my voice and with sharing it and working in front of others.

    I plan to stick to my practice schedule. It was a huge issue for me last semester with all that was going on in my life all at once and it really tripped me up. Now my schedule is still crazy but I hope that I have learned from the past and can put my voice first.

    - Madeleine Rush

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  28. My goals for this semester of singing class:

    1. Setting up a practice schedule that I can stick to.

    2. Developing a stronger sense of my voice and what it needs i.e. more warming up, more breath, etc

    3. Keeping track of my weak points in singing and making note of what needs the most work.

    4. Allowing myself to become more enveloped within my character when performing for the class.

    -Brandt Garber

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  29. My goals this year are:

    1. Stick to a consistent practice schedule. I notice how my voice begins to change when I'm not practicing regularly and I would like to stay away from that this year.

    2. I would like to be able to hit higher notes with ease and not feel like I have to make my high notes so loud to make them sound nice. I would like to find the comfortability within myself to hit higher notes easily and not strain to make it so loud.

    3. I would like to find my character within my performance instead of just picking a spot on the wall to stare at and sing to. I would like to tell a story with the song that I am performing.

    Kelsey June Jensen

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  30. I was just watching a video this afternoon about the revival of Cats on Broadway, and one of the actors said the exact same thing about training as athletes. When you're performing 8 shows a week it's important to maintain your physical well being. Anyway...
    Goals:
    1. Have better practice. Work on focusing completely on my vocal practice instead of doing 7 things at once because I am under the impression that I can multitask while practicing. I want to clear my mind and focus only on singing during practice sessions.

    2. Continue to build confidence when singing for others.

    3. Learn songs more quickly so I can gain new material faster.

    Cece

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  31. My goals for this semester:

    1) To stick to my schedule

    2) To keep a journal of my practice so I can see how I improve

    3) Really work on my mixed voice and build it up

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  32. Goals for this semester:
    1. Loosen my jaw. I have always had tension in my jaw and once I get close to really reaching the goal, I give up and end up back where I am. So, this year, I want to stick to it and prove that I can keep a loose jaw.

    2. Learn the correct amount of pressure when belting. As I learn more about how I've been belting and how I learned to belt, I've realized that I learned wrong and use too much pressure in my voice. My goal is to learn how to control the pressure and see how high of a belt I have without hurting my voice.

    3. Get better at memorization. I've noticed that I get really nervous around jury times because of words. I get really anxious that I'll forget words and I want to be able to be confident in what I am saying, so my goal is to spend more time memorizing and looking over the words

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  33. Since I am so new to singing and really basically have no experience with it my goals are pretty basic for now.

    1. Be able to confidently get up and sing in front of my class.
    2. Create and maintain a consistent practice schedule.
    3. Get an idea of what my voice can do and what range I should be singing at.

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  34. My biggest issue with my voice has always about been tension. My first goal is to find exercises that allow me to release tension in my jaw, and maintain fluidity through my neck, jaw and head. My second goal is to practice moving through scales without a jaw bounce and to move smoothly and not have as strong of a switch, (I want to keep exploring my mix). My third goal is to get over my fear of runs and licks, and harmonies. I suck with harmonies.

    Thanks!
    Lindsie Kongsore
    Sophomore ATP

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  35. My goals in singing are
    1. to raise my belt 1/2 step without tension
    2. Clean head to chest scales
    3. Consistently practice vocals

    Skyler Smith

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  36. This semester I would like to work on the following:

    1. I would like to learn to sight-sing music. It's always been something that I found very impressive. My father told me how my grandmother used to practice it often and I found this a little inspiring. I believe we talked about it in class but if not we can put it off for another semester/major.

    2. I would like to better at practicing regularly. As long as I can remember with a lot of artistic classes I only ever practiced in class. It seems like a habit I ought to kick if I ever want to do this professionally. The practice schedule should help with that.

    3. I'd like to learn some songs! Sometimes I'm interested in a musical audition but I'm stonewalled by the fact that I don't have anything to sing. That and the fact that my voice is currently reminiscent of a parched walrus.

    I look forward to the coming semester!

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  37. I've got a few goals!

    1. Attempt to hone into the idea of changing vocal timbre while still maintaining healthy vocal technique.

    2. Expand my repertoire and finish filling my book (as well as expanding what I already have)

    3. Enhance my ability to shape the music (phrasing specifically) in the ways that I want to as an artist.

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  38. 1) In this last year or so I have been experiencing a not so great development in my voice where I can't release the tension in my throat, and while inhaling there is an uncomfortable tension in my shoulder and lower back. I would like to get to the bottom of that and make it stop.
    2) I would like to make practicing a priority this semester. I'd like to be singing 20 minutes a day at bare minimum.
    3) I would really like to improve my higher range, get rid of the breathiness in my upper register, and to strengthen my passaggio.
    4) I would like to develop a fuller sounding voice.

    -Call Vande Veegaete

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  39. Some of my personal goals this year include improving my pitch and tone. I'd like to establish a better base for my voice so my performances will be more powerful. If i could improve my breathing in both my singing and my regular life, I would greatly benefit from it. I'd also like to set up a practice schedule, and really stick to it this semester. I also think that if I stop listening to myself so much I'll sing much better.

    - Louis Hillegass

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  40. This year I have a lot of goals that I'd like to accomplish, so that I can graduate confident in putting myself out there! First of al, I really want to work through my second passagio. Its always been a tricky zone for me, and I would love to make my transitions through that area as smooth as possible. I would also like to get more comfortable in my head voice in front of people. Right now, I tend to stick with songs that are in my belt/mix, mainly because that is where I am the most comfortable in front of others. However, I would love to feel that way equally towards singing in my head voice. That being said, my mix is a very new voice, so I would love to work it more and fine tune it. I especially would love to start working on some contemporary songs with that sound. Finally, my book needs a lot of work, so a goal of mine is to add as much as I can to my book as soon as possible!

    Ari Glauser

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  41. I have many goals as well! I would love to make my chest voice stronger and have a diverse sound. I usually sing very pretty songs and would love to sing more edgy and "chesty." I am good at head dominant mix and I want to work on chest dominant mix and I think this year I will accomplish this. I think talk singing and being healthy will help me this year as well. Can't wait!

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  42. My goal this semester is to get into a regular habit of singing each day. I was in a living situation prior that didn't permit regular vocal training. I look at my friends whose home lives have supported and encouraged daily singing and am extremely jealous of the fantastic outcome which are their amazing voices. Aside from regular practice, I would like to learn how to keep breath support going strong on my very high notes as it's currently a hit and miss when attempting.

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  43. I have always been a very goal oriented person, and I hope to carry that into my collegiate studies. I have two resounding goals for this year.
    1) to grow as an artist in a mentally and physically healthy way. This includes healthy vocal training and effective growth in flexibility and strength, as well as keeping a sound and focused mind through out the process.
    2) adjust to a new environment and a new lifestyle. Being on the other side of the country is something that worries me some, as well as not really knowing anyone here, but I feel confident that I will adjust well.

    ~Jacob Weitlauf~

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  44. I would like to work on finding strength in my lower register. I would also like to work my upper mix and finding ways to not just power through notes that could be sung more efficiently.

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  45. Some vocal goals I have this year include some technical, common ones like releasing jaw and tongue tension, allowing them to relax in neutral positions. I also hope to commit more to my practice and stick to my schedule to not only be prepared for lessons and classes but also to strengthen and work my instrument.

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