Saturday, November 23, 2019

Stages of learning

[EDIT: A revised version of this blog is now published on the Classical Singer website. Please visit: https://www.csmusic.net/content/articles/stages-of-learning-and-how-it-affects-your-singing-progression/]

In recent years, motor learning theory has taken a more prominent place in vocal pedagogy. The three stages of motor learning explain how it is that we learn new skills and are outlined well in The Vocal Athlete by Wendy D. Leborgne and Marci Rosenberg and in Vocology by Ingo Titze and Kittie Verdolini Abbott. Knowing which stage of learning we are in can impact the way we approach our performances.

The first stage of motor learning is the verbal/cognitive stage. This is where you're just starting to explore a new skill and getting a feel for what you're doing. This stage requires a lot of repetition, a lot of guidance and feedback, and involves a lot of failed attempts. 

The second stage, the motor learning stage, is where you start to get the hang of things and you begin refining the skill. It's still not perfect every time, but you've done it successfully enough times to know what it feels like and to begin to be able to self-diagnose and to work through some of your own problems. 

Stage three, the automatic stage, is where the skills become automatic (as the name implies). You are able to execute the skill without as much concentration as before and you are able to do it in different settings, different situations, and even among distractions. Your self-diagnosis skills are also well developed, meaning that you won't need the help of a teacher as much as before. 

Of course, singing is not just one skill but a series of skills. Some of you may be really great at breath management but not as good at singing in a wide range. Some of you may feel really comfortable in chest voice but less secure singing in a more head voice-dominant register. Some of you may feel great singing vocal exercises but have a hard time bringing those sounds into songs. 

In other words, some parts of your singing are probably in stage three while others are in stage two or even in stage one. 

Part of what I like so much about understanding the stages of motor learning is that they come without judgement. People are not good singers or bad singers—we are all just in different stages of learning. 

If you are in stage two of singing through your passaggio, that means sometimes those notes are going to feel and sound great and sometimes they aren't. That doesn't mean that you're a terrible singer. It means you are in stage two of learning that particular skill, and that inconsistency is a necessary part of being in stage two. 

If you are so frustrated by being in stage one or stage two (which, when we're talking about singing, can literally last for years) that you give up, then you will never reach the automatic stage. That applies to singing, bowling, throwing darts, or any other skill you're trying to learn. 

We are all works in progress. No performance is a final, perfect statement of how something is done. It is only a reflection of what we are able to do on a given day with our current skills. None of us need to apologize for or feel bad about that. 

As you perform in your upcoming vocal juries and class finals, I hope that you will all be as expressive as you can and have as much fun as you can within your current (and varied) stages of learning. 

Thanks for a great semester. I can't wait to hear you all SING!


27 comments:

  1. I have been hearing that practicing consistently and for a long time will help you develop your skill(s), but now hearing about these three stages of motor learning, it all comes together!! I also like the concept that none of us are good or bad singers. We are all just at different stages of learning. I think for me, I definitely have a really difficult time being expressive when I am singing, but as I practice everyday, I can tell that I am improving a little everytime. And honestly, everything comes with practice. And something a teacher once told me was "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent," so it's also important for us to be able to practice in the correct way. That's the mindset that I need to start being in: everything comes with progress. And then, it doesn't stop there. You will always be progressing and improving!

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  2. I feel i'm in like perpetual stage 2 but I just gotta calm down and realize it's a marathon. It is very hard not to compare yourself to others, at least it's easy to say but to actually do is a much larger beast.It also doesn't help we're in a very 'competitive' profession but such is life. I just gotta start slowly trying to change my outlook bit by bit and keep practicing.

    -Brendan Lowry

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  3. I feel like there is so much truth to this post. I feel like about 90% of my vocal abilities lie somewhere in stage two. I am trying to find that consistency within my voice. I just feel like my range of a good performance to a bad performance is too wide, and I would love to be able to feel consistent in my skills. I'm really trying to work on my higher range as I know that is a place that I need to work, and this just reminded me how I need to be patient with my voice. I need to remember that in time it will all work out. I am proud of the work and progress I have done, but I do realize how much more I need to grow. We really are all at different levels, with different strong suits and weaknesses and it's been a great experience to see where I fit in this crazy bunch of classmates!

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  4. I really like those three stages of motor learning; especially the first stage. I’m a firm believer that repetition is the mother of skill. If you truly want to get better at something, the answer is always repetition. Whether it is singing, weight lifting, or even just trying to get a few strokes off of your golf game, repetition is the way to achieve success. What I also like about this first step is the fact that you will fail so many times. Michael Jordan once said “I have failed so many times, that is why I succeed.” If we truly want to get better, we also must fail because that is part of the experience and how we will grow as a person. That is something I’m realizing more and more with being in this program. In my freshman year, I was so worried about trying to do everything right and I was scared to be wrong and fail. I wanted to be perfect so that my professors would like me more. But perfection is an impossible expectation to reach; it cannot be done. So as this semester has gone on, I’ve been more comfortable with failing and have learned to cherish those moments because that is where I have really learned something. Obviously I shouldn’t strive to fail and I should always aim to not fail again in the same category or situation but its okay if that happens as well.
    What I love about the third step is that is where you truly get to find what skills you have become proficient in. I see it as a way to test yourself and see what is a strength and what still needs work. However, even the skills you’ve “mastered” you still have to keep at it otherwise it will slowly fade it away. It’s just like when you work out. You can get in the best shape of your life but if you don’t keep up at it, that physique you’re looking for and the health you want will slowly slip away if you don’t continue to practice at it.
    Finally I love the perspective of how people are just on different stages of motor learning and how this applies to literally everything we do. I honestly can’t find one thing that goes against that philosophy. I wish more people would have that perspective because then there’d be less judgment. There have been too many times in my life where I have been judged for not being good at something. And I’ll admit I have done some of that judging as well; we all have and we are lying to ourselves if we say we haven’t judged others. It’s a natural human behavior. So that is something I need to monitor about myself but I think other people should do the same. This is something I’ll be thinking about a lot as we go into our final next week. That way I can be more confident in what I’ll be able to bring to the table as well as what everyone else brings to the table. We are all just at different stages and are working towards a better future. Sarah Shippobotham always says to us that it is a process no matter how many times you have done something. So like you said, there never is a final or an end to something we are working on and I couldn’t agree more with that.
    -Dylan Burningham

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  5. I am so grateful and proud of myself and my fellow classmates for the work we’ve done in your class. I actually never thought I’d get up and sing in front of people as a performer and not as a karaoke person. I’m excited to keep pursuing singing and letting go of fear so much. I think it is obvious that part of singing is letting emotions that aren’t usually exposed, exposed. I think being an actor is not so much as to learning how to expose yourself, but channel that fear and emotion into something else. I can be the greatest actor ever but theres always still more to let go of. Letting go of fear is another phrase for letting the realness go.
    -Max Villa

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  6. Stages of learning are such an important part of the learning cycle that we just completely forget about because of how self-conscious we have become as a society. We always forget that people have to start from square 0 and then work their way up from there. No one just starts at square 100 and then gets to square 1000 within a week. There are the occasional "prodigies" and "talents" that have a different case scenario with them, but that is such a rare occurrence.

    I think one of the hard things is when you're learning to do something, let's say piano: then people tend to go "oh you're learning piano? Play something for us!" and then there is the sudden pressure to play the most impressive and amazing ballad ever, even though you've explained you're learning. Impressing people gives off such a great feeling that we seek the impressive factor first, and tend to leave the learning factor behind. It's a sad reality, but the more people that realize that we all begin at the bottom, the more people will begin trying new things. I tip my cap to people who are in their elder-years and try something new. They don't let the fact that they will be a beginner so late in their lives top them from trying something they have always wanted to try.

    Thanks for a great semester,
    Connor

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  7. I find this pretty interesting because it kind of outlines how our whole semester was structured in your class. After performing 8-9 plus times, I felt each time with more confidence and I could focus less on my anxiety and more of how I am wanting the sound to come out or then acting in the character. It seems to resemble some sort of building blocks in terms of singing and how its a progressive process that takes time but on the other hand, when something fits, it fits! I think this also highlights the importance of self discipline when it comes to achieving certain skills you want whether it's singing or any other activity. Also I think this is a good reminder of how relative singing is for each person.

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  8. I have always been fascinated by how someone learns and retains information, whether it is for memorizing a script, practicing songs, learning new choreography, or studying for a test. I think I am so intrigued by it because I truly did not know how I learned and what I personally needed in order to succeed in an educational environment until I got to college. I have inattentive ADHD, which I was diagnosed with as a young child and causes my mind to wander, which can make learning difficult, but I have been getting a better grip on it as I have gotten older. I am a slow learner and I need to spend hours upon hours with my material to get it to stick. I wish I could be one of those people who just soaked up new information like a sponge, but unfortunately that is not how I operate. I have an interest in being a dance teacher one day, probably after I am done with performing, so my personal learning struggles have been quite informative because I feel that I have a thorough understanding of the mechanics of things and I am really good at breaking things down for anyone to understand because of that. That being said, I would consider my learning disability to be both a blessing and a curse.

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  9. I think defining learning into “stages” is a really interesting way to watch your progress. I sometimes feel like I have no idea when I am improving, or growing. I think within the ATP singing class we have been going through the stages all together, which has been super interesting and informative. I feel like I started out the class unaware of what stage I was in, as I didn’t have the vocabulary to understand singing and my singing in particular. I feel like after completing the course I feel like a solid stage two. But I hope to get better! I am proud overall about how comfortable I got with performing in front of my classmates. I started out really dreading it, and not enjoying the experience, now I feel like I can do it with some success.
    -Jillian DiNucci

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  10. Reading this really reminded me of my progress in this class as well as my progress in singing in general. I'm proud of myself and the progress I have made this semester. The process that this class took me through has really helped in ways I didn't expect it too. For example, I thought that I knew how to breathe and that I was doing everything I could to get the most out of my voice as far as breath goes. I now know that I was wrong. I've noticed considerable changes in my voice this semester. I never really wanted to include singing in my post-high school acting career. But now, I want it to continue. Thank you for a great semester, and I hope to continue to use all the things we've learned in this class in my future career.

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  11. I think this has been one of my favorite blogposts of the semester. I think it perfectly sums up how I feel/have felt in the past. At the beginning of the semester I considered myself a bad singer, because I had no training and was just singing for the fun of it. I had no clue what I was doing. Which makes sense as to why I couldn’t hit notes or found myself forcing the length of notes. Once I learned the skills to execute what I thought I did well (preform) I felt my voice really come to life and singing began to make sense! It’s been night and day honestly. I was practicing our songs with my mom over the break and she kept saying how much I have improved, which was incredible to hear because she used to tell me how bad my singing was! I think that overall I’m at a level 2, getting close to a level 3. I feel really comfortable singing but sometimes the execution is a little shaky when it comes to the high register of my voice, but I’m going to keep working on it because if I can get to level 2 I can get to level 3. Thank you for an amazing semester it has been a pleasure learning from you.

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  12. When I look at myself and try to see which stage I am in, it seems pretty clear to me that I am in stage 2. I know generally how to do it and overall I am happy with my singing. However I sometimes trick myself into believing that I am in stage three. When I do this my singing suffers because I think that I will do it just fine automatically, rather then focus on the skills I need to do it well. Instead I need to remember to always be conscious about my technique, at least until I get to stage three.
    -Grayson Kamel

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  13. This reminds me a lot about some terms we've been throwing around in our other classes. I think Stacey was the one that first told us that we learn in four stages unconscious incompetence, (where we are unable to do something and we aren't aware of it)conscious incompetence, (where we are aware of where we want to go but can't get there yet) conscious competence, (Where we are able to do what we want but we have to make conscious effort to succeed) and unconscious competence (where we can succeed in doing something without having to work on it actively. I feel that in a lot of places I am at a 2 where I have experience doing things correctly and am able to understand what I've done wrong and how to fix them, but am not able to do things unconsciously correct in most places. I do have things that are still on the level of one, and some things that I excel at, but I think the best next step for me is to go back to taking consistent lessons so that I can refine these 2 and one areas and become a more competent singer.

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  14. This is a good blog! I've enjoyed your pass blogs as well but this one really resonated with me. I belive myself to be in the early 1st and 2nd stage with singing and I belive with time hopefully I can get to that 3rd stage. The way this has broken down the learning as well as what happens during those stages is useful in the way that I don't know where I am and now it feels you've handed me a map. I also really enjoy that you put "it may take years for many individuals to reach the third stage" because it has that sense of hope and factual truth. We are constantly growing, leanrning and becoming more accustom to our instrument. Thank you for the blog!

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  15. This is such a great blog to end the semester with. I'm really grateful for this class and for the reintroduction to singing and the expansion of it. It's been awesome to be able to be reminded that I really do love music and singing, and I am genuinely good at it, and I didn't have to abandon something I was passionate about when I decided to pursue acting solely. I love that, this semester, so many of the lessons and themes of our classes have aligned and correlated so much, and this blog does the same; it reminded me of what we've learned in Stacey's class with the concept of "unconscious competence", and I think that unconscious competence is the same as Stage 2 Learning, and that draws some ideas into focus for me in regard to tracking my progress and in terms of understanding my level of ability.
    Thank you!
    -Syd Beacham

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  16. I am suffering tonight from whatever bug I caught, so reading this blog was my singing outlet for the day haha. I am in stage 1 for sure with riffs and runs. It's true that giving up gets us nowhere. It took my body 40 times on a wakeboard to get up for the first time. If I had given up at 15 I would've believed I couldn't wakeboard, but alas... I was simply a stage 1 wakeboarder.

    Hoping that I sound better by tomorrow. My throat and sinuses are NOT happy. Hope you had a much better, non ill, weekend full of just as much good food!!! :)

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  17. I really enjoyed this blog and it was definitely the best blog to read right before juries. Treaty helped to identify with myself that everyone is in different stages of their growth and that I should just focus on the work that I have put into my music. My favorite part about the blog was the part that said "no final is a the final product", I feel that I stress myself with trying to perfet with my songs that I can completely forget about having fun at times. One of my goals at the beginning of the semester was to improve this, but somewhere a long the way I have forgotten about how bad I want to improve at this. I am going to walk into this week's jury as confident as I can be so that I can walk out knowing I gave it my all and had fun a long the way.
    -Caden Tudor

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  18. I really enjoyed this blog and it was definitely the best blog to read right before juries. Treaty helped to identify with myself that everyone is in different stages of their growth and that I should just focus on the work that I have put into my music. My favorite part about the blog was the part that said "no final is a the final product", I feel that I stress myself with trying to perfet with my songs that I can completely forget about having fun at times. One of my goals at the beginning of the semester was to improve this, but somewhere a long the way I have forgotten about how bad I want to improve at this. I am going to walk into this week's jury as confident as I can be so that I can walk out knowing I gave it my all and had fun a long the way.
    -Caden Tudor

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  19. I liked this post because one of my biggest obstacles in this major is being too hard on myself. I get frustrated when I have to be given a note multiple times, why can’t I just get it the first time so I don’t have to waste my professor’s time re-explaining something? I continually forget that the learning process isn’t linear. This was so good to read right before our final. Practicing is going okay, sometimes I feel a little bored with the same exercises or like I’m not self-monitoring enough, which stresses me out. -Serena

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  20. I think a lot of us can relate to this. In Stacey's class we are learning about being aware of the level of learning we are at. It can be really frustrating, especially in the arts when it feels like you either have something or you don't. Singing is definitely an uphill climb for me but I have enjoyed it so far. Each week is different, and there isn't a code that can be cracked or an equation that works. -Lexie Thomsen

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  21. This was very encouraging to read! It’s always a good reminder that we are all here to learn and that there is always room for improvement and growth. And sometimes it’s hard to even know you’re growing when in your mind you feel like you aren’t getting any better. I found it helpful for me to just look back at old songs and sing them again and just hearing how far I’ve come in these past years. It’s really encouraging going into these next jury’s knowing I’ve got something new to share. And that if it’s not perfect, to not beat myself up because I’m in stage two of learning. And just reminding myself I actually do enjoy singing and performing and this is just an opportunity to do so!

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  22. These concepts sound very familiar to the four stages of competency that gets used a lot in my acting training. The four stages of competency outline that when you are learning a new skill, you are first unconsciously incompetent, then consciously incompetent, then unconsciously competent, and finally consciously competent. These stages are used to give a rough outline of how our four years of acting training should feel, starting freshman year being unconsciously incompetent, and ending our senior year consciously competent.

    However, I haven’t exactly felt this to be the case. I feel like I’m often very aware of my ineptitude, or that I might still be floating somewhere in the consciously incompetent phase. But the reality that I’ve come to accept is that even if we are truly consciously competent at something, there will be times that we doubt ourselves or think we are incompetent. Or that some days, we might be more competent than others. What’s important is that we build an environment for ourselves that facilitates progress and the actualization of goals. I’ve found that, through singing this semester, I’ve been able to set my sights on real, achievable goals for myself in the realm of singing and vocal performance. And come to grips with the fact that I won’t always be consciously competent at what I’m doing, or automatically be able to utilize a skill to my furthest ability. But that I will always have the drive to reach that point, and that I will always want to achieve the end goal of being the most successful, competent, and honest artist that I can be.

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  23. I like the specific breakdowns of each stage of learning. I can absolutely feel myself in some of these with various aspects of my singing. It helps to remind me that when I fuck up it's not a big deal because it's part of getting it right. I also recently have seen myself being able to self diagnose more accurately than before. When my voice feels off or something in my singing feels wrong I can figure out why and make an adjustment. I really like identifying with these 3 stages, it is a good mindset to be in that messing up is required to get great at something

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  24. This blog was exactly what I needed prior to Tuesday's final. I'm so proud of what I have learned this semester and the skills I'm beginning to cultivate. I especially am proud of how my confidence has really grown. I have never felt so comfortable singing in front of others, and although I still get nervous and could have one of the black outs while singing, I am still able to open my mouth and make some noise. And that's better than I've ever done before. I think I'm currently in stage 2 of the process as a whole, and I'm excited to keep working on this skill in the future. I finally feel like I have my foot in the door and a good place to start building. Thank you for everything this semester Brian, and I hope you have a great winter break!

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  25. This was a really great blog it’s interesting for me to think about the things I came here already doing and then all the things that I’ve been able to change and reteach my body in my time here. I can also definitely see that what I’m missing with some of my skills is just drilling the things I have issues with and working to actively correct them. There are so many things that I think about every little bit but I’m just not staying as on top of them as I should which is what I need to work on!

    Thanks,
    Dylan Watson

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  26. We talked about this in our lesson but I’m glad there was a whole blog about it! This has been a tough semester and I had a lot of setbacks but also a lot of progress I didn’t give myself credit for. I am not getting any worse and I guess that’s something to cheer for! Thanks for everything

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