There is one final step left to explore in “The Four Rs of Effective Practice.” When you establish your resolve, resolve on a plan of action, repeat that plan of action, and refine that plan of action, the final step is to reinforce. This is where you really start to strengthen, bolster, and shore up your skills.
Initially, this may involve rote repetition, allowing your body and brain to experience a successful pattern enough times for it to become familiar. As the skill begins to take hold, reinforcement can progress to include variability. In a way, that process is similar to the “refine” step but in reverse—taking a successful strategy and introducing confounding or interfering elements to see if the success can be maintained. This may come in the form of singing an exercise with different vowels or words, with a more complicated melodic pattern, or with varying dynamics.
You can also introduce physical movements as ways to reinforce, maybe seeing if you can execute the skill while walking backward just as well as when standing still (or maybe while doing the worm breakdancing move). You may try interspersing other vocal exercises between iterations of the exercise you're trying to reinforce. You may start to change your surroundings or circumstances by singing in different rooms, singing at different times of day, or singing in front of audiences of different sizes. This variability will reinforce the skill and start to solidify it within your capabilities, moving it into the 3rd stage of learning (the automatic stage).
To reiterate some of what I said when I started this series of "The Four Rs of Effective Practice," practice is a crucial component for improving vocal skills, but it can also be challenging and difficult to find the motivation to do. To once again quote author Joanie Brittingham in Practicing for Singers: A Guide to Solid Practice Habits, “While practice habits are only a small part of what is required for a successful singing career, they can be some of the easiest things to correct.” (viii)
Rosenberg and LeBorgne offer some final pertinent advice in The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer:
"Vocal pedagogy is not about learning a broad recipe of exercises to use systematically across all students. Voice pedagogy is about choosing exercises that are appropriate not only for the moment but also for the long-term development of the student. It is about recognizing when a student requires modification or adaptation, knowing when to push a student, and when to pause." (xiii)
“The Four Rs of Effective Practice” is not a “recipe of exercises” or a checklist. It's a process of exploration. By keeping them in mind, you probably won't ever have to wonder what you should be doing in the practice room. Just start by committing to your resolve, resolve upon a plan of action for the skill you want to address, repeat the decided-upon strategy, refine either the implementation of that strategy or the strategy itself, and reinforce what leads you to success.
Now go practice.
First and foremost, thank you so much for referencing the worm (the image of you doing it on the floor of 109 has not left my head since it happened). The idea of reinforcement is one that I feel is very much built into the curriculums of the MTP. We are able to work in a specific studio to block a piece/focus on the acting, a different room for voice lessons, putting the work into PAB during Dem Lab, all in order to be able to deliver a solid presentation in an even different room for an audition. That being said, I know that I have fully reinforced a piece when I am able to sing it in my car with the same technique that I did in your voice studio, TAB, or PAB. This is because I often find my inhibitions going completely out the window when it comes to singing in my car. I find this to be because of multiple factors: how loud the radio is, if the windows are down, if there's someone else in the car, or even if I can hear the AC/heat unit. So, I know I have fully reinforced a piece if I am able to sing it solidly in my car without goin all crazy!
ReplyDeleteAlexa Shaheen
Reinforcing practice and finding what works has been something I noticed that takes a lot of practice in and of itself. Some that has troubled me throughout this process is being honest with myself about what actually works and what is just easy. Reinforcing the idea of making practice a little difficult to be able to grow is something that I will be focusing on for the next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this semester I feel like I have almost had to reinforce the idea of reinforcement in my practice. As I have a very busy schedule a majority of my practice has been done in a confined location where I am unable to include variations such as movement. As we have been discussion SOVT’s in class I have started to include those throughout my practice regime rather than just as I am warming up; for example, I had been working on When She Loved Me and when I felt confident with a specific piece of the song I would go back and do it again using a straw or humming it and after doing that for a few minutes then I would see if I could replicate the sound I had previously liked. I have often found that I can replicate sound and it feels easier than if I hadn't included the SOVT’s and I will continue to reinforce my practice with this strategy as we move into the next songs.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of reinforcement really connects to how I’ve learned to make good habits in my own singing practice. I’ve noticed that when something finally starts to click, like finding a healthy mix or getting consistent breath flow, I have to keep returning to it in different ways so it actually sticks. For example, once I figured out how to stay relaxed while sustaining a high note, I started trying it with different vowels and even while moving around, just to see if I could keep that same balance. It’s like testing the stability of a bridge you just built. The part about variability really hit me, because singing isn’t just about being able to do something onc, it’s about being able to do it anywhere, under pressure, without thinking about it. Reinforcing skills that way makes them feel like second nature instead of something I have to try to remember.
ReplyDeleteI really love the four Rs of effective practice. I think it is a great guiding point in guidance to guide me through my sessions, and it’s a good visual to track where I am at with certain things. Reinforcement is so important to keeping your skills in tack, and knowing that it can be done in any scenario. In lessons, we talk about doing an audition piece in different spaces. We use the gradual progression from a lesson, to maybe a workshop, to Dem Lab, and then possibly to be used in an audition. By doing this, it reinforces consistency within your piece so that you feel confident in doing it different scenarios. I love the example that you give about trying things out walking backwards or doing the worm. Even though I don’t think the worm would be something I’d utilize in my practice, walking backwards definitely keeps you in check and tests your knowledge on if you really know the piece that you are working on. Reinforcement definitely also I feel has to do with consistency. You can further the strengthening in your reinforcement with repetition of it (oh my goodness one of the Rs!). I’ve appreciated the last few blogs a lot having to do with the four Rs, it definitely has flipped a switch for me in my brain. Thanks Brian for your wonderful words of wisdom!
ReplyDeleteShoutout to the masterclass worm that left us all speechless! Brian has got the MOVES. All jokes aside, this step is so vital to me, and I really understood why, especially at our last masterclass. Jamie had me lean up against a wall doing wall sits, and the way it changed how I viewed singing through my piece was amazing. It made me think about it more, and how to operate under different circumstances. Granted, this is how I've always felt bringing things into a room. There are some days where my vocals can be really on point, and from then on I think of it as me having conquered and learned my way through what I wanted. And then I try it again in lessons and do not get the same result. Performances shifts. Recently, I have been doing my best to refine and continuously reinforce my vocal choices and technique, that way, under different circumstances such as performances, anxiety, or just general fatigue, I can bring the best of what I have to the room, having faith that I trusted the work I put into my practice.
ReplyDeleteI had never thought about using different physical movements (such as walking backwards) to help reinforce my singing. I normally just sing in front of different groups of people. I think that is something I would like to try in my upcoming practices, however I do not think I am nearing the 3rd stage of learning for most of my songs so this is something I may have to keep on a backburner for now. Thank you!! (p.s. please show the ATP class the worm dance)
ReplyDeleteI am starting to get really jealous and curious about this whole worm thing. On a serious note, I have started using "warm up songs" (songs that I know backwards and forwards, upside down, and underwater) while practicing to make progress towards the third stage of learning. When I can do the song anywhere, It becomes part of my book and I know that I can use it to measure my progress.
ReplyDeleteps- please show the ATP the worm. please.
I really appreciate how this stage blends both consistency and creativity: at first, it’s about giving my body enough reliable repetition to make success feel natural, but then it becomes about challenging that success in new and unpredictable ways. That’s where I feel like my artistry begins to grow out of my technique. I find the idea of changing vowels, dynamics, or even physical movements especially exciting because it transforms practice from something static into something that I can portray with not only one instrument but multiple. I’ll have to keep that in mind. It reminds me that singing is about adaptability, expression, and confidence under any circumstance. I’m still working on the confidence part as I’m still new to singing but with the right reinforcement, it seems to train not only my voice but also my mind’s ability to stay grounded and flexible in the moment.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of reinforcing a skill by doing it under different circumstances- whether it be through doing different physical movements while executing the skill, being in a different place, or even just doing it at different times as a way to enter the automatic stage of learning is super interesting. I have been practicing at the same time every day, and I have noticed improvement especially with certain skills that I previously would have just given up on because of resolve. I think this week I will try practicing at slightly different times every day so that I may enter the automatic stage of learning for these skills, and add random physical movements as well.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of using physical movement to reinforce is so interesting to me because so many songs that I memorize in any kind of professional sense are musical theatre pieces. Those are so often combined with choreography or blocking that I subconsciously use this movement to help me keep the song memorized, even though I already know the music.
ReplyDeleteAdding variety in my practice has been a skill I have been working on throughout this semester. I have started to practice singing as I'm walking to class (very quietly), in my car, as well as in my usual bedroom. I feel like this practice has improved my comfort singing. It also helps keep practicing interesting because I am not doing the same thing all the time.
ReplyDeleteI think this is letting me write an actual comment on the website, let’s see…
ReplyDeleteLooking back on my college experience, “reinforcement” has probably been my biggest challenge and working point. My voice used to be foreign even to myself, and now I know what it is that I need to do to accommodate and understand my instrument. My sound fluctuates everyday, even more so when moving, in a new space, or performing. There are new things I learn about my personal habits and needs every time I practice.
The final F being reinforce is a perfect way to wrap up all the training that has been done. By reinforcing, you bring everything together and solidify it. Like you said, this leads into the final stage of learning, which allows you to do everything you've practiced in different settings, to different people, etc. Although I'm no where close to my final stage of learning, I see the path in front of me and in my future.
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe that reinforcement can be where the most “mistakes” are made when it comes to practicing. The importance you outlined of not just repeating the exact same thing over and over in the same environment, but challenging your ability to do a certain skill by putting it in different contexts is so overlooked. I have noticed within my own experience and training, I can achieve specific skills that stick with me, but only ever work when I’m on a particular vowel. I can belt a D5 at the end of Being Alive with zero trouble, but belting a C5 in No Good Deed is suddenly impossible. It’s not that the technique and skills aren’t there, it’s just that I can’t execute them in every environment and context. Reinforcement also requires a certain level of discipline and creativity. Knowing what you need to work on and all of the possible situations you could be asked to execute it in—different vowels, different audiences, different tempos, different versions of the worm (big fan of Brian the Breakdancer, btw).
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