As we've been exploring in previous blogs, in order to develop a skill we have to experience the three stages of motor learning: the verbal/cognitive stage, the associative/motor learning stage, and finally, the automatic stage. As the name implies, this final stage is where the skill becomes automatic. We are able to execute the skill without as much concentration as before, we are able to perform it in different settings and in different situations, and we can even perform it among distractions. Our self-diagnosis abilities are also well developed in the automatic stage, meaning that most of the time we won't need the help of a teacher to continue practicing automatic skills.
So...how do you know when you've reached the automatic stage and finally learned how to sing?
Well, as we've discussed, singing is not just one skill but a series of skills. I'm not sure anyone can reach the automatic stage in absolutely every element of their singing. (Although, maybe one of you will prove me wrong on this!)
That being said, as Titze and Verdolini Abbott write in Vocology (quoting the research of Schmidt and Lee, 2010),
"[...] we do not observe learning directly. We can only infer it from observation of performance changes that follow practice or exposure." (p.219)
One indication that you have reached the automatic stage of learning in a particular singing skill is if you can execute that skill with relative consistency on different days, at different times of day, in different settings, and in different situations. For instance, let's say you're a tenor and you want to belt a high A. If you are in the automatic stage, you will probably be able to belt that A with pretty reliable quality on any vowel, early in the day (if you're warmed up) or late in the day, in the practice room, in auditions, and in performances. If you can consistently belt a high A on an "ah" vowel but not on an "ee" vowel, you may be in the automatic stage on the "ah" but not yet on the "ee." But, if you can belt that "ah" perfectly when you're by yourself but every time you try to do it in Dem Lab, you end up cracking, then that skill is probably not yet in the automatic stage.
So...once you've reached the automatic stage on a particular skill, does that mean you have arrived and no longer need to practice?
The answer to this question may actually lie in exercise physiology rather than motor learning theory. As Leborgne and Rosenberg discuss in The Vocal Athlete, singers need to be mindful of reversibility (which I blogged about in 2016). They write,
"[...] use it or lose it. If we train our voice to adapt to the demands of a specific role or song and then stop, we will lose those gains fairly quickly. Additionally, the longer you refrain from training, the longer it takes to reestablish gains." (p.324)In other words, we have to continue to practice the skills we want to maintain, even if they are "learned" and in the automatic stage.
What elements of your singing are in the automatic stage? How has your singing been this week?
Now go practice.
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| Sorry, the road toward learning never ends! |
I think I am really getting close to the automatic stage of singing through my passagio and or singing in a mix. It keeps getting more and more consistent each time I practice, and I get less and less anxious about it. Then i get sick, or something weird happens, and suddenly I cant do it anymore. I'm learning that these little flubs always pass and it just takes a little bit to reteach myself how to do it. The more this happens, everytime it comes back it gets stronger. I am trying to think of my setbacks as growing moments. Just keep practicing practicing practicing. It's getting there!
ReplyDeleteI don't think many things are automatic for me. Maybe singing the consonants at the end of the note? I'm not sure. I don't think I've been doing lessons long enough to have many automatic skills, but I do think the things I learned in various choirs throughout my life are ingrained and just happen naturally, for better or for worse. I need to be better about practicing. EVERY DAY. This habit is not easy for me to get into. But hey, I'm doing my blog on time! And I'm very proud of myself for doing the musical audition. I'm only getting more and more practiced at doing scary things!
ReplyDelete-Serena
This week has been rough for me in all aspects. The auditions were a little difficult because I haven’t figured out how to sustain a reinforced falsetto so that its repeatable and not tiring. I also had a bit of a family emergency that result in a lot of crying so I’m considerably swollen from that. On top of all that, I’m absolutely getting sick and can’t seem to stop coughing so that also sucks. Despite all this, there are certain parts of my voice that remain intact and I think that’s due to the training and ingraining of the technique. Generally, when I throw all my sound forward into my mask I can sing in spite of most ailments. I’m still working on getting to a place where I can sing whatever whenever but we’re not there yet.
ReplyDeleteI think I’m in the automatic stage of my brighter head dominant mix sound. It’s always been my go-to singing quality and I can do it with little to no effort or without really thinking about it much. I also noticed that when I was getting sick constantly last year it was the gear I pretty much lived in because it felt the most comfortable and there was little to no compensation of sound.
ReplyDeletePractice has been going well this week. I am enjoying going back and singing older songs in my book and it’s fun to see how much I have grown since sophomore year. It’s nice to measure with the same song how much you’ve learned even in just this past year.
I'm not exactly sure if any of my skills are in the automatic stage yet. Possibly the use of my lower range? I've never ran into problems with notes or vowels on lower songs because it falls right in my comfortable range and my work in those areas seems to be essentially automatic. One of the biggest things I struggle with is finding consistency in my voice across all areas, and that is a major component of the automatic stage so I'm still working a lot to bring my skills to this level. Even when I'm really sick though, my lower range doesn't seem to be a problem, but I lose the ability to sing essentially anything at a higher register. I am hoping though through practice and training I can get closer to mastering my voice. This week practicing has been a little insane with all of the auditions and everything, but it has been really rewarding to revisit old songs and sing the higher notes without a problem. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster of emotion with all of the audition stress mixed with personal stuff, but I've felt a lot of growth as an artist. I'm becoming more comfortable in the audition room and am able to feel more confident in what I have to offer in that room. I've also focused on being more positive with myself after auditions, as I don't have the emotional energy to fall apart after every bad audition. I'm starting to turn my nervous energy into excitement for the audition!
ReplyDeleteRight now I believe that an element of my singing that is in the automatic stage is not sounding nasal and opening my upper pallet when singing higher notes. While this isn’t including every note in the upper part of my range, it does feeling more consistent when I am singing. I feel that my notes are stronger and clearer without sounding nasal. Unfortunately, I am not always able to tell when I sound nasal, but I am noticing when my upper pallet is open when singing and feel the difference there. My singing over the past week has been a mix of good and bad. I have had a bad cough so I have been doing less singing overall, but it has gone away so I am able to sing more as the week ended.
ReplyDeleteWill
I think for me singing most things on a straight tone in my range is automatic beyond that I think most of my skills are in the first and/or second stage. In other practice news I think I've had an epiphany on practice ethic. Id spend so much time in the practice room but in all honesty fail to do much meaningful practice and I think this has been because my goals for each practice session were both huge and undefined. Buckling down on small goals (and I mean small) is truly going to change how I practice from now on. Hopefully now I'll be able to make some of the progress I want to see and hear.
ReplyDelete-Brendan Lowry
Right now, I think I am in the automatic stage when it comes to singing higher notes in a more chest-dominant color. I usually can just spring those notes out super loud and chesty. However, what I really want to work on developing into an automatic stage is singing higher notes but in a more head-dominant color that isn't as strong or loud. And because I was sick for a while and wasn't singing, I feel like my progress was halted and even went back a little, so now I feel like I'm starting from scratch again to stretch my vocal folds to easily make that kind of sound again. In addition to that, I have an easier time singing in a more forward placement in my voice than a more classically-focused placement. That is another objective that I hope to accomplish within my training here: to get comfortable singing more Golden Age musical theatre repetoire.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think there is much about my voice that I would consider to be in the automatic stage. Perhaps that is me being a little bit of a perfectionist, but from what I've gathered, I don't have to think about what type of sounds need different approaches (chest, head, or falsetto), that has become automatic. Additionally, diction and how to pronounce words in a healthy way is easy for me. Small things for now, in terms of the grand goal of being a professional singer, but important steps indeed.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the portion of the blog pertaining to "use it or lose it", I am quite familiar with this concept, being an active gym goer myself. Singing is no different from any skill, it must be used and crafted constantly, to maintain your "gains" but also to improve upon them. I see it as a game against myself, past Josh versus present Josh. A game I plan on having present Josh always win.
- Josh Wheeler
I believe that I am in the automatic stage in the area of pitch especially. I rarely, if ever, have to check and see if I am singing the correct pitch once I've learned the notes. I think having this skill locked in helps me to have the mental space to focus on other skills I am still developing. My singing this week has been highly frustrating, as I am both sick and drowning in music to learn.
ReplyDeleteNow go teach.
-JT Kaufman