One of the trends that's been around for a few years now is for younger people to wear band shirts from their parents' eras. I'll admit to being a little shocked when my students started wearing the same Metallica, Def Leppard, and Poison shirts that I owned in high school. I have an 11-year-old private student who came to her last lesson with a Bon Jovi shirt on. I said, somewhat excitedly, "Oh, you're a fan of Bon Jovi?" And she said, "A fan of what?" Her mother chimed in, saying, "She doesn't know who that is." Too bad. Even if this trend is only a retro fashion statement, it still shows that everything that goes around comes around again. And that's not at all a bad thing.
I find that, sometimes, we can be so focused on what's new and exciting that we ignore what is more traditional, tried, and true. Like the '80s band shirts, rediscovering something can help us re-appreciate its value. Think about Broadway revivals. Sunset Boulevard is suddenly one of the hot tickets in New York, even though it first opened on Broadway more than 30 years ago.
These trends happen in voice pedagogy, as well. Last semester, I blogged about the benefit of 10-minute practice sessions. Current research highlights the benefits of "distributed practice" or "spaced learning" over "massed practice" or "massed learning." The research indicates that we tend to get more out of our practice if we do it in multiple short sessions spread throughout the day rather than in one session of an hour or longer. It turns out, even though these recommendations are based on research studies from the 21st century, this isn't a new idea, either.
I recently read the new edition of The Vocal Athlete by Wendy D. LeBorgne and Marci Rosenberg. They cite a vocal treatise by the famous Spanish voice teacher Manuel García II (1805-1906) that was written in 1841. Those of you who have taken my vocal pedagogy class may remember García as the inventor of the first laryngoscope—he used two dental mirrors to reflect sunlight in a way that allowed him to see his own vocal folds in motion. According to LeBorgne and Rosenberg:
"García also advocated for a distributed practice schedule beginning with 5 minutes and slowly progressing to a consecutive 30 minutes over time as stamina increased. He encouraged his students to practice for no more than 30 minutes in one session up to four times daily." (p.179)
It's worth noting that, even when García's students had developed significant vocal stamina, he still advocated only practicing for 30 minutes at a time. And he suggested engaging in multiple practice sessions that were spread throughout the day. So, maybe this research isn't as cutting-edge as some of us thought. It just confirms practices that have been around for a long time.
Of course, none of us needs to wait around for a research study to tell us what to do. There are some things that we know work because our experience tells us so. Naturally, when we have better information, we can change our behavior accordingly. But, in the meantime, like putting on our favorite old shirt, we should keep following the practices that lead to the best results. This holds true whether they come from Manuel García II, from 21st-century research studies, or even from Bon Jovi. ("Take my hand and we'll make it. I swear.")
How has your practice been this week? Have you been able to find a routine and solidify your practice habits?
Now go practice.
It's honestly really cool to see old things recirculate. It has happened a ton recently with trends of all sorts: clothing, social media, even technology. I think it's because the newer generations look back at older things and think they are appealing, while the people who lived during those times in the past have already gone through the appeal. For a specific example, it's like with digital cameras. They've always been a thing but they have recently gained a lot of popularity.
ReplyDeleteMy practice this week has been pretty consistent I would say. I still haven't created a set routine yet (which I need to definitely prioritize this upcoming week) but I find myself singing at least twice every day. I do love the information about taking multiple shorter practice sessions rather than one big, long one. It gives your voice a chance to refresh, and it also is rather time efficient, when looking at a busy schedule.
For the record, I would like it known that any and all band shirts I wear are in fact bands I listen to and like, but I also understand the trend of wearing it for aesthetic. Last semester I had a professor question me for wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt because he couldn't possibly believe that someone of my generation knew anything about classic rock, which is very representative of us forgetting or ignoring older vocal practices. I understand how the concept of short, spread out practices leads to better results; our attention spans are short, and repetition tends to help cement practices into our body. Personally, I have a hard time practicing for only a short bit at a time, since it requires going to the effort of finding a practice room and setting everything up. I tend to zone in when it comes to singing since I love it so much, and I'll leave the practice room 2 hours later because I tried to get everything done at once, but it leaves me vocally and mentally tired. These last couple of weeks however, because my schedule doesn't have many breaks and doesn't allow for me to do anything for many hours, I've already been more prone to do mini-practices. A warm-up for 12 minutes, reviewing my notes and words for 5 minutes, and then moving forward with my day. It makes my day feel more well-rounded, and I hope to be able to keep up this schedule.
ReplyDeleteDistributed practice is by far the effective method of practice for my learning style I've noticed! That said, I've been working recently to do longer practice sessions to build up stamina for Xanadu. Through doing this, I've realized my true appreciation for distributed practice and its clear effect on not only my improvement of skill but also how it allows for more consistency in my practice.
ReplyDeleteNow that rehearsals are in full swing, I am beginning to transition to more distributed practice in an effort to create a solid practice schedule for myself and not abandoning materials we are working on in lessons.
Practice has been going swell! I am stoked to get working on new, different, and challenging material this semester.
Alexa Shaheen
I think it is so cool to see a bunch of things come full circle. Like this post for example. I've been really stressed the past few weeks with balancing the amount of classes and rehearsals, so finding time to practice has been a bit challenging. Finally sitting down and lining up my schedule, and remembering that I learn best when not pushed to for long periods of time, then it finally clicked into place that even the small amounts of practice for maybe around half an hour are going to be a lot more beneficial to me than if I were to either practice not at all, or for WAY too long. I really want to stick to practicing and building skills and rep, and taking those little steps at a time is a little bit encouraging and reassuring to have when overwhelmed with things that might lead me to stray from practicing. Here's to getting this semester rolling!
ReplyDeleteThe way that trends, concepts, and politics are currently “coming back around” has me quite nervous these days. I know that with all things, something else had to exist before. Music has been one of few constants throughout the eons. All music is sampled from all the music that came before it, and I think that’s beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe study discussed in this article was one that I was delighted to return to, because it brings awareness to the importance of vocal health and distributed practice. Distributed practice, as opposed to massed practice, has been a pillar of keeping my voice healthy throughout college. As someone who works best as a “crammer”, learning to destruct that in my vocal journey has been really progressive. I am hopeful that my new practice schedule will be something I use to reach my goals this semester.
Hailey Petersen
My practice this week has been great, and it’s been great all semester. I’ve been working a lot on my show and finding the right vowel shapes and resonance in my sound. I am working and trying to get better with my middle voice and golden age sound. Things are looking up. I’ve been working a lot on different styles and always doing my straw work every day. It’s been great to be able to consistently warm up and get myself to a place where I can sing on any day. I don’t have a consistent practice schedule, but I sing very often and feel good about my voice on a daily basis. I hope I can find a daily practice schedule that works.
ReplyDeleteMy practice has been alright this semester. It’s always tricky adjusting to a new schedule and this show has been a very new schedule for me - fun, but new. I have found that my practice time has been spent reviewing my music for the show and not a ton for myself or my lessons, which is pretty normal for me during a show. I’ve been doing a lot of short sessions too because I’ve been tired (vocally and mentally) after rehearsals so I keep it short and sweet. It’s cool to see that the trend of appreciating short practice is coming back around, thanks for sharing!
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