The FUN FEBRUARY Practice Challenge:
"How much should I practice? " I hear that question a lot lately! Obviously, practicing helps our voices improve.
Since our body is our instrument, and our voices are made up of lots of tiny muscles, exercising them helps to improve strength, control, registration agility, and creates a more pleasing sound.
Practicing our music (songs/repertoire) helps us to learn them more fully, and helps us to feel more confident as we sing the notes, rhythms, and melody.
However, practicing can come in many forms. And we often practice more than we think we do.
Here are some easy ways to fit in “practicing”:
Humming in the shower moves our voices…slides especially!
Singing while doing other things like washing the dishes, or folding or putting clothes away is a GREAT way to fit in a practice.
If you have to wait in a line somewhere, instead of looking at your phone, run some lyrics over in your head, and see what you remember. Later, go back and see what you missed.
Singing in the CAR is one of the best ways to get your “alone” signing time in (for drivers only, or for supportive parents who don’t mind the singing in the back of the car!)
Goals for younger or beginner singers:
2x/week, sing the song/s you’re working on in lessons. Be sure you have a good working knowledge of the notes and words of that song. (10-15min.)
2x/week, practice your solfeggio (hand signs and words). You’ll be amazed at how fast you’ll get to know them! (5min.)
Sing for fun any time! Turn on your favorite tune, and dance and sing to it!
Goals for intermediate singers:
3-5x/week, you should be doing about 5-10min/day of slides or targeted vocal exercises that we work on in lessons.
2-3x/week, 20-30 min. of concentrated practice on the repertoire that you’re working on.
As singers, we are often moving our voices anyways, so yes, singing along to your favorite song (even if we aren’t working on it at lessons) is moving your voice and the vocal muscles. If you can bring some awareness and attention to your breath, or notice how your voice feels as you do this, YOU ARE PRACTICING!
Goals for more advanced singers:
Same as above for intermediate singers, but increase your time for working on the music that you’re studying and/or targeted exercises if needed.
You want to be sure that you’re really learning the notes and words accurately, and lining them up with your accompaniment.
Record yourself, and play it back. Ask yourself some questions:
Am I as in tune on each note as I could be? Do I sound lined up with the accompaniment? Are my words understandable? Am I communicating the message of the song? Is this the sound goal that I am reaching for?
Take time to listen to other singers (YouTube) and notice how they are singing. Identify if you hear them using the chest voice/mix/belt/or head registers. And watch what they do with their mouth and full body.
I am putting forth the challenge for each singer to begin to use the “Practice Log” in the MyMusicStaff online portal. You’ll log your “practice time” to see just how much you’re singing!
Now, it’s time to LOG your practices in the
MyMusicStaff online portal!
Be sure to Login!
As we take part in this, you can participate by age group.
Learn more about the criteria and prizes here!
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