Quiz
1. It is 9 p.m. and your lesson is tomorrow. You haven’t practiced in three days and you do not know your new art song. You decide to . . .
a. Slap your own face and go to a practice room.
b. Listen to your song on YouTube, then binge watch a Netflix series until you fall asleep.
c. Spend time writing out the IPA.
2. You have just finished a great lesson. Your voice feels warm and your high notes are better than ever. You have two hours before choir rehearsal, so you . . .
a. Go to a practice room, look at your music, and set goals for the week.
b. Go to a practice room and sing for two hours until you make yourself hoarse, and then skip choir.
c. Hop on a flight to Vegas—this lucky streak is too hot to ignore!
3. You are supposed to perform a new song for a masterclass and you have no idea what the text means. You . . .
a. Search the Web for a translation and end up online shopping.
b. Dust off a dictionary.
c. Figure out what the title means, then go out with your friends.
The answer key is not in this article; it is in your own common sense and commitment. If you are a vocal music major, your teachers, coaches, conductors, and directors expect you to learn your music, translate your texts, perfect your diction, reimagine your interpretation, display your technical mastery, and look good while doing it! Vocal development requires time management to practice daily and the understanding of the process to practice effectively.
Many incoming freshmen voice majors do not know how to practice or balance all the vocal demands of ensemble music on top of their solo repertoire. As a voice professor, it is my job to teach students how to practice and prioritize. I have five suggestions to improve your practice, but spoiler alert: Siri cannot do it for you.
Classical vocal technique does not develop overnight. Your progress will most likely happen slowly and surely—as a result of daily practice, good physical health, keen mental focus, and your ability to make music come to life in performances. If you have not had private lessons or sung in a choir before college, you are beginning a new journey. In every university there will be outstanding talents, but talent alone will not get you very far. The successful voice major practices daily, commits to attending all rehearsals, prepares for lessons, and embraces a positive and respectful attitude.
Five Tips for Improving Vocal Practice Habits
1. Define the Word “Practice”
For every music major, the term “practice” evokes different ideas and every teacher has slightly different expectations, but these are the basics:
• Vocalize to warm up the voice and develop healthy vocal technique.
• Learn your music and texts.
• Fix problem sections of songs and arias.
• Master the styles of your repertoire.
• Memorize your repertoire.
Learning music will come easily to some and be painstakingly slow for others. If music literacy is limited, then basic counting and plunking out notes will take patience. Within a semester of theory and aural skills, sight singing in choir, etc., your musicality will improve. Students need to understand that private lessons are not for learning notes and rhythms—lesson time is meant to develop vocal technique.
When it comes to practicing, the student/teacher relationship will benefit from specific dialogue about what you are supposed to do each day. Expectations will rarely be fulfilled on accident, but assigned tasks are achievable and prove your accountability.
If you are struggling to create a basic practice routine, ask for ideas from your professors, upperclassmen, and other musicians you admire. YouTube is a great tool for introducing a new song by listening to a great artist but, ultimately, voice majors need to woodshed their music and develop their own interpretation for performance.
2. Stop Procrastinating
Many students admit they procrastinate practicing because they do not know how to do it. They rarely feel like they accomplish anything or they are busy with tests and academic work during the week. They might hear direction or criticism in a lesson, but do not know how to address the problem on their own.
Practicing does not always have an immediate sense of accomplishment and it is not always fun. And, yet, there is no way around it—regular practice is the way to improve vocal technique and learn music. You might be able to learn a song in one weekend, but please don’t be the student who complains, “I knew this song earlier” when you cannot get through it in your lesson. If you cannot sing it in your lesson, then you don’t know it!
The beauty of practice is that it is yours. You get to take a break if you are frustrated or you can repeat a phrase 25 times if you keep missing a word or a note. Mindful repetition will create muscle memory that will ground you when you get nervous. This idea can also work against you. If you repeat the same mistake with the same tension, that also creates muscle memory. The old saying “Practice makes perfect” needs to be adjusted to “Practice makes permanent.”
Singing classical music is an art that requires daily commitment to mastering basic techniques. Learning the notes is just the beginning. Mastering the mechanics of vocalization might not feel artistic or sexy in the beginning, but Carmen will not be able to sing the Seguidilla without an effortless ascending scale! Your unique artistry is a work in progress, with an emphasis on “work.”
3. Love your Repertoire
Perhaps the most common reason students procrastinate practice is disinterest in their repertoire. If you are not in love with your music, then ask your teacher for something different. Purcell is not everyone’s cup of tea. Maybe Dowland or Handel will inspire you. The same goes for every language and genre. The search for music you want to sing can be a joyful adventure that counts as practice time. (Listening to Jonas Kaufmann is research!) Find the singers who inspire you and the music you love to sing, and then you will want to practice.
What? Your teacher wants you to learn “Sebben crudele” and you want to sing “Caro nome”? Tough. Your voice is still developing. Get over it. Why would you sing an aria demonstrating what you can’t quite do yet when you have the technical skill to deliver a less complex piece perfectly?
But we get it. Young singers want to show off their party tunes with high Qs and low Zs. The stylistic elements you love in a big aria can almost always be found in an art song. Ask for advice, hunt down music you love, and sing it beautifully.
4. Set Practice Goals
Undergraduate voice majors need to understand their abilities and limitations in order to set short- and long-term goals. Talk with your teacher candidly about your strengths and weaknesses. Your teacher can assign daily exercises that will help you manage breath control, sing an even scale, master the extremes of your range, perform messa di voce, etc. You do not need expensive equipment—record these exercises on your phone and go straight to the practice room. You’ll find yourself warmed up and ready to work on your short-term goals (learning your music) and you will be honing your technique for the long-term goals (becoming a badass superstar).
I ask students to keep a practice journal. Some students create colorful excel spreadsheets and others scratch notes in pencil on the back of their music. Our different learning styles are our own.
Ultimately, you will be judged by your results on stage, not your practice journal; therefore, if you start writing down the basics of your practice sessions (how long, what time, vocalizations, repertoire, etc.) you will be able to track your own success/failure rate. You will see patterns of better practice in the morning or evening, with longer or shorter vocalizes, etc., depending on your unique biorhythms. By writing down a minimal summary of what you do when you practice, you will zero in on questions for your teacher on specific ways to improve your technique.
The length of practice time differs among students, but a solid beginning goal is five times a week for the length of your lesson. So, for example, a 60 minute lesson equals 60 minutes of practice a day. Of course, this changes when you are sick, overtired, feeling anxiety, etc.
There are times I put students on vocal rest for a day. Vocal fatigue (both muscular and tissue) happens often when voices are in training. If it hurts, stop and consult your teacher. Oversinging or excess tension can cause discomfort and in extreme circumstances, your teacher may recommend that you see a physician. With vocal fatigue, acid reflux, allergies, or recovering from an illness, it can be beneficial to practice in smaller time increments daily while you work through any vocal irregularities (break up that hour into two 30-minute practice sessions between classes).
Conversely, if you feel great, keep singing! Keep your water bottle filled and hydrate your instrument while practicing. In sickness and in health, vow to practice your music accurately and you will save yourself from the Sturm und Drang of fixing wrong notes later.
5. Memorization
Whether you are memorizing for a lesson, studio class, juries, or an audition, the memory work starts weeks before the performance. Singers that procrastinate memorizing will find the performance a stressful gamble. For my beginners, I recommend they dedicate five minutes at the end of every practice session to memorization: just a phrase at a time. Intermediate and advanced students might memorize quickly, but they will need to continue practicing from memory so it “sticks.” Long-term memory work must be repeated and creatively explored. It is often said that an amateur practices until they get it right, but the professional practices until they cannot get it wrong.
In conclusion, the practice room awaits! Organize your schedule and create time for daily practice. Talk with your teachers about their expectations for your practice, set challenging goals, and learn and memorize your music. You get only one chance to show what you can do in an audition or a performance. Whether you are learning your first Italian song for a voice lesson or rehearsing your first opera role, give yourself as much time as you need to master the music. Preparation is the key to a solid performance.
