I know that there are a few super dedicated singers reading this who diligently practice every day. That's awesome! I personally make time for music every day as well. At least 1 hour daily. When I was a young adult studying voice in university, I sometimes practiced up to 8 hours a day. I would get up early, head up to school, get 2 hours in before my first class and keep adding in between classes as the day unfolded.
I pressured myself to meet my personal goals and target. It worked for me for a few years. It was at once stressful and rewarding! But when you try to increase your practice time, does it work for you? Or do you feel like practicing more hurts your voice instead? That it becomes fatigued after a few songs and stops your progress? That you sometimes improve faster when you practice less? How does that even make sense at all? Sometimes practicing feels like you're taking one step forward but 3 steps back! The more you practice, the more vulnerable your voice becomes because it makes your throat gets sore. Your ability to sing in tune and hit high notes deteriorates.You keep going anyway because you are determined to succeed; to build strenght. However, that only adds more strain on your voice. And it gets worse: your vocal cords are constantly swollen so more resting time is needed between practice to recover. You secretly worry about developing nodules. Your frustration grows and you start doubting your skills. Your motivation to practice in the first place dissipates.Your progress is slow and hardly noticeable. You bail out on that audition you were preparing for fearing you will miserably flunk. Arg... This was an opportunity of a lifetime...Learning new repertoire takes forever and you begin spacing out band practices also holding back your band mates.Your band mates start talking behind your back about a potential REPLACEMENT.Then it happens; NODULES. Your vocal cords are in such bad shape that your ENT orders NO SINGING for a few months. Now you have no choice but to stop everything... You have come to the end of your road!But all these problems could have been so simply avoided. It's not that practicing less is better but rather that you have to practice smart to make the best out of your time and protect your fragile vocal cords.
There are three essential components to practicing effectively:
1) Do not skip technique exercises
2) Include song interpretation development
3) Take frequent breaks to rest your voice
You may already be doing these three things and still feel fatigued after rehearsal. It's because ultimately, even the PERFECTLY planned singing practice is useless if you lack the technical knowledge to apply healthy vocal strategies. I have a simple, easy process that I use every day to practice singing without straining. It has benefited thousands of singers to date. I use an individualized breakthrough approach to eliminate all of my clients' areas of tension in order to increase range, improve power and sing effortlessly. I’m not saying that to impress you, I just want you to know that it works.If you haven't already done so, take a few minutes to watch my free masterclass to find out more:
Sing your heart out!
Val