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How to practice singing?

How much should a beginner practice singing, keeping in mind that he/she surely has unhealthy technique?

  • I'm 17, have sung in choir 10 years, and started studying voice with a teacher in December. I am still (SLOWLY) learning proper technique, and have bad habits of far-back placement, and pushing my sound out, which I haven't resolved yet. I want to get better as much as possible, as soon as possible. I can only see my teacher 1x/week. So, keeping in mind the 10,000 hours maxim- is this an exception to the rule of practice=improvement? Do I risk cementing bad habits by singing a lot when I haven't gotten rid of them? More importantly, how long per day can I sing, assuming I have unhealthy habits, without risking damage to my voice? I'd like to practice 30-60 min per day but sometimes I get a sore throat, etc. which I see as  warning sign. I'm going to university soon and will be far behind the singing crowd (I aim for opera) if I don't improve quickly, but I also don't want to damage my voice. Also, what kinds of practicing are OK to do and not risk harm? Should I stick to vocalization? ngg and ahh? Are scales and arpeggios better than rep? Should I sing soft (or will I never develop my loud voice if I do that?)

  • Answer:

    First off, I love the way you've framed this question--this is all very proactive and thoughtful. Let's start by talking about 10,000 hours. This research is totally fascinating to me, especially since it's entered the popular consciousness so differently from the way it was intended. Lots of people (not you, but bear with me) seem to assume this means throwing a bunch of hours at the problem, without considering substance of the hours. In fact, the research painstakingly defines what counts as an hour. You need to be receiving external feedback, for one thing. The feedback needs to be either expert or empirical in some other way. It needs to be framed in a very specific, technical form (rare in singing training...). It shouldn't be surprising that it takes opera singers a lot longer to get all these hours in than everyone else, because it's very easy for the feedback to become vague, and/or for the voice to behave unpredictably from day to day (which limits the ability to learn from your mistakes). That's all to say it can be a very long path, and at age 17 everyone is way behind. You might be at square 0, they might be at square 1, but there are hundreds of squares in this particular career path, so proportionally you're in almost the same place as them. That said, it sounds like you want a plan. So here's the plan. 30-60 minutes a day of practicing is perfect. Try to do it with as much of an expert influence as you possibly can, so if your teacher's taught you how to read a spectrograph, pull one out while you practice, and if you record your lessons with your teacher, literally just sing along with the most recent lesson every day. Or if you can afford it, find a coach who can work with you for less money than the teacher, every other day or so (can be as low as $40/hr in NY, or $20/hr elsewhere). If you have extra time, watch youtube videos of great singers (especially when they're young, so you can see a snippet of the process), and analyze what you think they're doing. Then write down a list of questions, thoughts, assumptions, etc. and ask your teacher when you see him/her. This may seem like a waste of time, but it's not, it's actually the only way you can get the most out of your OWN practice time. Or feel free to message me on Quora with the same questions, if that feels lower-commitment to you. As an example, consider this video of (the very famous, great) Bryn Terfel at age 18: When I show this to my students, who are around your/his age, and very intelligent, they're usually blown away by how much his instrument has "developed". Especially when I show them this video of him singing at the Cardiff Competition just 5 years later: The questions I get from my students are very telling. "How much of that is he faking, if the voice can change so much?" "What's stayed the same?" "Has his placement changed as a result of his breath, or something else?" "Which of these types of singing would make him tired faster?" (all real questions I've been sent by students) These questions are important because they open your eyes to what you should be asking yourself about your own voice. "How much can I fake?" "What can't I fake?" "What about my voice always seems to be there?" "What can I do that changes my placement?" "What does placement even mean to me?" "What makes me tired?" "What doesn't make me tired?" Unsurprisingly, I have my own feelings on this stuff, and am happy to talk through anything you want. But what's most important is that you spend as many smart, informed hours as you can, not just as many hours (as I think you know). The key is getting informed, and you're actually way ahead in that respect. You can do way more in 100 informed hours than most of your colleagues can do in 1000 uninformed ones. Does that make sense?

David Leigh at Quora Visit the source

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I think David Leigh makes many fantastic points. Firstly I would add: don't despair. 17 is very young to be developing an opera voice so you're not starting way behind. And it's so much better to start a bit late than with terrible singing habits, which you only have to spend ages trying to undo.  Working with drama school students learning musical theatre aged 18-25, over about 7 years now (total about 1000 hours of singing lessons, mostly in classes) I've observed some interesting patterns. The question of excellent practice if singing is a subtle one. Two responses from me. First -experience: I've noticed that those who progress quickest follow a pattern: 1. They pick a great teacher with very clear understanding if the physical mechanisms at work to make a particular sound. Not so easy to find. But worth the search.  2. When The teacher trains them to recognise by feel /proprioceotion correct (eg engaging twang /squillo)  or incorrect technique (eg gripping the jaw), they do their best to find this without stressing about perfection. 3. They make a recording of the teacher's lesson 4. They repeat as literally as possible that lesson daily. 20-60 minutes, in 20-30 minute slots. 5. They are not disappointed when it takes several months or more of lessons to gradually build helpful habits and or eliminate bad ones. Ie to build real technique. In other words, they continue to practice as intelligently and correctly as they can, while recognising that their practising is not yet perfect. And they accept this while aiming to constantly improve it. 6. Also, they observe many many other people learning to sing. This is crucial! Because you learn the difference between what the voice sounds like outside vs. In your head; you learn to listen very analytically; you learn to listen with a singing teacher's ears. I think this is the master skill. So , to learn to sing in between lessons, A key skill to learn is the skill itself of learning singing.  To do this you need a very clear 1. A concept of exact sound qualities or colours. 2. For each sound, a precise mental concept of the body usage needed to create that sound. When I say "concept", I don't mean something intellectual. I mean a vivid inner hearing of the sound (audialization?) and a vivid physical feeling of the exact body use needed to make those sounds. This takes practice to create. A key skill to learn is the skill of learning itself. There are two master skills: Firstly, Clarity of goal is key. Ie knowing what good technique feels like (and less importantly, sounds like). The clearer you are about the sound you want to make for any given role or a particular aria or a passage if an aria for example, the clearer you have an auditory/sound aim, the better your practice will be. Listening to great singers very very analytically helps a lot. The ckearer you are about exactly how to use parts of your body to make those sounds and what physical sensations you should feel, the better your practice will be. Understanding the relationship between how an audience will hear your sound and what sensations you should feel in your body to produce that sound takes time but is also a crucial distinction. The key advice is always "don't listen to your sound; feel the right sensations". Secondly, The other key skill is self awareness, specifically proprioceotion or awareness of your own body. If you know what sensations you should be feeling, and you know what you are actually feeling, up I can then give yourself the right feedback and progress fast and accurately. There is no substitute for having an excellent teacher listen to you but recording yourself and listening back frequently can help. I'm sorry if this is not a highly practical guide but I am used to dealing with singers in person where I can immediately hear and see what they are doing tree is blocking them, and what they need to do to improve. This is kind if an abstract summary if what I see happening as a process with real people over real time. InSUMMARY 1. In your lessons develop a crystal clear concept of particular sound colours and the precise setup of your body to generate each one with quality and sustainably. 2. In your practice, strive to maintain the clear "image" (auditory fir the sound and kinaesthetic for the body use)  AND 3.  Develop and refine your proprioceotion (bodily self awareness) so you can tell if your body is behaving and doing what is needed. 4. Adjust your body usage according to your own proprioceotion, your teacher, your recording device etc. It's not an easy thing to achieve but you can achieve it as others do. Plus it's an incredibly rewarding challenge. When I hear students find the sound, it's like a minor miracle. I love it! Remember that you do too! Good luck!!

Michael Veazey

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