Simply Authentic...Your Soul Voice is Calling. Small, Consistent Steps: A Vocal Practice

Small, Consistent Steps: A Vocal Practice I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum…times I was so busy with what I ‘had’ to do that I had no extra time at all…to feeling guilty about having so much time to make my own choices on my own terms! Either way, the key is to take small, consistent steps with a long range vision held in mind. For example, I’m a certified Transformational Voice Teacher, so it’s important I keep my instrument, singing body, attuned. I know where my growth areas are, and there have been times (despite how much I love to sing) I put off rehearsing because I didn’t want to deal with the challenges, including potential screechiness in the higher registers. This can happen when the vocal technique is off and – frankly – it’s not a pretty sound. I have been frustrated in not reaching that range of my voice with ease, so avoided the process entirely. And the more I avoided it, the more my sense of failure and frustration grew. Then a student came to me. A yoga teacher. I wanted to do more yoga. She wanted to sing and share her voice with others more. A match made in heaven. Lisa came to me with two terms of transformational voice training under her belt (or should I say yoga mat?) so was already fairly advanced vocally. I needed to get on the ball, and not just the Fitbit ball we use in our yoga sessions! It didn’t take me long to figure out a small, consistent vocal practice routine. It goes like this: Grab a book – like Julia Cameron’s Heart Steps – and open to a phrase. Often, the phrase chooses the student, and whatever I open up to that day is precisely what the student needs to hear. The same applies when the student is me. In a pinch, “My name is Laura, and I am an artist” always works as well. Get into posture, on the breath, resonant, with proper onsets, and speak the phrase in first (chest) register, and then in light second (head) register. Then exaggerate volume and say a couple of words starting with M or N with plenty of vowel sounds (the word money always works) to ensure resonance. Sit down at the piano, and sing the sound of O (like in boat), sliding up and down in fifths. For example, I start on the A below middle C, five up is the E above middle C. I just keep going up in fifths (I stay in major keys, personally) until I get to high A, often B or even C, and then go back down a ways. This helps work on the transition between registers. Then do a few scales singing the sound of E (like in see) up to the same level, wherever your high challenge is. Using E as the vowel sound helps with modification, ensuring the jaw is dropping properly. (Which is super important for that potential screechy sound I mentioned earlier.) I often leave the keyboard at this point to look in the mirror at what my face is doing, but the point does come where you can feel it in muscle memory. Then I pull out a piece I enjoy singing and that challenges me, but doesn’t break me. You don’t want it to be overly difficult for your level of training – just challenging enough that it stretches you and helps you grow vocally. That’s it! I have been consistent about this practice, 3-5 days a week, for several weeks now and have noticed a huge difference in reaching higher notes with more ease and less screechiness. I can feel the difference in my body, when it’s a struggle and the technique is off, and when it’s not. Sometimes my practice time is only five minutes. Sometimes 20. Sometimes longer because I’m having fun singing different songs. So, there you have it…with yoga, voice, or anything else important in your life…the key is small, consistent steps towards your long range vision. Authentically Yours, Laura