Hi, have you practiced singing today? Yes? That's great!
How many times did you sing your song? What? 20 times? That's amazing! And have
you done any other exercise? No? Well, I am thrilled that you are so enthusiastic
about singing and that you love your song
but if singing is the only exercise you do you're making a big mistake. I am
going to tell you why singing a song over and over and over again is ineffective.
So stay tuned.
Hi, my name is Katarina from How 2 Improve Singing and in this video I am
going to tell you about daily vocal exercises that you should be adding to
your regular practice sessions. Your voice, your instrument is very unique. You
cannot touch it, you cannot see it, sometimes you cannot even feel it.
So this instrument requires a very specific technique than other instruments. If your
practice routine contains only vocal exercises, for example singing warm-ups
and cooldowns and arpeggios and scales and singing your song over and over
again, you are making a big mistake. If you practice without presence, focus and
awareness, you will not improve and you can even harm your voice. You need to add
some silent practice to your practice session. Yes, you heard me right: silent practice.
And there are some very good singers, accomplished singer,s who say
that 90% of your practice should be silent. Maybe you've heard about high
performing athletes who use imagination and visualization during their practice.
They imagine themselves winning, they imagine their race before they actually
go and do the race, they imagine every aspect of their race. And the same
concept can be used in singing. Use your imagination to see yourself singing
your song, or your arpeggios or your vocal exercises. Silent practice is a highly
effective tool for accelerating your progress in singing
and for developing musical ear. Here is why: music lives in your mind first.
Musical imagination helps you understand music. Scientists say that musical
imagination stands in the center of creativity. I say if you can imagine it,
you can sing i. Hear the melody in your head first, in your ears, first feel the
flow of the song in your head, feel the rhythm of the song and imagine how you
would sing it. Feel how you would sing every note, every word, every syllable,
every pitch. Rehearse the music in your mind before you actually sing it out
loud. And instead of shaping the sounds as you are singing first do the work in
your head. Imagine the sounds before you actually sing them out loud. So here is
an exercise for you. Pick a phrase from your song that you want to practice.
Listen to the music or someone else singing this phrase but listen with
focus with intention. For this practice choose good models that use good vocal
technique. Now close your eyes and imagine yourself singing. Imagine
yourself singing the phrase with a good technique.
Imagine yourself singing the phrase with no tension, free and open. Imagine
yourself singing the phrase with ease and confidence.
Imagine yourself singing the phrase note by note, word by word, syllable by
syllable, sound by sound. Imagine singing it legato. Take your time. Practice
until you can sing the phrase in your head a few times flawlessly. Then sing
the phrase out loud and don't worry if it doesn't work out.
Return to silent practice and keep imagining yourself singing the phrase
flawlessly. If it doesn't come easy don't worry. Silent practice may be difficult
at firs. Yes it sounds weird but silent practice initially takes a lot of your
focus and hard work. Silent practice will help you grow as an artist and a
musician. Remember if you cannot imagine it, you
cannot sing i. And that's all for today, Silent practice may seem like a waste of
time but believe me it really accelerates your progress and develops
your ear for music. If you want to continue talking about breathing and
singing join our free Facebook group called Breathing Room for Singers. You
will find a link in the description below. Click on it and request access to
this amazing community of singers. If you like this video ,click the like button
and don't forget to subscribe to this channel for more videos every wee. Thank you
again for watching and I will see you in the next video/ Bye now.
Happy singing!