- The year is well and truly under way,
and it's time to start organizing your weekly schedule.
And for most of us here at Voice Essentials,
that means we need to look at our singing practice routine.
How much and how often, is a question I get asked
a lot here on the Voice Essentials channel so,
let's answer this query once and for all,
and while we're at it, we'll also discuss exactly what
you should be practicing to get the very best out of
your singing voice.
- [Announcer] Sound check.
Check one.
Check two.
- Hi everyone.
I hope you've all had an awesome week, thus far.
My name is, for those of you who don't know me, is Dr. Dan.
I'm a contemporary singing voice specialist, which means
it's my job to help you realize the full potential
of your singing voice.
And a big part of you achieving your vocal goals
is driven by your singing practice.
But how much should you practice and how often?
Is it possible to over practice and in doing so,
can you place your vocal health at risk?
Well, the first thing to understand is that,
unlike other instruments, the human voice has physical
limitations that should be heeded.
For example, if you're learning the piano or guitar,
the more time you can spend on the instrument, the better.
Many student singers want to approach their voice
in the same manner.
But you can't.
The human voice fatigues with use.
Therefore, it needs periods of rest.
Now we've talked about vocal rest and vocal pacing
in previous videos which, I'll leave links to in
the description section below.
But suffice to say, the over arching rule is
to approach your vocal development with a long-term view.
The reality is that you won't achieve all your vocal
development dreams in one month, or even one year.
This in turn, should direct your vocal practice.
The old adage of eating an elephant one spoonful at a time
applies nicely here.
Your entire journey of vocal development is,
let's say, an elephant.
And each spoonful is one single practice session.
If you try and gorge yourself by eating multiple spoonfuls
in single setting, you're likely to give yourself
a tummy ache.
Or, as the case may be, a vocal ache.
So, learn to pace your practice throughout the week
with regular rest days and stamina building habits.
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- Stamina building habits.
What's that, I hear you ask.
Well, simply your stamina is derived from
your personal capacity to sing for extended periods of time.
When I first start with a new singing student,
I generally prescribe a practice routine of
approximately 20 minutes every second day for
the first two weeks.
Importantly, the 20 minutes is split into 60% technique,
60% repertoire.
This ratio split ensures that our focus is
the technical development of the voice
and not simply singing songs.
After two weeks of twenty minutes, every second day,
I increase the load to 25 minutes, still every second day,
and I keep increasing the practice sessions by five minutes
every two weeks until the student is capable of practicing
for about an hour.
Now, there are some exceptions to this generalized approach
that I'll outline in a moment, but for most beginner singers
this is an excellent place to start and should enable
the voice to slowly but surely develop vocal stamina
that is both healthy and sustainable.
So, that's how much and how often.
Let's now look at what you should practice each time
you step into your practice space.
- [Announcer] Sound check.
- Most singing teachers will have a pathway of vocal
exercises that they will lead their students through
over time.
I'm no different in this regard, my singing exercise CD,
Dr. Dan's Voice Essentials, lays out 18 singing exercises
that I systematically lead new students through
over 10 structured lessons.
For the first number of lessons, I like my students to do
each and every exercise that we've covered
in the order that we've covered them.
But there comes a point when the student has collected more
singing exercises than can be achieved
in a single practice session.
And it's at this stage that the student needs to be
a little bit more strategic and creative about their
practice and what they're training session might focus on.
So, for example, if you've been learning voice for
longer than 12 months, you'll generally need to pick
and choose the exercises that you're going to work on.
A good way to approach this is to apply a theme to
your practice time.
For exanmple, you might choose to focus on your
breath management, and work through each activity that
workshops your breathing.
Another theme might be to drill your voices
accuracy of note, and so the exercises you choose to sing
will challenge your pitch and intonation.
There are no right or wrongs here.
It's simply all about fashioning your practice towards
productive outcomes.
Now, before we finish today's video, I just want to
quickly highlight some exceptions to the generalized rules
I've been discussing today but, before I do,
be sure to hit the thumbs up button, if you're
enjoying today's video.
- [Announcer] Sound check.
- So, in general, if you're a beginner to intermediate
singer, practice every second day starting with
20 minutes, and slowly increase your practice sessions
over time.
Now I say in general, because there are some exceptions
to the rule.
Firstly, I mentioned earlier in the video, that your
practice ratio should be 60 to 40 with more time
being given to technical exercises than repertoire.
If the student is diligent with their technical
development, this ratio should start to see a natural
shift at about the two to three year mark,
with repertoire taking over as the dominant aspect
of the practice time.
I've also suggested that the general length of
practice time should be about 60 minutes,
once a student has established about three months
of regular practice.
Now again this rule of thumb is aimed at the beginner
to intermediate amateur singer.
If you're a professional singer, then you may need
to develop your stamina to sustain longer practice times.
I always direct my pro vocal clients to practice in
50 minute sets, separated by 20 minutes rest.
And unless you're preparing for an extreme tour,
you should only need to do a maximum of two
50 minute sets in practice.
And please, if you're a working singer, be sure to
schedule at least one to two days a week of relative
vocal rest.
I cannot stress enough how much benefit your voice
will get from one or two days of rest from singing.
Be sure to leave me a comment below, outlining your
vocal practice routine tips and tricks.
I know everyone here at the Voice Essentials community
will learn something from your experience.
And, of course, if this is your first time watching
one of my videos, allow me to invite you over to
my channel to subscribe for more content,
designed to develop your voice and improve your sound.
I look forward to seeing you in the next video.
I'm Dr. Dan.
Sing well.