Kathy Alexander and Simone Niles share their tips and advice on a successful singing practice routine.
Music Teacher | Vocal Coach | Co-founder of Singdaptive
Vocalist | Transformational Coach
We asked Singdaptive instructors what tips or advice they have on singing practice. Today, we hear from singer, author, vocal coach, choir director, and Singdaptive co-founder, Kathy Alexander; as well as transformational vocal coach, Simone Niles, with tips on how to get the most out of your singing practice.
Kathy Alexander on Practicing Techniques and Tips
Tips from The Team Transcript: What are some great practice techniques and tips? Well, I think there can be different things that work for different people, and there’s probably a long list, but let me tell you a few things that I do for myself. One piece of advice that I heard from Singdaptive instructor, Mark Baxter, was, “Limit your rehearsal times,” which seems maybe counterintuitive, but I love it because it’s actually better to have more frequent and shorter rehearsal times than it is to just sit down and rehearse for six or eight hours. First of all, that’s going to be quite taxing on your voice. Secondly, the starting and stopping is a way that your brain has to enter in and out of this work of memorizing and rehearsing these gestures, which is more productive and effective than one long rehearsal period. So that’s one tip that I use.
The other thing that is absolutely essential to me is that I’m always recording myself. I always have my phone with my recording app. If you look in my app, you’ll see 87 little, tiny 20 second clips because I was just trying to achieve a certain sound on a certain note, and you’d just hear me doing this over and over again. It’s so helpful to hear yourself in order to see if what you’re putting out is coming across the way you want it to.
Great Practice Technique & Tips
Simone Niles on Staying Motivated to Practice
Tips from The Team Transcript: How do you stay motivated for singing practice? I love the topic of motivation, and the best way to really stay connected and motivated to practice is to remember why you do it. Why do you love singing in the first place? Why is it that it’s important for you to practice? What is the goal that practicing is attached to?
It might be that your big reason or your big why for singing is because you have a message that you want to share with the world and this is your gift. It might be that the task at hand is suitable for a very clearly outlined goal: you have a gig and you need to practice and you need to be ready for it. But sometimes motivation drops because life happens. So what I always suggest is to reconnect with your why. Reconnect with your goals so that practicing becomes much easier to jump into.