Are you actually getting better? (singing lessons for beginners)

Author

Ivan Lu
January 04, 2024

Are you actually getting better? (singing lessons for beginners)

Have you actually taken the time to ask yourself this?

This is one of the most important questions, we don’t ask as singers.

We think, if we just practiced harder.

If we practiced longer.

Then surely I’ll sing the way I want.

But is that really true?

What if you spend years PRACTISING, only to realise you’ve made little to no progress. Or even worse, you get worse. I’ve been there.

Let’s make sure this doesn’t happen to you. Or maybe if it has how do we get out of this.

Specifically I’ll cover today

  1. Why you won’t get better, even if you practice hard

  2. How to actually tell if you’re getting better?

  3. And if you’re not getting better. What do you do?

Real quick! For those of you who don’t know me. My name is Ivan, I love making music and also teaching singing to students all around the world. On this newsletter my goal is to make learning to sing simple. If that’s up your lane, consider subscribing. If you want to improve your voice faster, check out the links down below for ways to work with me

If you want to inspire our next episode! Drop in the comments below what you want me to talk about next.

Why you won’t get better, even if you practice hard

Now I introduced this idea earlier.

You can practice, consistently. diligently.

But not make progress.

I’ve been in this boat myself.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve wasted all these years putting in the work without anything to show for it.

Why does this happen?

We need to recognise that practice does not make perfect. Practice makes habit.

What this mean is the constant repetition of a certain thing, just simply makes it feel more “natural” to us.

If we’re not practicing correctly, deliberately and with intention.

What can happen is we simply drill in the wrong habits. I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with this myself. For the first 3-4 years of my singing journey, I kept trying to create this dark tongue by gagging my tongue.

And so don’t fall into this trap.

You’re smarter than this.

Yes, it’s important to work hard and consistently but you need to know if you’re heading in the right direction

Okay so how do you tell if you’re actually getting better?

Now some of you might think.

I’ll know that I’m better, when I feel better or like my own singing.

And sure! That can be one way to do it.

But from experience this can be tricky because

1) Singing takes time to develop.

Sometimes in the day to day, it can be hard to notice if you’re getting better. Kinda like losing weight. It will take time

2) Singing is personal.

Like it or not, we aren’t the best judges of our voice. Partially because it’s so tied up with our identity. Because of this, it’s hard to see ourselves objectively.

This is why you need to document your journey as a prerequisite.

Keep recordings, voice memos, even journal about singing.

I can’t tell you how many times, students will delete their voice memos because they CRINGED so much at their clip.

No!!!

Don’t do this.

Whilst it can be cringe to listen back to your own singing from years ago.

Keeping these gems is one of the best ways to tell if you’ve gotten better. It allows you to see things beyond what you can see because it creates perspective.

Listen back to those clips from months, years ago. Do you sound different? Better?

Another important question and perhaps slightly less obvious is

Asking yourself, did it feel easier to sing these songs?

And I specifically chose this question. Because sometimes, you can listen to your clips and feel like they sound the same.

But if things feel easier. This is also a sign of progress because it means your technique is much cleaner and accurate.

  1. Okay so you’re not getting better. What do you do?

Maybe you’ve gone back and listened to your clips.

But they sound the same. They still felt hard.

And guess what you’ve been doing this for months if not years,

If you’re in this boat. It can really be chalked up to 2 things.

1) You’re not practising enough

What can I say. If you’re in this boat. You either change your work ethic OR you change your expectations.

2) You don’t have a strategy

This is what I find beginners tend to slip off. You’re practising, but you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Now of course this is where having a teacher who can guide you. Having someone who knows your voice. The strengths, the weaknesses. And break down a roadmap for you and give you real time feedback. That can compress years of your journey.

Now if you don’t have that luxury right now.

I’d encourage for you to build a “menu” for yourself.

This is an idea that came from Kobe Bryant. Basically you need to take the time to sit down. And break down your singing into a menu of smaller sub-skills that you need to develop.

For example with basketball. There’s learning to dribble, learning to shoot, learning to create the shot.

What is this for your own singing?

Do you need to build pitch accuracy?

Do you need to build strength in your voice?

Do you lack fundamentals and need to build this?

Which one of these should you focus on first?

Create this menu and prioritising this list, allows you to have clarity on exactly what you need to work on. Instead of just “improving singing”. You’ve now got something much more specific.

Anyway! I hope this episode was useful. If it was, please support this channel through all the usual social media stuff. Like, comment/subscribe.

If you’re from the podcast, leaving a 5 star would really help us grow and mean the world to me.

Last but not least, if you’ve always wanted to improve your singing faster and with less confusion. Remember you don’t have to do this on your own.

I’ve got ways to work with me in the description down below. Make sure to check it out. Apart from that, my name is Ivan, I'm your voice teacher, and I'll see you for our weekly tutorials every single Thursday or Friday.

Take care.

🌍 Book Private Singing Lessons here: https://calendly.com/singingsimply 

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