How to practice singing for beginners? (Building your own routine)

A common question that singers will ask, especially beginners.

Is how should I structure my practice to see improvements?

What sort of exercises should I do?

Now you can go onto Youtube and find countless exercises. So that’s not really what I’m here for today.

Rather I want to share with you the principles behind how YOU can build your own practice routines. So that it’s tailored for your skill level. This is how I structure practice routines for myself and my students.

Personally I think it’s important to have a routine that’s tailored, because you want to live in that sweet spot where the exercises are challenging just ENOUGH but not too much where it makes you want to quit.

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.

Now a KEY principle that I’ve learnt over the years with routines is LESS is more.

I remember when I used to practice. I would run through these 45-60 minutes routines with countless exercises. And whilst they were great exercises in hindsight.

I just felt overwhelmed. And rather than learning good technique from exercise, I started on just getting through them.

Now if you can handle loads of exercises, great! What has served me more is just doing a few exercises well. Before moving on.

Okay so how do we structure our practice sessions in a way that can help you progress daily? I’ll share the principles then some actual examples from my students.

1) Establishing your home-base

So really think of it like this. Each day you want to establish your home base with your technique. Where does your voice feel comfortable? Where does it feel safe? Where does it feel reliable?

This can be as simple as an easy hum. Now this is relative for everyone.

Say a hum feels challenging for you. It feels strained, unreliable. Then this is not your home-base. So you need to BE very delibrate

2) Creating very deliberate challenges.

Now once you’ve established your homebase. And it can take just a few minutes.

You gotta venture out. And challenge your voice. I recommend choosing ONE challenge each day. Of course you can do more, but remember it’s better to get ONE exercise right then 5 wrong.

Now there’s a sweet spot to challenging. You want to find a place that extends you JUST enough where you find it challenging. But not too much, where it feels impossible. That’s it.

Now there are a few ways you can challenge the voice.

1) Challenge the coordination

Now I won’t go into detail. But this means how do you coordinate the voice more efficiently. And hence make singing easier? This is where understanding the fundamentals of technique can be helpful. Check out episode 129 and 131.

2) Challenge your consistency

This one is simple. For example if you can do this scale correctly twice in a row correctly but can’t do it third. This is your challenge.

3) Challenge harder contexts

If you can hit a scale consistently and with good coordination. You can venture out even further. Can you do it with a repeat? different sound? more weight?

Now these are just ideas. If it feels overwhelming. Come back to the simple principle - what’s a small challenge I can do today?

Now let’s share some actual examples! Now you’ll notice in these routines I use the term easy wins. It’s just another way to think of your home base. I hadn’t thought of the analogy yet.

EXAMPLE 1:

EXAMPLE 2:

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

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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.

Extra Links/Resources

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