(an excerpt)
"At first: small bites, mentally separating components, i.e. language (speak the text intoned), rhythm (tapping, if complicated), then melody (playing on piano only) etc. Dare to be reductionist! Remember your inner child. Your brain doesn’t like to multi-task so this allows integration of each piece separately. The goal is automation so you never have to ‘think’ about it.
After the parts feel familiar, don’t even sing yet! Just audiate– i.e. hear it in your head. Hear it how you WANT it to sound. Your voice requires that step. In order to sing Christina Aguilera’s riffs and runs from “Ain’t No Other Man” you have to hear it in your head first. Same goes for classical coloratura patterns. The audiation step is CRITICAL to our vocal process and we can really accomplish a lot just by taking the time to think. Even WHILE singing, thinking a little ahead of how you want to sound in a phrase can make it so much easier.
Make recordings of YOURSELF singing. Be your own vocal learning tutor! Create smaller sections of a piece. A single vowel. Vowels alone. Then text. Even transpose or invert sections to sense different registrations. It can smooth out transitions. Sing and record them several times. Then listen over and over again! Play with different timbres and textures. There is no right way in exploration. You will find the integration will happen faster than just reading your score every practice session without listening. Get away from the score as soon as you can. Your visual brain wants to do other things- (like imagining you’re the Masked Singer? Or on stage at the MET?)- not stare at a page. And written music is actually not very helpful for singers (more on that to come)."
Positive directives work better than negative directives (“DO this” rather than “DON’T do this”). Be kind to yourself. Ask your teachers and coaches to do the same. Find what WORKS and analyze that. In fact, positive experiences increase dopamine which strengthens synapses (in birds too!) so you will actually learn and retain better if your experience is positive. Not stressful. Nor critical. (“Be silent, inner monster!”)
Include upstream directives (emotion, character, distraction, craziness). The brain needs balance and the variation will actually help solidify motor processing via different paths. You will also be surprised how these signals can actually solve technical problems! Evening singing with emotions unrelated or opposite to the piece: you can discover new sounds that way. (i.e. try singing Cole Porter’s “Let’s do it” like a vengeful psychopath!) We are wired to vocalize for a purpose. Don’t waste what nature gave you!
Imagery is extremely helpful: lying down, imagining how you sound, where you are, creating a scene in your mind IS a form of practice! And it is just as important as actually practicing. Birds do it too in their sleep!
Time off and rest is just as important as time on and practice. Your brain needs to process and sort the work you have done. Take breaks. Go on a hike. Meditate. Get sleep! Cramming is counterproductive." - Heidi Moss Erikson