In an earlier article I talk about setting benchmarks so that you can see how much you’ve improved. Goals are incredibly important because while technique will generally help you grow as a singer, specific goals can yield specific results.
Here are a sample of some of my students’ diverse goals:
Improve diction so that he can be easily understood in a song
Sing and talk in a way that doesn’t injure her voice (safe singing)
Develop warmups that she can replicate with ease and make sure these warmups are effective every time
Choose the perfect song for a character role in a musical
Increase breath support so as to sing on one breath for 16 seconds
Smooth out the transition from chest voice into falsetto
Sing in the higher part of his range without becoming breathy
Act in a song
Create more dynamics in a song
Read rhythms in sheet music
Practice self-acceptance and be less judgemental of her own voice
Improve posture and release tension in her neck and shoulders
Increase his range
Learn basic italian vowels for Bel Canto Opera
Sing in his head voice for a sustained period of time without tension
As you can see, this small sample is extremely diverse. So setting goals is crucial to success. While the goals may be different, achieving them is often from the same practices:
Ask questions: I am here for you, ask if you don’t understand or are just curious about something.
Journal: make sure you are routinely noting your questions and findings in a consistent place
Practice: make a healthy habit of practicing. This can be as little as 5-10 minutes every other day. I am not a stickler for homework. I won’t ask if you’ve done it, but you’ll be able to tell the difference. Generally I assign 1-3 exercises which take 5-10 minutes to do. You can often do them while doing the dishes, sun bathing, whatever you feel like. Make this a habit and add it as a nice and relaxing and enjoyable practice.
If you set goals and document the results, you are sure to have a holistic understanding of your progress. It is so satisfying to check off a goal and then get ready for the next one!