One of the most common questions I get asked regarding voice training is “how long does it take?”
Now generally what people THINK they mean is “how long does it take to train a voice/learn to sing“, but often what is really going on, is that a given singer has the beginnings of their sound thanks to some development of facility/function, but the full extent of their sound is not yet there. This is understandably frustrating, but what’s the whole story?
What is going on?
When we first start training a voice, we can very quickly add range and connection. To sing high notes the vocal cords need to stretch and thin, to sing low notes they need to contract and thicken. The various exercises we have are very effective at introducing that specific set of functions.
However, getting the cords to the correct length, configuration, etc is at first merely accessing of pitch. As important as this access is, that is only step 1. Merely accessing the note doesn’t account for development of tone. It also doesn’t account for ease of accessing a given note. It also doesn’t account for access to resonance that creates depth and brilliance to a note. There’s a great many things that occur after mere accessing of the note that requires time to be put into working on the voice.
All of these beneficial attributes (resonance, depth, ease of access, power, etc) occur the more you introduce your voice to the correct way of doing things. By increasing familiarity to your body and your nervous system of the right way of accessing these notes, each of these attributes “fills in”. This is why it takes time for a voice to fully develop.
“Filling in” of your sound
The more you train your voice, both reinforcing the good but fledgling co-ordinations you already have access to, AND developing and introducing new co-ordinations your voice needs to progress, the more your voice will “fill in”.
This does mean accepting that building a voice takes time. Not just to establish ability and facility, but to maximise the aesthetic of your voice that facility has given you access to. It takes time for your body needs to accept the new sensations, and that even when they those sensations are more familiar, it’s not like you can ever be OVERfamiliar with these sensations. The more familiar you are with those sensations, the more fully your voice has developed and “filled in”. As such, the more you do the appropriate exercises and the longer you have been doing them, the fuller your voice sounds and ultimately is.
This is one of the reasons that older singers have a much bigger sound than younger singers, both in terms of singing AND speaking. A fully developed voice is not context specific – it’s big whether speaking or singing. It’s not just the kind of training they have experienced, but the sheer amount of time they’ve put into the same exercises as the younger singers, thereby developing greater depth of co-ordination, control, and filling in of their sound. There are some other factors as well, but that’s beyond the scope of this post.
Conclusion: To get your voice to “fill in”, put in the reps
In short, there’s no substitute for doing the practice and putting the time and repetitions in day after day in the correct manner. This will help to establish the control you seek, and the tonal quality will fill in as you go. Get after it!
Learn More: Related Articles
If you’d like to learn more about the voice and how it changes as it gets older, you may enjoy these related articles:
The perks of being an older singer
What actually happens to your voice as you get older
Why can’t I sing as high as I used to?
Vocal Tessitura
Maturing of Vocal Tone