In a practice session of my own this week, I was cogitating on something I had been figuring out (mentioned in point 2 below). It struck me how I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self this… no guarantee my younger self would listen, but such is the folly of youth!
As I pondered this, I realised there were also a few other nuggets I thought that if every singer could take on board now, their future voice in 10 years would be light-years ahead of where they would otherwise be.
1. Put in at least a little work every day, and you’ll be amazed where you’ll be in 10 years.
Einstein (allegedly) referred to compound interest as the 8th wonder of the world. The stock market is a great illustration of this idea, where if you put a little away every month for a few decades earning a few percent interest, you will have a ludicrous pot waiting for you at the end of it. Vocal “compound interest” is the same, and daily consistent and sustainable practice adds up.
Now I’ve always been a practice-a-holic, often doing more than the minimum. Is this always good? To some extent yes, but if we are playing the long game and seeing our voices as investments in their own right, figuring out a sustainable amount of practice day to day is the best option.
You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew (generating vocal damage or days we need to recover on), but it is important the practice “investment” gets done. The consistency is what will generate the results.
2. Force only gets you so far
I almost called this “muscle vs resonance”. MANY singers and voice coaches (including my younger self) emphasise the importance of what is happening at the vocal fold level, e.g. generate even more muscular contraction of the vocal folds to generate more power.
People assume this muscular component is the dominant factor in getting a big sound. Well, it’s certainly a foundational component, but the more developed you become as a singer, the more important resonance becomes (especially in the higher ranges).
Resonance is a lot trickier to explain to people, because it’s not a physical thing (like the vocal folds), but it’s a by-product of your vocal tract forming a particular shape that enhances what your vocal folds are kicking out. And it takes a LONG time chipping away at this to develop and curate a big sound.
My point is, generating power only has its roots in what we can do muscularly. Past a certain point we need to cultivate resonance to make what would otherwise be a tiny sound, sound much much bigger.
3. Find a vocal template
Now THIS is an advanced concept. The essence of it is as follows…
While there is no one else vocally quite like you in the world, there are always very similar sounding voices who have already figured out how your kind of instrument works. Find those singers and retrace their steps.
Couple of caveats to mention:
1) At the start, your voice and your ear will be too undeveloped to accurately assess whose instrument you are similar to. Don’t worry about it. Start somewhere and adjust as you go.
2) As your voice develops, what is an appropriate vocal template will shift. This is also normal. We are looking for someone who’s voice is mirroring what we are presently experiencing, and that is going to adjust.
3) You are not trying to MIMIC that singer, but to learn their moves (a bit like dance moves) as it’s likely your voice will find those exact moves fairly easy to assimilate.
To sum up
These things might seem remarkably simple in principle, or in the message of subtle caution, but the big results they’ve generated in my voice and client’s voices belie how simple they sound. Do take these on board and trust that they’ll pay off in the years to come.