Vision for Artistic Achievement

We need to have a vision for ourselves as to what we are hoping to achieve. Singers want to improve their vocal technique and artistic skills for different reasons. Some singers want to improve because they find it rewarding when they can simply sing better. Some want to improve in order to have better artistic control while singing. Some want to improve because their voices wear out quickly when performing. The reasons that people have for wanting to take lessons are virtually unlimited.

The Dark Side

Very few have the desire, tenacity, perseverance, or self-motivation to be the best at singing. And… to be perfectly honest, that’s perfectly understandable and acceptable. I have said to many students over my years of teaching voice, “Not everyone is cut out for greatness”. I’m sure that some have taken this as a derogatory statement concerning their level of achievement regarding voice. But that statement really is not in relation to their level of expertise in singing as much as it is to what they tell me they want to achieve and how little they are working at achieving a goal. And yes… just like my piano teacher knew that I wasn’t practicing regularly, it is painfully obvious when a student isn’t regularly practicing at improving their vocal technique. If you are a singer who wants to casually approach understanding how to sing better and doing so in a very relaxed way, that’s ok. However, if you are a singer who professes the desire to improve greatly but doesn’t practice (vocalize) regularly, you are heading towards self-imposed failure.

Bright Side

In my career as a professional singer, a voice teacher, and with my many years of overall experience, I have found these things to be true; Singers who have more work ethic than natural talent tend to do well and go farther. Singers that consistently work at their trade craft generally know where they stand in terms of their talent in their perspective peer group. So, these singers have a fairly good or realistic concept of where they stand relative to singers in their choir, singers who a “gigging” in their area, singers who are singing alongside them on the worship team. It is good to have a competitive spirit in order to achieve excellence.

I generally tell students if they do their vocalizes every day they will improve their vocal technique, fine motor control, muscle sets for singing and artistic approach. You WILL get better if you work at it. I’d also say that if you “love” singing, doing your exercises should not really be work to you. It should be something that you love to do.

So, try to stick to doing your vocal exercises every day and you will be rewarded with your improvement.