I have heard so many times these words declared, “I wish I could sing.” With so many incredible singing voices are all around us, it’s easy to wish that our voice sounded as beautiful or as poignant as the likes of Donny Hathaway, Pavarotti, Tori Kelly, Carrie Underwood, Dave Growl or Alicia Keys, oh I could go on and on with this list. I wonder who your favorite crooners may be?! Great singing comes easily to many but most have to work very hard at their craft to sing well and often. You can be a great singer too, you just have to believe it and get to work. As Kristy Dickerson always say, “Just START.”

In the sea of “adulting”, there are so many tasks and responsibilities that need tending to. It’s tough to unplug. Even with all the rhetoric we hear to take care of ourselves and to take time to make time, it can be frankly, a little ridiculous. For years I wondered how I would be able to sing again with my new life as a wife and a mom. Between running my business as a website designer, owning a home with my hubby, tending to my dearest relationships, and also just finding some down time to rest and recoup once in a while seemed to be enough for one woman’s plate, at least, if I wanted to live with grace and intention. And just when I felt like I had it all together, our world turned upside down when I got pregnant with my daughter. Well normal is out the window now! I remember going to the doctor at 7 weeks, seeing her tiny little heartbeat on the ultrasound and knowing that our life would never be the same. Flash forward 6 1/2 years and well, my two beautiful children and my husband are my whole world, have all of my focus and attention and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Keep It Simple Stupid.

It took me years to realize that the only way to manage all the things I cared about is by pairing down what is really important and following the Kiss rule. “Keep it simple stupid.” It’s hard to stay focused and can sometimes be more overwhelming than anything else. It makes me realize how important it is to unwind and unplug. Our lives just don’t move as fast as the internet nor the overflowing train of data we can consume.

It’s so important to slow down and remember what makes us feel whole and well. Singing, for me, has always been a huge stress reliever, it relaxes me, calms my mind and gets my endorphins going like no other exercise. The best times in my memory usually involved a song, a dance and a make shift theater! It’s these memories I look back on to a time when I didn’t feel stressed and was able to step away from the daily grind and experience complete, authentic joy. It never occurred to me then, but is more than apparent now that I was learning to at a rapid pace. I am someone who can easily complicate things, especially when I’m invested in the end result. Don’t overcomplicate trying something new, it will only hinder you from starting. In fact, don’t even think about anything but trying it out. When it comes to taking time for ourselves and finding joy in our lives, the key is to just get started and think about it later. Just Do It!

Check out these tips and I can guarantee that you will see a change in your singing. You may already be engaged in these activities I’m about to share with you. What I’m here to tell you is that your singing will improve if you put them into practice.

1

Get Inspired!

Do listen to all the “greats” for motivation and encouragement. Those singers who came before us, tell us so much about music history, the fiber of our communities, our culture, our differences, how we can use our own voice. They create a path fors and we owe it them (and to ourselves) to listen and learn. Look, I know this sounds pretty obvious but I need to make sure you follow me. So I love Adele, I love everything about her, she is perfection. But her voice is extremely different than mine. She has a voice I dream of having but when I realized that I would never have the voice Adele has, I began to understand my own voice more and what made my voice unique. 

Distinction is key to becoming a great singer. Perhaps you emanate your favorite voices to train and learn melodies and techniques. I grew up listening to Ella Fitzgerald on vinyl and on tape. Nothing can touch her voice on a vinyl record, nothing. Songs flow out of her so naturally, you can hear her heart in every word and it was always clear she was doing what she loved. Feeling that love and joy is such an inspiration.

Billie Holiday is another idol of mine. My father was the music collector in our home, and he naturally owned many albums with a male vocalist, my Dad is a singer after all. Hearing Billie Holiday, this woman with so much to say about the state of the segregated, racially dismembered world was incredibly uncomfortable and unearthing to hear. It made my skin crawl, her voice was almost ghostly. How could this woman with a beautiful flower in her hair, be singing about Strange Fruit, what world did she exist in? The books at school didn’t preach about ongoing segregation, I didn’t understand. I was completely ignorant and this woman with a beautiful, sorrowful singing voice shared so much with me. I was completely in love with her music and felt her pain in the comfort of my beige living room. It’s remarkable how someone can transport you with a chord progression and a lyric, it can change you forever. I learned a great deal about how much you can say in a song in just a few words. I learned the power of storytelling.

2

Do You. Embrace your sound. Explore.

Get Comfortable. Give yourself time to hear your voice. A week, a month, perhaps create a deadline with your next holiday, whatever it is, allow yourself time to get to know your voice. Don’t try to sound like your favorite artist or anyone else for that matter, your voice is unique. If you imitate a great singer, take a moment to work out what your body is physically doing to re-create the sound you want. This is ok to a point, but the key is sing without listening or judging your own voice. If you are busy listening to your voice and your radio, you are not focusing on production, on all the amazing things that are underway in your body to create your own individual sound.

Do give yourself time to warm-up and create sound without judgement or placement. Exploring your voice is just that: exploration, it doesn’t have to be pretty. Nor does it require beauty or perfect pitch. I often notice that my students want to sound great all the time, constantly demanding perfection. If each note isn’t great, then their singing isn’t great. And this may be completely subconscious that the tendency is to always feel that our sound should be fluid and correct and thought out. But think about that for a moment. Are we living for perfection? Are we expecting too much from our first try out of the gate? This should NOT be the reality to work for. We are not perfect, nor is perfection a realistic goal. 

Let’s just break this down for a moment because this is key…It is so important as a singer and in all things to know yourself. Knowing your limits, your strengths, your weak spots is game changing. When we make a mistake, the best part about it is that we learn what we are good at and what needs work. When you push yourself, get out of your comfort zone, sometimes it opens up a space that you never thought existed and can liberate you to no end. The same applies with singing! When you explore your voice, when you embrace the strange, off-key, warble, flat, sharp sounds, you learn about those limits. You also begin to find comfort in knowing what sounds good and what needs work. Knowing yourself is your greatest gift and this knowledge takes time to discover.

Try this. Record before and after. Take a voice memo of you singing and then record it again 1 months from now or 2, whatever time frame you feel you good about. I dare you! Go on, try it!

When I was working full-time as an actor, I was auditioning almost daily. Every day I needed to be in front of a production company, trying to sell my talent. It was exhausting not only because of the logistics but mainly from the constant work of proving to someone else that you are good enough for the role you are auditioning for. I developed the bad practice of auditioning in my mind, mapping out my audition piece. My audition prep became all about the day prep; packing my cooler of food and drinks, choosing my outfit, my back up outfit, my make-up, organizing and cleaning up the mess of the day. Gone were the days of constant practice as I slowly gave up on the actual work! Well this turned out to be a horrible practice. I would get to the audition and feel completely out of place and disconnected from my audition piece. I felt I was working out something new for the first time, dreaming about how I would do better next time. Next time?! What’s that? When you get an opportunity that might change your life, it may only happen once. I needed to make it count. I didn’t know the work I was doing inside out. I didn’t commit enough time to my craft, the work of exploration.

3

Practice. Practice. Practice.

This brings us to my next rule of thumb…and please if you take nothing else from these suggestions, use this one. Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.

 

 

 

Hydrate.

Last of all…Hydrate. Hydrating your body from is paramount. Think of it as a gift you are giving yourself with every sip. Sure you can drink your coffee, soda, whatever it may be, just remember that with drinks you need to have more fluid. If you are just drinking water, you’ll find you won’t need as much and will feel the effects of good hydration more immediately.

In Summary:

• Get Inspired
• If you must be a copy cat, work from the inside out.
• Explore without judgement
• Practice Practice Practice
• Hydrate

Many of us don’t have the time or space to learn a new art. Learning something that we can’t use to pay the bills, further our careers, help our family or anything immediately useful is not on our grid. In all reality, we have time and will make time for things that we do reap reward from. My hope is that you will find so much joy in music that you will see its value in your life and will encourage you to stay the course and do what you love whilst learning to do it better. When we see growth, we stick with something and the benefits outweigh the commitment. Our hearts are full when we achieve success in something we love! My goal is to make singing as accessible as possible. In between jobs and family and life, perhaps these tips can an entryway into being a great singer. Let’s get to work!