Practice and Vocal Gymnastic

I have been asked so often by students how long they should practice a day. Let us be clear on this issue: vocalizing is vitally important to the health of the vocal mechanism and longevity of the voice.
Through vocalization, singing becomes automatic. Maria Callas said that she practiced 12 hours daily. That may be somewhat exaggerated. However, a singer who is doing an opera production can be rehearsing easily that amount of time per day for 4 to 6 weeks. Therefore, it is important the vocal production be effortless, not difficult and not tiring to the voice. It is of utmost importance that a professional singer continues to practice and adequately warms-up the voice before rehearsals and performances.

I believe that every student must find out for himself how much time he should invest in practice units so that a constant development of his voice and its vocal possibilities result. In any case, at least 2 hours a day - and that is probably too little! One should have a long warm-up phase, adequate work on vocalizations, including work on consonants, vowels and their clarity, range of the voice with the goal of expanding the range and balancing registers, optimal tone resonance, and diverse technical aspects such as mastering ornamentations (trillers, mordents, etc.), coloratura, etc. This requires time, concentration and discipline!

The Italian School calls vocalization: vocal gymnastics. How appropriate! Athletes know that they must train faithfully and hard, in order to achieve and maintain a high level of performance.

Vocal exercises should be executed from above descending and not from below ascending. This is the only way one can be certain that the voice will not become heavy or massive, that one does not carry thick, heavy tones into the higher register and that a certain amount of lightness is ever-present.

In Germany, where I have taught for many years, it is a widespread method that men’s voices especially should be vocalized from low to high. This is incorrect! Especially in men’s voices, it is most important to work descending scales and arpeggios. This assures that the entire range of the voice is constructed evenly without any change-overs when singing through the passagios.

After working vocalizations, the practice unit should include passages and tones from the songs and arias being sung at that time which are not yet technically correct. It goes without saying that these passages and tones should be worked until they are correct.

Some singers work too hard trying to produce “beautiful” tones. When the singer does this, listening too much to what he believes “beautiful” is, he will begin manipulating his voice. This results in vocal problems and tensions. For example, if the singer believes a tone is too bright, he will try to darken it. In truth, he has just substituted one mistake for another. If the singer believes a tone is too dark, he will probably try to sing more “in the mask”, which will result in a nasal or squeezed tone. (By the way, singing “in the mask” presupposes that a tone has only “one place”. A well-produced tone resonates in the head, “mask”, body - from many resonating areas.

Remember, vocalizing should bring joy to the singer. Practice with exuberance! Don’t think that vocalizing is tedious! Have fun!

• Author and date: Brenda Roberts (2009-03-08)
• Permalink: Practice and Vocal Gymnastic
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2 Comments »

  1. I went to the met the other night and saw Rene Flemming sing in Rusalka. I couldn’t help but think how much more emotion you would have brought to the role. I wish I could have seen you on the stage!

    Comment by Mary Jones — March 23, 2009 @ 9:30 pm

  2. Mary,
    Thank you so much for your kind words.
    It is not too late to see and hear me sing!
    As you know, I believe the ultimate goal of singing is bringing expression to the public. The public should not only hear beautiful tones, but go away from a performance, inspired and transported to another level than everyday existence.
    Thanks, Mary

    Comment by Brenda Roberts — April 5, 2009 @ 8:54 pm

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