Cet article How to Get Back Into Singing After a Long Break est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
]]>Okay, time for a little bit of honesty. How long has it been since you last sang? Oops! Did that question make you squirm? Was it yesterday, or last week? Maybe a few weeks or months ago? Or has it been (gulp) even longer? It’s okay. The longer we go without doing it, the harder it feels to get back into singing after a long break – why is that?
If you have avoided singing for a long period of time, it’s a tough cycle to break. First, we avoid singing, or get busy and forget, or have an illness or injury that makes it impossible for us to sing, but then we begin to guilt ourselves for not singing, and then that guilt makes us continue to avoid singing, and we, of course, continue to feel guilty. How do we get out of this avoidant/guilt-ridden chain of events? No worries! I can help!
Start slow
Don’t think that you need to push through your guilt and anxiety by forcing yourself to sing for hours at a time on the first day you decide to start singing again. You wouldn’t try to get back into a running practice by running 16 miles on your first day back, would you? Singing is no different. The first step towards rebuilding your practice after a long pause is to just start enjoying music again. Put on an old playlist that you love, watch one of your favorite movie musicals, listen to one of your favorite albums; basically, do something that will make you remember why you want to sing in the first place.
Sing easy songs
Usually for me, listening to a favorite album or watching a movie musical that I love always tends to get my toes tapping and occasionally I end up singing along, which is enough to break a funk. When you’re trying to get back into singing, it should be fun! Sing things you love like songs that make you feel good and sing them in a way that makes you feel good. Go do karaoke with your friends, sing a favorite song in the shower, dance around your living room while singing, and participate in my Sing For Yourself challenge – Whatever you try, really go for it!
Do a little every day
Start building a small daily habit and start small. You can start in 3-minute increments if you need – the time it takes to listen to one song. Do something every day that makes you want to get back into singing. Eventually, you can stretch those three minutes increments to ten minutes. Ten minutes can eventually become twenty and so forth. Listening to a song every day for a week can eventually become listening to a song and then singing along to its karaoke track. Whatever you do, listen to yourself, go at your own pace, and don’t feel bad if you miss a day! Just get back to it the next day you remember.
Get professional support
If all of this is starting to work and you feel like you’re ready to start singing again after a big break, it might be time to reach out to a singing teacher to help come up with a more intense practice schedule, to help you set goals and to achieve them and to help cheer you on to singing again, even if it’s just for yourself.
About the Author
Georgia Aussenac is a Singing Coach specialising in fostering confidence, joy and fun for adults looking to make singing a part of their lives.
Georgia also coaches English-speaking singers and voice teachers on French diction.
With a particular passion for everything vocal health, Georgia offers Vocal SOS coaching to anyone who uses their speaking voice professionally and is struggling to keep up with the demands of their job.
You can work with Georgia online from anywhere in the world, as long as your schedules match up!
Cet article How to Get Back Into Singing After a Long Break est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
]]>Cet article Vocal Health: Advice From a Singing Teacher – Preventative Care est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
]]>Vocal Health: Advice from a Singing Teacher
Vocal health is a hot topic. Everyone wants to know the secrets to:
- not losing your voice
- not getting sick
- keeping singing while sick
- keeping your voice ‘in shape’
So I have decided to write a series of blog posts on the topic of vocal health, from the perspective of a singing teacher. I get asked these questions so often that it seems like a good idea to put all my knowledge in one place! No promises you’ll learn all the answers, but I hope that you can go away having learned some practical tips for taking care of your voice.
I would like to note that most of this advice is from my own experience, or is passed on from advice I have received from other singers and teachers. I hope that it will help you look after your voice better, and enhance your singing. Finally, please remember that I am not a doctor, and I will always advise my students to consult a doctor if they are having persistent vocal trouble.
Let’s start with healthy voices. Remember these words: preventative care!
Cet article Vocal Health: Advice From a Singing Teacher – Preventative Care est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
]]>Cet article How to survive a full day rehearsal est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
]]>8 steps to a perfect rehearsal:
If you’ve ever been part of a big artistic stage project, whether it be theatre, dance, choral, opera, musical theatre and everything in between, you know how long a full day rehearsal can be. I’ve done my fair share of these, and I wanted to share my tips on how best to survive them.
Updated July 2024
Table of Contents
Preparing for the rehearsal
1. Prepare your stuff
First things first, the golden rule of rehearsal: prepare. You and your fellow artists will get much more out of the rehearsal if you turn up prepared for the day. Learn your lines, know your lyrics, revise the blocking…before the rehearsal. If you have done the work in advance, you will enjoy the rehearsal a lot more. You will also not end up in the bad books of your fellow cast members and director, which is a bonus. Trust me on this one.
2. Dress wisely
Rehearsals are not the time to try out your new dress or jumpsuit, or to wear those lovely business trousers you just got last week that fit so perfectly. Dress comfortably, in loose clothes that you can easily move around in. This is particularly important if you will be dancing, but even if you are not, you need to be able to move around the stage and participate in any group warmups without constriction.
3. Bring the right shoes
Make sure your shoes are appropriate too! Some rehearsal spaces have dance floors and you can’t wear your shoes, so be sure to check in advance what the rules are. Some dance shoes if you have them, or some thick socks, will keep your feet happy.
4. Pack food and drink
Often you won’t have time, or there won’t be anywhere nearby, to buy things to eat and drink during the day. Avoid getting caught out by preparing your own lunch and snacks for the day. My favourite rehearsal foods are a sandwich, several pieces of fruit, something sweet like a muffin or some biscuits, cheese & crackers, and some nuts and dried fruit to snack on. Pack plenty of extra snacks – if you don’t eat them all you can always share them. Bringing a thermos with hot water and some tea bags (or filled with coffee if you prefer!) will also be a nice treat part way through the day. Finally, if you bring nothing else, do not forget to bring a water bottle.
5. What’s in your bag?
I always pack my bag the night before to make sure I don’t forget anything. Beyond the extra clothes, shoes, and food and drink, there’s some other essentials you don’t want to miss:
1. Rehearsal equipment
Whether it be your script, your instrument, your sheet music, or anything else you might need, make sure it’s in your bag. It’s always a good idea to have a pencil and eraser with you too, and I like to have a small notebook to write any rehearsal notes in.
2. Extras you have been asked to bring
You may have been asked to bring a piece of costume to show to someone, or a prop. It’s often on these full day rehearsals that the production team is able to sort out some of the details.
3. Something to do when you aren’t rehearsing
It can be a book, some work, a game, a tablet to watch Netflix on (with headphones!)…whatever takes your fancy. Just make sure you’ve got something quiet to do when you’re not required on stage.
4. Emergency Kit
Finally, I always take basics such as tissues, pain relief, lip balm, deodorant, period protection and plasters, just in case.
The rehearsal itself!
6. Arriving at rehearsal
Make sure you know where you are going, and get there on time, if not early. Arriving late to a room full of people glaring at you is not how you want to start your relationship. Work out where everything is, and help set up if you can. Many hands make light work!
7. During the day
Take notes after your rehearse a scene, and if you have any questions that aren’t urgent, consider asking them by email or at a later date, to save time. Full day rehearsals are exhausting for the directing team. You can make their life easier (and therefore keep them from getting too grumpy) by doing several things.
- Be aware of the schedule, and don’t miss your calls. Don’t be the person everyone is looking for, holding up the rehearsal.
- If you aren’t needed on stage, either watch quietly, or go somewhere else. There is nothing more infuriating for someone running a rehearsal than having to raise their voice over people chatting, and having to say ‘be quiet…’quiet please’ on repeat for hours at a time.
- If you have to leave the rehearsal for any reason, make sure someone knows (ideally the production manager) before you go.
8. Before you leave
Full day rehearsals will often go over the scheduled end time. If you absolutely have to leave at a certain time, let someone know beforehand. When it is finally all done for the day, make sure you take all your belongings, and lend a hand in packing up. The last thing the production team wants to spend their evening doing is picking up food wrappers and lost property – they are just as keen as you are to get home.
Bonus tip: Reset your rehearsal bag when you get home
This is my number one tip for staying organised during rehearsal season! Even when you’re exhausted from a long day, take 2 mins to reset your bag when you get home. Replace your emergency kit, find the prop you promised to look for, take out your food (you don’t want to find a dead banana in a week!), and pop dirty clothes in the wash.
If your next rehearsal is the next day, repack everything you need before you go to bed to save you time in the morning.
I hope you found this guide useful, and that it will make your future full day rehearsals more fun and easier to get through. Send it to someone who needs to up their rehearsal game!
About the Author
Georgia Aussenac is a Singing Coach specialising in fostering confidence, joy and fun for adults looking to make singing a part of their lives.
Georgia also coaches English-speaking singers and voice teachers on French diction.
With a particular passion for everything vocal health, Georgia offers Vocal SOS coaching to anyone who uses their speaking voice professionally and is struggling to keep up with the demands of their job.
You can work with Georgia online from anywhere in the world, as long as your schedules match up!
Cet article How to survive a full day rehearsal est apparu en premier sur GL Voice.
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