 Brenoapp, Pexels.com This is part of a series of blog posts derived from my book, The Five-Minute Singer. You can view video versions of most of this information in the free introductory series to the Five-Minute Singer vocal program. First, if you haven’t yet read the other articles in this series—"What I Wish Singing Classes Near Me Taught About How Singing Works,” “My Best Tips on How to Become a Better Singer when Teaching Voice Lessons Near Me,” “How to Sing Better by Changing Vocal Habits in Singing Classes for Adults,” and “How to Become a Singer with a Practice Method Voice Teachers Near Me Aren’t Using,”—please turn back for now and read those first. These articles are supposed to go sequentially, so you need the information in those for this article to help you learn how to get better at singing. This article is for singers who already have a considerable amount of natural talent but who want to figure out how to get better at singing. Maybe you’re working with vocal teachers near me, or maybe you’re figuring things out on your own. Either way, if you fall into this group, think, for a moment, of people who are even better--the best singers in the world.  What Vocal Teachers Near Me Don’t Emphasize about Talent and Natural Technique Like Olympic athletes, many of these singers are simply freaks of nature. They sing at an extremely high level thanks to their anatomy and mental musical faculties, and the vast majority of them don’t have to drastically change their natural techniques to “get” singing. It’s already easy for them. These singers still practice and train, but they don’t need to do the kind of nitpicky, body part-based work described in this book. In fact, many great singers are great despite poor anatomical vocal habits. Look up a video of Kathleen Battle, for example, and observe her jaw alignment. Even with that visibly misaligned chin, Battle’s gorgeous singing made her a world-renowned soprano. Mind you, this is the very top of the top, and even very gifted singers can (in my opinion) benefit from anatomical breakdown because they can use it to finetune their technique and address any weaknesses. However, when you’re messing with the balance of singing, you can temporarily get worse. Think about it like a Jenga tower: your Jenga tower as a gifted singer may not stand perfectly straight, but it’s standing and stable. Start yanking out blocks and trying to adjust the tower, and the entire thing may topple over. This feels horrible and disorienting, and if you’re an active singer with upcoming performances, it’s also impractical. What if, during the course of developing new habits, you find you can no longer do something you used to do? There is a workaround. Here is to get better at singing without throwing out your singing baby with the bathwater.  SHVETS Production Three Steps to Get Better at Singing without Losing Skills
Here’s a good example. I once had a student who struggled with overly low laryngeal placement and general laryngeal muscular engagement when singing low notes. (I will explain these terms in Part II of my book along with the head voice/belting terms used in the next paragraphs.) In the process of alleviating laryngeal tension, something in her vocal balance went awry, and she couldn’t access full chest-voice low notes anymore. In a lesson, to fix this, I had this student revert back to her old technique. Surprisingly, due to the work she’d done on laryngeal relaxation, she immediately sang loud, low, chest-dominant notes with much less tension than before. Then, over time, she practiced minimizing her laryngeal lowering without losing those low notes again. Then, we could continue her journey on how to get better at singing. The one caveat to this is The Golden Rule. Vocal teachers near me and far would all agree with this one. If reverting back to your old technique causes pain or discomfort, it’s not worth it. I see this most commonly with high notes, either belted or at the top of head voice. If your old high note technique involves so much breath pressure and tension that it was hurting you, you may need to knock your tower down and rebuild your upper register in a healthy way. It’s okay to lose a few notes at the top to save your vocal health!  Cottonbro Studios, Pexels.com How to Get Better at Singing with an Option Vocal Teachers Near Me Don’t Offer Whether you’re a naturally gifted singer or are just trying to find your bearings, there’s so much you can do to get better at singing without springing for expensive and time-consuming traditional lessons. Sign up for my online vocal training program for a cost-effective learning experience—most vocal teachers near me don’t have anything like this. You can also sing up for normal online or Fort Wayne singing lessons with me, or you can sign up for my hybrid program—my favorite way to teach, combining both personal voice lessons and hyper-efficient online vocal training. Whatever avenue you choose, stay true to your natural talent, and happy singing!
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