Becoming a great singer – 3 points to note

Just like any other athletic activity, singing requires a good amount of discipline and commitment. It also can be quite fun too if you are sincerely passionate about the art. Many a singer has been able to go through the rigorous but quite rewarding climb over the mountain called VOCAL TRAINING.

So, in a bid to make YOU a fellow testifier, let me take you through some steps that will make you emerge an outstanding singer, just like the role models you so crave to be like.

DESIRE

The beginning of every successful endeavour begins with desire.

You must find a place in your heart that is hell-bent on achieving your goal as a vocal maestro. Fuel that desires with relevant resources like videos, friends of like minds or just about anything that can get you up early in the morning or even keep you awake at night.

Go out of your way to find a mentor or a coach that can spur you into discovering your flaws and enhancing your strengths. Do anything productively relevant to keep that adrenaline pumping.

Also Read: Mindfulness – Enhance Your Wellbeing with Mindfulness and Discover its 6 Benefits

DO

Knowledge acquired and not ‘perspired’ is knowledge retired.

All the knowledge gained from resources will amount to NOTHING if you do not spend time practising.

Breathing exercises, the basis of all vocal exercises, can go a long way in fine-tuning and strengthening your vocals. Knowing this and not practising is very unproductive. Spend at least 30 minutes a day practising deep breathing because it enhances vocal skills and guarantees healthier living as well, at least for its detoxifying advantage.

Humming/Yawning/Lip rolls/Tongue trills are exercises that further ameliorate your singing ability because they impact highly on the vocal folds required to remain healthy for singing. These vocal instruments, just like any musical instrument must be kept in good shape, ready for use at any time, and just like the legs used to run or arms used to lift heavyweight, we must ensure the safety and preparedness of our voice for singing.

I always say, “Don’t take your voice to work if it’s not healthy to work”. It is important to warm up and cool down our voices before and after intense singing, hence, the aforementioned exercises.

DISCIPLINE

The place of discipline when acquiring a skill and even flourishing in it cannot be over-emphasized.

For every project commenced, there must be a willingness to complete. That willingness will meet a lot of bumps and threats on the way, but these are only deterrents that can be well overcome if only we have our eyes on the prize.

Every, I repeat, EVERY endeavour in life, just like singing, requires immense discipline to reach the uncommon goal of sustainable excellence. I infuse the word SUSTAINABLE because, in my opinion, acquiring excellence without sustenance is a sheer failure.

Many have attained enviable heights only to find themselves cascading down the hill of retrogression due to their negligence of some sort. It is my earnest desire that we do not end up like such people.

There are ways to encourage self-discipline. One of such ways is to be accountable to someone who probably craves your success more than you do. Such people will stop at nothing to keep you on your toes, striving for nothing but the best.

I always say that if you find yourself in a place and you’re not on the TOP THREE list, it’s either you don’t belong there or you’re being very unjust to yourself, depriving yourself of the best you have to offer a s gift that you are.

Another way to encourage discipline is to reward yourself for the ‘little’ successes attained. Every human wishes to be celebrated at one point or the other. Your self-esteem has a huge role to play in the confidence you exude on stage as a singer.

Your stage could be even in front of your mirror. It really doesn’t matter if the world is watching. The question is: “Have you tapped into the full potential within you…FOR YOU?” At the end of the day, success is simply relative. As much as it counts to have a crowd cheering you at the finish line, it is of much more important to look at yourself and regard yourself as a winner, a fighter who had had it tough but came out better and stronger.

There is no height in vocal mastery you cannot attain. I tell myself that a lot and I hope that can be your drive too, henceforth. Go for gold, friend. You deserve it.