Over my 20 years of being a professional singer I have only recently honed getting in the zone before a gig, a singing/practice session or even daily as part of an ongoing vocal warrant of fitness.
My pre game routine started evolving when I became a vocal coach & realised that passion, preparation, practice & process, as with anything in life, was the secret to delivering the best performance I could every time & feeling confident about my voice every day.
It shouldn’t have been such a mystery to me though. For 10 of those 20 years I was gigging at night, I was also an aerobics instructor & personal trainer by day.
I understood the important role passion played in achieving goals. Weight loss, fitness or sporting goals.
My most successful clients were passionate about getting healthy to enable them to engage energetically with their children & not sit on the sidelines of their lives, to avoid negatively role modelling by not exercising & eating badly or worse, have their poor health compromise the amount of life they had left with their family.
The other side of the coin for some was a driving passion to NOT have to look at wedding photos of themselves overweight, every day/year for the rest of their lives!
The shift occurred for them when they decided they really cared enough to do something about these passionate emotions. They prepared themselves by getting organised with meals & MAKING time to get to the gym to see me 3-5 x per week. They practiced their programme for nutrition & exercise without me & honed their own process of staying focussed & getting their head in the game & began living every day the way they meant to continue.
So how does this relate to singing or performing?
Everything in life depends on what the first step is, for example embracing the passion to sing, for yourself, for others – professionally or not.
Getting our heads in the zone to make this a pleasurable experience from the practice stage onwards.
We need an element of focus to be able to get the most out of this time to nurture ourselves.
Like exercise, schedule it in, make it a priority & get prepared! Know what you plan to do, what you’re wearing & lay it out the night before. Set your alarm or reminder.
Although I exercise less now than I did when I was a trainer & 20 years younger! (Let’s call it an exercise overload hangover…) I still try to get some movement in 3 x per week & certainly practice my singing about the same.
Work out a practice plan that is a vocal workout for what your voice needs. You can build on & evolve this regularly.
Let others (family, flatmates) know that you need privacy & find yourself a space without distractions.
Mental attitude & preparation is so important in singing. As is relaxing your body.
If you get into the habit of doing this before you sing you will notice a huge difference in many areas of your performance – enjoyment being just one.
There are a number of things you can do to learn how to effectively practice & how to get your head in the game anytime you need to focus (i.e.; studying!)
Guided meditation I find super helpful in ‘switching the channel’ prior to a gig or practice after being ‘Mum/vocal coach’ the whole day! I use an app on my phone, add some stretches, check my posture, make sure I have skulled back some water & my daily singers ritual helps move me into my ‘singers zone’. This is my process.
If you need help defining a practice plan, finding what works for you or how to create a routine that can help keep your head in the game & your voice on track, jump on board with my 14 day Vocal Bootcamp which gives you simple & effective tools to nurture your voice, delivered daily in the form of a coaching video & downloadable resource over 2 weeks. Get all the details here.
I’d love to know what you do to get your head in the game. What’s your process?
As always, if you have any questions, flick me an email or leave me a comment below or on the Facebook Page.
