The Importance of Performing

Hello, fearless performers!  So glad you’re here to learn about building performance practices.  Have you ever felt as though you wanted to take lessons without ever performing. . . maybe you enjoy the journey of singing so much that you don’t need to ever show anybody else what you can (or can’t) do with your voice?  If the answer is yes, ** then cue ** “You are not alone…” Perhaps you are fulfilled by singing in the shower for the rest of your life. That is a good thing because this world needs better shower singers. #amirightoramiright

If you’re taking voice lessons, and to get the most bang for your buck, creating some performance opportunities could be a wise endeavor.

Why?  So glad you asked.:)

A voice teacher’s job is to guide you in your singing goals.  So, if your goal is to sing better in the shower and you get a ways’ down the road in your voice lesson journey and you’re feeling positively about singing in the shower, that’s all good.  How do we then maximize and truly implant in our bodies and brains all we’re learning in those voice lessons? The answer, my friend, is perform. A performance does NOT have to be fancy, have a huge audience, or feel incredibly official.  It DOES need to feel like pressure.  

Here’s why:  You can grow so much vocally in the lesson setting.  Putting those skills in a performance space can really put that growth to the test.  Think of it like an exam; we study and study (and sometimes, study and study and study and study) and then take an exam to truly assess our knowledge.  Singing is exactly the same. The performance needs to be only big enough to cause you to feel a little pressure. A quick, 10-minute performance with a few friends in a living room on a Friday night before going downtown can be enough.  Doing this performance can implant in your memory what you’ve learned and catapult you into new stages of vocal progress. It can also create opportunity for new artistic discoveries, but that’s a blog for another time…

I would challenge you to ask yourself, “Am I ready to test what I’ve learned in a performance?”  If the answer is “yes,” tell your voice coach and they should be able to tell you. If the answer is “no,” keep at it.  You can and are doing the hard work of vocal progress, and improvement is happening!:)