For about a year now I’ve been training under the tutelage
of personal trainer Caz Abrahams. Initially it was a slow process. It took me at least 6 months to realize
the discipline I would need to achieve my goals. Rather obviously, the only way
to achieve true results at the gym is consistency both in training and in diet.
The more I got into it, the more I realized that it was the
same type of discipline that assisted me in achieving the goals I had set for
myself while studying vocals well over 10 years ago now. I can recall many
other students around me complaining that they weren’t getting results while I
on the other hand was reaching new highs musically and vocally. The key, of
course was focus. Certainly for 2 solid years of studying I hid away in my
sister’s old bedroom, which became my music room and practiced all the time. I
remember how my friends never gave up on trying to get me to go out and party
but I was so determined to get results that I turned them down every time.
I saw results because I trained every single day. Instead of
listening to the radio or music on my way to campus in the morning, I was
warming up. I was told that humming throughout my mid and lower chest voice
range would improve my tone. In those days we still had tape decks in cars and
so I compiled a 60 minute blank cassette tape with strictly humming exercises
and in time it did improve my tone. That made it easier to create presence when
singing into a microphone without even having to try. I also placed one of
those giant annual calendars up on my room wall. I had a different colour
highlighter for each different vocal aspect I had to concentrate on for
example: red would be breathing technique, blue would be dynamics, green would
be flexiblilty and so on, the same way when I train at the gym I focus on a
different muscle group depending on the day, mixing it with cardio etc. After a
week I could clearly see how much vocal training I had done and which vocal
aspects I had worked on. The following week I would focus on the highlighter
colours (vocal aspects) I had neglected.
I find myself doing a similar thing now with gym using an
app called MyFitnessPal. It helps me monitor what I’m eating, how many calories
I’m burning and what parts of my body I need to focus on exercising.
Don’t underestimate diet either as a vocalist. Oily and
acidic foods as well as gassy drinks can be a nightmare for a singer. In
particular, try not to have these sorts of things at night to avoid going to
bed and suffering from what many singers find to be a problem – silent reflux.
That’s quite similar if you think about it to avoiding eating foods too late at
night, especially snacking.
I have achieved great results already in the 6 months I’ve
been truly disciplined at the gym and with my diet. The point is, you will not
improve your voice by simply going to one singing lesson a week or 2 a month
the same way you will not get in shape by going to a personal trainer twice a
week. You have to put in the hours too if you want to see results. A vocal
coach or a personal trainer is there to show you how to do the exercises. The
reality is that the majority of us will never be able to afford to see a vocal
coach or personal trainer everyday but the truth is, we don’t need to!
