Duration of practise?

[Sun]

I'm currently practising about one hour each day and I never feel any soreness etc in my throat afterwards. Assuming you are practising correctly strain-free, is there some form of optimal duration of practise?

I'm interested in increasing the duration of my practise sessions to maybe two hours or more, but sometimes less is more but I'm not sure. Practising any other instrument for several hours a day usually yields the best results but the voice is delicate and of course we wouldn't want to over-train or cause damage.

What do you guys think?

[gno]

That somewhat depends on your technique. If you are a beginner and using the constrictors too much, or are "grinding flesh" (as Robert puts it), you've got to watch out for too much practice. If you are going an hour a day with no problems the next day, you can definitely go longer. You can tell if you've done too much by how your voice feels the next day. If your voice feels great the next day, you're ok. If not, you could just take the day off entirely and wait for the next day.

What influences this too, is the content of what you are practicing. If I'm learning a new song, I may overdo it at the beginning. I want to learn it fast so I might practice it too much the first day. This happened to me last week - I'm learning a new song and am experimenting with distortion and tones. It's better if I just learned it straight at the beginning and then start adding distorion once I know the song, but I get a little over-confident and impatient. The next day I was a little tight, so I just did my warm ups and didn't touch that song.

Operatic singers - as I remember - can go up to 4 hours a day, but they are using very safe techniques.

[ronws]

It's not the length of practice, it's the quality of practice. But, with good technique, you can practice as long as you feel like. I don't judge so much how long I practice as much as I judge whether I can get through my set, which averages 5 to 6 songs at a whack. Sometimes with a rest in between to go to the bathroom or switch my laundry from washer to dryer. At least in the house. Live, I might go longer than an hour without a rest. Depends.

But just practice, it depends on what I am practicing. Some days, I am not so much working on scales as I am working resonance and breath management, something even more basic than scales.

[VideoHere]

it doesn't always need to be so regimented. you can try just exercising free voice, with no concern for a perfect scale or arpeggio. siren with freedom and ease, lip bubble all kinds of notes in random order.

try to make things fun and spontaneous.

when i do my descending head voice slides, i really can sound like a female and that's cool too.

[Felipe Carvalho]

Im used to one hour each day too. Works fine.

What works with me when learning new stuff, like right now, is doing 2 sessions, even if you spend less time on them. This way you are forced to get things right again after warming down. Like one by moning, one by night.

Doing 2 hours straight usually dont make much difference with me... What also pay off is doing 1 hour of exercises and then proceed on using it on a song that requires it. This way the brain assimilate it better with your singing.

[VideoHere]

I've heard that it can be good to break it up throughout the day, like ten minutes out of every hour all day... that kind of thing. Can't say for sure how it compares to the alternative, but it's a lot of fun.

sure raph, like when there are no customers in my store....lol!!!!

i also like to spikes of particularly challenging pieces of a song.

don't forget your breathing exercises folks....which can done any time any place.

[Felipe Carvalho]

hahaha some of them on the bus would really come out nice :P

[ronws]

I like everyone's thoughts. Me, I kind of cross-train. Some days, a number of scales and vocalises. Other days, basic stuff. The other day, I had some kind of allergy that made my voice sound scratchy and rough. So, I did not sing a single note and only spoke when I needed to. Rest is muy importante.

And like Felipe, I would rather take a new thing I am practicing and immediately put it in a song. The quicker I link a good habit with singing, the better off I will be.

[VideoHere]

after i warmup and exercise, i practise song parts. i really only find i need to practise the challenging parts. i can just visualize the parts i'm comfortable with. i really don't practise a song from beginning to end. i feel like it's a waste of voice for the purpose.

but if i sense the challenging parts are giving me trouble, i'll revert back to warming up some more, then try things again.

it's amazing how nice things can get when you know you're fully warmed up.

[ronws]

but if i sense the challenging parts are giving me trouble, i'll revert back to warming up some more, then try things again.

That part reminds me of watching James Lugo recording a song. In between takes, he would do lip bubble sirens to stay limber and light. Which makes sense, since every recording engineer is going to comp the vocal track, anyway, whether the singer likes it or not. Average of 3 takes, if not more. Then the ones most pleasing to the engineer are chosen and the comp(osite) track takes shape. How do you keep your voice from wearing out on the same phrase over and over again? Like James or Bob. Stay warm between attempts at whatever particular section.