Practice Tips

Part IV

This week we continue talking about motor learning and how strategies from motor learning research can help us with singing practice. 

If you remember last week’s newsletter, has your practice been ‘spicy’ this week, with some serial or random practice?

Today’s topic is constant versus variable practice. Constant practice is like blocked practice, where you perform the same task over and over in one chunk of time, but constant practice also occurs in the same context.  If you did repetitions of a task in the same location and at the same time of day, that would be constant practice.  Musicians experience constant practice quite a bit more than they might realize.  Think of a choir director who uses the same warm up exercises at each rehearsal, and the choir meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in a choral rehearsal hall using the same piano.  The singers in the choir are experiencing constant practice. 

Constant practice is reassuring; things are familiar and comfortable.  However, it can suppress long term learning as compared to our next kind of practice, variable practice.

Variable practice is similar to random practice, where you have different skills you are targeting rather than just one, but variable practice also occurs in different contexts, like practicing at different times of the day, in different locations, with and without other people, perhaps with and without distractions.  Variable practice is also quite common.  Think of a musician on tour: she might practice some in her hotel room in different cities, plus backstage in different venues, in different time zones and at different times of the day.  Sometimes, there might be noise from the streets near her hotel or backstage; sometimes, she might practice with another musician touring with her.  As its cousin random practice did, variable practice can be quite helpful in learning.  It’s pretty easy to see that variable practice would help us be adaptable and could help us with transferring skills to other similar but not identical tasks.

Next week, we will talk about schedules of practice and how that can impact how we learn to do new things.

Have a wonderful week exploring new kinds of practice!
Your SonoVoice Team

Next Week: Practice Tips Part V

You are a vocal athlete!

Athletes put superhuman demands on the human body. They practice to stay in shape, get better and prepare for the event. No athlete expects to perform at their best without working on their technique, practicing skills, and preparing for the game. 

The same goes for you as a vocal athlete. Practice will help you be prepared for your event: performance. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut! If you want to be at your best as a singer, you’ll need to establish a regular vocal exercise and practice regimen.

In our weekly Vocal Fitness Friday email, SonoVoice's team of experts in science-based voice training  will be sharing information about how the voice works, tips on keeping your voice healthy, and ideas for vocal exercises for peak vocal fitness.