This week we start a new series of tips about practicing.
Today we have the third installment of our series on practicing. Previously we talked about how exercise physiology principles relate to practicing. The next three segments will focus on what is known as motor learning – how we learn new skills – and how we can use motor learning strategies when practicing. Over the next three weeks we will look at the order in which we practice, the types of practice we do, and the scheduling of our practice, and how each of these impacts how we learn.
First, we need to talk a little more about motor learning, which can be defined as a permanent change in capability for skilled movement. Motor learning is knowing-how, like driving a stick shift car, rather than knowing-about, such as knowing the mileage per gallon the car gets. We know learning has taken place when we remember the skill much later, like getting back in a stick shift car and being successful after driving an automatic, and that the skill can be transferred or generalized to other situations - like learning to drive a stick shift in a Honda but being able to drive a stick shift in other brands of cars. Finally, learning is messy, and the kinds of practice that help us learn well often are counterintuitive and may be a struggle in the training phases but ultimately help us learn better for performing in the long run. Anyone who has learned to drive a stick shift car knows all about messy practice!
Now that those basics are clearer, let’s look at the order in which we practice. Blocked practice is doing the same thing many times in a row. For a singer, this might be singing a five-note scale on “la la la la la” twenty times in a row. Blocked practice is great for enhancing immediate performance, but it tends to suppress longer term learning. Serial practice is like doing circuit training at the gym, where you might do five pushups, five sit-ups, five leg raises, and five squats, then start the cycle again. Random practice is where you are neither doing the same task over and over nor are you doing a series of tasks in cyclical fashion. Serial and random practice tend to suppress immediate performance but tend to enhance our learning in the long term. Serial and random practice help us be adaptable to different circumstances. Relating this to singing, serial and random practice more closely resemble what we find in singing a song, where the phrases are of different lengths, where some phrases ascend in pitch and others descend, and where some phrases have fast moving notes and others have sustained, long duration notes.
What is the old saying, “variety is the spice of life”? So try being more spicy in your practice!
Next week, we’ll discuss constant versus variable practice.
Happy spicy practicing, Vocal Athletes!
Your SonoVoice Team
Next Week: Practice Tips Part IV
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.