There are certain practices that are common to highly successful singers. #6 is the focus for this blog. First, let’s take a look at #1-5. (To see all 7 practices on video, visit SingLikeYouSpeak.com and sign up to get a free video.)

#1 Everyone has a great voice inside. The human body is the most perfect of all musical instruments. Singing is as natural and simple as speaking when you have the right tools and the right understanding of the process of singing.

Practice #2 is body alignment or posture. The body being the instrument, it needs to be aligned so that breath and sound can easily move through without strain or struggle.

The 3rd practice of highly successful singers is a simple, opening inhale.

#4 Practice is an active exhale. Your exhale is about releasing energy not forceful effort.

Sally Morgan in the recording studio with a student

The 5th practice of highly successful singers is Listen. Listen and really hear the music. This refers back to #1. If you are listening to the nasty little kid telling you you’d better be careful and make a nice sound, then you are not listening to the music.

#6 Don’t even think about singing. When most people sing, they believe that it is an extra-ordianry task that only the stars know how to do. That is simply not true. Singing is as natural and simple as speaking when you have the right tools and the right understanding of the process of singing.

The 7th and last practice in this series is about practice. When you are a musician, that’s what you do – practice. But how you practice is what separates amateur from pro.

Practice makes permanent. If you sing a song over and over and over again hoping that it will get better, what you are actually doing is making the way you sing that song – be it good or not so good – permanent. It’s muscle memory.

If you want to improve the way you are singing, then you must practice with purpose. Practice to undo the old muscle memory and install the new, healthy muscle memory.

To know what to practice, you really need to study with a professional vocal trainer. I know that a lot of you out there in the rock/pop/indie genres think if you study singing, you’ll sound trained. Not so. If you have a voice teacher who knows what s/he is doing. Technique, solid contemporary technique = vocal freedom. It’s the technique that frees your voice so you can communicate with your audience.

I encourage my students to take one point of technique that you want to incorporate into your singing and focus on just that for an entire practice session. This is how sports figures practice. They take their technique (you’d better believe they have trainers and very precise techniques to practice) down to the smallest detail and focus on that pinpoint to perfect it.

I encourage you to do the same. Believe me I spent years flailing around wondering why my singing wasn’t getting to where I wanted it to go. Even though I was studying with top teacher here in NYC. Getting nowhere. 2 factors were at play.

1 – I was studying with opera singers and I’m not a classical singer! After years of frustration, I literally wrote the book on contemporary technique.
2 – None of my teacher ever taught me how to practice. How to practice is an essential part of my teaching because that’s where most of the progress is going to take place. Practice smart and wisely and without beating up on yourself!

To receive a video version of 7 Practices of Highly Successful Singers, go to SingLikeYouSpeak.com and sign up to download the video. Enjoy!

About the author

Sally Morgan is a professional vocal trainer with over 30 years of experience. Sally is also the creator and author of SingLikeYouSpeak(TM)!

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