2015 New Year's Singing Resolutions- Time to Revise?

2015 New Year’s Resolutions- Now that we are a couple of weeks in, how are yours going?  Did you slip a little?  Be patient with yourself and try to get back on track.  Were your goals realistic?  Not so much?  Revise them and get back on track or simplify them!  Take it easy on yourself, but make some adjustments now to help yourself to be successful!

Here are some ideas:

Resolutions for singing in 2015

Practice 3-4 times per week and workout 3-4 times per week.  That is something good for your singing voice everyday of the week!  Map it out.  Which days work for you to each and at what time of day?  Does it work to exercise on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning and sing Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday?  Then pick which one you do on Sunday (or both!).

Map out what to practice.  Find a focus for each day.  The more structure, sometimes the better.

For Example:

Monday workout:  Yoga before school.

Tuesday practice: Text of “Song A”, Dynamics and Vowels of “Song B”, Pitches of new song.

Wednesday workout: Cardio and weights before work

Thursday practice:  Review vowel work of “Song B”, Solidify pitches of new song and add words, Sing through “Song A” to find meaning in text

Friday workout: Yoga before school and walk after school

Saturday practice:  Review all 3 songs and start to work on interpretation of “Song B”

Sunday: Rest OR sing or workout if feel like it

Add drink more water (a goal of 8 glasses of water a day or 4 large bottles is ideal).  Find a place to put it that is accessible.  Also, place healthy snacks in key places.  Think your drawer or closet at work or an extra bottle of water and a healthy snack in your backpack for school.

Plan out a sleep schedule.  I know, you think I am crazy with all of the work that has piled up and homework teachers are giving.  Vow to go to bed 15 minutes earlier than normal for 3 or 4 nights.  Try to then go to sleep another 15 minutes earlier.  By the end of the week, you are gaining 30 minutes per night.  If you keep that up for a week, it is 3 ½ extra hours of sleep.  Before you know it, you are getting 8-9 hours of sleep a night.  What a way to help your body fight off getting sick and your mind to work at it’s maximum potential.

If you take care of you, you take care of your voice to be the best singer YOU can be!

New Years Resolutions: New Singer, New You!

As we enter the seasonal New Year Resolution window, I find myself making new resolutions for my singing, teaching, and personal life.  Make the resolutions realistic and attainable.  Maybe you just need to get more organized or take more time for you to be more effective in your practice. Make your own tree of resolutions that can grow throughout the year.  What can you resolve to do to make yourself a better singer, better, student, better teacher, better you?  A few things always pop to mind for me:

1. Make a committed schedule of practicing.

2. Establish a focus to each practice session.

3. Set goals for singing for myself (and my student).

4. Make a timeline to achieve those goals.

5. Sing just for the sake of singing a few times a week.

6. Workout (cardio and/or yoga) 3-5 times per week.  Do what suits you and your mind.

7. Drink lots of water and try to get 8 hours of sleep per night.

8. Take 10 minutes a day (or more if you can) to do something for yourself.

9. Tell people in your life how much they mean to you and take the time to say "Thank you" or "I love you."

10.  Breathe when it seems too much and regroup.  It will all work out.

This may seem like a long list.  They are little attainable goals.  I think I can make them work.  Take what you like, disregard what you do not.   Regardless, do your best to make 2015 a happy, prosperous, and wonderful year!

Share some of your resolutions too!

Top Blogs of Healthy and Confident Singing Voice in 2014

As the year draws to a close, it is fun to revisit the best of topics of the year (isn't that why they summarize the year so often on television?).  Seriously, it is interesting to look at.  The top 5 prevalent topics of Healthy and Confident Singing for 2014 are:

1. Sick But Singing December 2014

2. Vocal Color- How it Makes YOU Unique November 2014

3. Mind Control and Singing: "It's All in the Mind" October 2014

4. Just a Few More Reasons Singing is Good for You: Stress Relief, Self Esteem... October 2014

5. Yoga and Balance are Synonymous. How Can Yoga and Balance Help Your Singing? April 2014

Honorable Mention: Reasons Why You Need to Sing Everyday! March 2014

Are there any topics YOU would like to see addressed in 2015?  Questions that you would like answered related to singing?  Let me know by clicking here: Contact Me  Visit my website for more informationVisit My Website for more information or sign up to receive my blog!

I look forward to a WONDERFUL 2015 filled with singing!

Happy Holidays to All and Happy Singing!!

Fa la la la la, la la la la!!  'Tis the season of caroling and singing!  Happy Holidays to all!

Remember to take time for yourself and take time to enjoy the magic of the season.  Sing your favorite Christmas carols, practice for the Holiday Concert, listen to Christmas music on the radio, make sure you find time for one concert (or listen to a recording) of Messiah, add some Manheim Steamroller or Holiday Rock if that is more your style.  Music shares the meaning of this holiday season!

Musicians are the makers of holiday traditions and getting people in the holiday spirit.  We get so caught up in our craft that sometimes we forget to just plain enjoy the music.  Take a moment before or during that next concert to 'drink in' the holiday spirit and truly appreciate the beauty of the music of the holidays.  Whether it be the religious or secular aspect of the season, music really puts the icing on the cake of the holidays.

When you are stressed about how you are going to get everything done before the holiday, frustrated with the traffic at the mall, or worried you are going to be late to get to your next rehearsal, take a minute and close your eyes (or just breathe if you are driving) and sing your favorite holiday song, find a holiday station on the radio or a Pandora station.  Enjoy the wonders and magic of the season with the thing that drives us all into the spirit, MUSIC!

Stay tuned for a summary of the hottest singing topics from 2014 and sign up to receive my blog www.healthyandconfidentsingingvoice.blogspot.com and www.susanandersbrizick.com.

Make Your Practice More Productive

We are all in a time crunch at this time of year. So many performances, shopping to get done, social engagements, finals at school, snowstorms to weather.

How do you make the most of the time that you have to practice singing?  Take time to do a few things and you will get so much done in less time!  Try these tips.



1.  Establish a practice space and eliminate all distractions from the room (phone, tv)

2.  Get your body and mind ready.
- Stretch your neck, arms, legs.
- Do a 'rag doll' by flopping forward bending over your legs and take a few deep breaths in and out.  Release any tension through your fingertips.
- Do a 'tree pose' to extend your spine and calm you mentally.  (Make sure you do this on both sides)

3.  Follow a 5-10 minute vocal warm-up (Spend time finding 4-5 exercises that warm your voice up well quickly).

4. Isolate exactly what you are going to work on in your practice on your repertoire and focus on that 1 or 2 things.
-Are you working out your breaths, phrasing, pronunciation, interpretation?
-Focus on only 1 at a time.  If you master that, move on to another.

5. Sing through the whole of the selection you are working on.  Assess how you did.

6. Did the work you did stick?  Make notes to yourself as to what you need to work on the next day.  Is it the same or should you now work on phrasing or interpretation.  Write down a note or two and when you will practice next.

By focusing and getting right to task (that ideally is selected before you get to your practice space), you minimize messing around with non-singing tasks and can get a lot accomplished with your practice time.

If you have more time (maybe in between Christmas and New Year's?), take time to explore new things, improvisation, sing through old repertoire just because, or figure out what you want to use for your next audition.  The beauty of music is creating it and perfecting it and freedom to explore new paths our icing to the cake!

Sick but Singing? "Tis the Season to be....."

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la laaaah...oh boy, I'm sick. The holiday season is filled with singing, concerts, and shows.  What do you do if you find yourself sick?  Despite our best efforts to stay healthy, sometimes we do catch that cold.

First take a minute and assess if you have to do the performance or not.  If you are in the chorus, maybe you can back off a little bit on a song or two.  If you are the soloist or lead maybe not.  If it hurts when you are singing, really take a moment to re-evaluate your technique.  If the show must go on.....

Be Smart

Take care of yourself physically.  Get extra sleep, drink lots of water, wash your hands, take extra vitamin C, stay warm, avoid talking if you don't need to.  Do anything that will support your immune system and get you better.

Take care of yourself mentally.  Think about what you can and cannot do about the situation and get a little mental R & R.  Don't go overboard with the ramifications, just make a plan.

Take some time to take an unemotional and honest look at how the sickness is affecting your voice. Sore throats often lead to a raised larynx and reduce vocal power and resonance.  Swelling of the mucous membranes absorb some of your sound and affect your resonance.  If the cold has gone to your chest, it may impact your ability to rapidly fill your lungs for good breath support.  General aches can impair your endurance.  Figure out how this illness if affecting your singing.

After you do this, make rational adjustments.  Reduce your expectations a little bit.  You may not sound as you usually do.  Maybe that high C is not going to be as loud as you know it can be, maybe you need to add a few breaths into phrasing to help you, maybe you need to increase your support or warm up for more time than usual.  It is best to get through a performance by singing on cue and in tune than worry about subtle changes.  Showing up and showing professionalism is part of a singer's life and everyone will understand.  In the meantime do your best to relieve your symptoms and get better so you can do your best on that day!  Remind yourself that you will wake up again tomorrow and the next time you sing you will be well and astound everyone!

Many singing greats have had to make the show go on and admit they learned something from singing with a cold.  Opera singer, Renee Fleming, states in her autobiography that she truly learned to sing when she was sick.  She could no longer cheat on my technique and get away with it, she had to listen to her body and trust her technique to get her through.

This is not encouraging you to sing if you are very sick or if your throat hurts, but a means to help you get through it when you need to.  Of course, the ideal would be to take care of yourself to the point that you never get sick (but let's be realistic, we do), but be smart if the show must go on.

Dr. Jahn's Advice (Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and author for Classical Singer):

-Make a realistic appraisal of whether you really need to sing or can cancel.
-Make an unemotional checklist of how your vocal production is impaired
-Develop a strategy for working around those impairments,
-Use medications and adjustments in technique
-Accept a philosophical attitude toward a temporary setback

Stay healthy and smart about your singing!

Does the Vocal Color of Your Voice Impact Being Cast in a Role? What Else?

Does the color of your voice impact being cast in a role?  A resounding yes!  Can the director hear your voice singing a particular part?  It not only comes down to what voice part you generally sing, but does your voice have the qualities or colors to sing a particular role.  There are many varieties of sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, and altos.  Can this mezzo alter her vocal color to do a British accent for Nancy in Oliver or become very nasal to sing Adelaide in Guys and Dolls?  Can this soprano sing a pure, clear tone as wanted for Sarah in Guys and Dolls or Maria in West Side Story?  The vocal color Mother Nature gave you can be played with a little bit within a box of coloration, but not taken totally out of the box.  To think about it visually, there are different shades of blue, none of which can become yellow.  A mezzo-soprano voice can do both Nancy and Adelaide with technique, training, and experimentation with a trained professional, but probably is not really capable of singing the role of Queen of the Night!

What else comes into play?  We must not only sound the part, but also sort of look the part.  Yes, stature and looks to take a role in casting. In Oliver, you cannot have a short Nancy and a tall Oliver. Some physical features can be changed and you may be asked to do so by wearing a wig or dying your hair color, but they cannot drastically change your vocal color.

Other factors come in as well of course- can you act the part?  How is your reading?  How is your monologue if required?  How do you interact with the other actors auditioning? If there is a dance audition, can you dance the part?  If it is a tap show, do you tap?

The best thing you can do is prepare yourself to be YOUR best!  Prepare your song vocally, delivery of the song, refresh your dance moves and your acting skills.  Take singing, acting, and dance lessons on an ongoing basis. If that is too tough to manage with your time, focus on your primary strength and then find a way to rotate the others in by doing a Musical Theater Audition Workshop or add lessons during the summer months.  Happy Auditioning!