The Myth of the Impossible Daily Practice Routine
“Create a daily practice routine” is one of the most common pieces of advice given to musicians, including singers. In a perfect world, I’m sure we’d all have time to go to the gym, cook healthy food at home every meal, clean the house, go to work, and practice for hours every day. Unfortunately, even with the slower pace of life during the global pandemic, it can be challenging to complete everything on our to-do lists.
While we don’t have a fool-proof solution to turn you into a super human who can achieve every tiny goal you set in a day, we do have two important strategies to make sure your voice gets daily exercise: 1) do the minimum and 2) keep a calendar or day planner.
That first step, doing the minimum, is maybe the most important to address. Many people write off the idea of a daily practice routine before they even try to implement one because they can’t possibly fit an hour of practice time into their already packed daily schedule. An hour of practice a day is an impossible goal for many of us, especially if you’re not a full-time musician or have a family to care for. While some pro’s may have eight hour practice days, they also get paid to spend that time!
If you’re trying to fit a daily practice routine into your busy schedule, start with just a couple of minutes a day. Of course longer practice sessions are ideal, but - much like daily exercise - just a couple minutes a day can make an incredible difference. The time you spend practicing is cumulative and daily practice of any amount helps build the muscle memory needed to make your performances seem effortless.
Take an honest look at your daily routine. Do you have an extra 10 minutes at any point in your day? Maybe it means waking up 10 minutes earlier, maybe you have a little time when you get home from work. You might even decide to practice on your drive to or from work if you commute by car (Zelda’s Voice Warm Ups recordings are perfect for this strategy). Whatever you choose, add it to your calendar and stick with it. If you find you have the time to increase the length of your practice on certain days, even better! But don’t give up on daily practice if you can’t find 20 minutes or more to practice every day.
The time you spend practicing is cumulative and daily practice of any amount helps build the muscle memory needed to make your performances seem effortless.
Hopefully, you can already see why keeping a calendar or daily planner is important to this practice strategy. Chances are you already keep some kind of calendar, whether that’s on your phone or a physical planner. Whatever method works for you, we recommend something that can break your day down to the hour, quarter hour, or minute. It makes it easier to find those extra moments in your day - and keep track of how you use them! Our friend Melanie swears by Moleskine’s Journey app, others can’t live without their physical planner; all that matters is that you can keep track of your practice routine and that you remember to use it.
However you choose to track your day - whether that’s an app or a notebook or a wall covered in Post-Its - try to stick with it. Keeping track of your schedule like this can be helpful for building all kinds of habits beyond daily practice. Whether you’re trying to find more time to book shows or a few moments to exercise, this is a great strategy.
As you start your new daily practice, we want to remind you of the most important part of any practice routine: give yourself some grace. It’s ok if all you can manage is 10 minutes a day. It’s ok if you miss days or some practices aren’t the most focused. The key is not to beat yourself up over it, but to keep going and do the best you can on any given day; and - remember - your “best” is going to differ from day to day!
Schedule a Lesson and Build Your Ideal Practice Routine
Give a daily practice schedule a try and let us know how it goes! What wound up being the biggest challenge to maintaining a daily practice routine? Have you found more time to practice than you expected? What benefits do you notice from daily practice? If you’re looking for a quick and effective practice routine, check out Zelda’s Voice Warm Ups and take a peek at our article on warming up. You can also work with Zelda to help develop a personalized practice routine; schedule a lesson here. And remember - most importantly - love your voice!
If you want help building your daily practice routine, reach out and set up a lesson with Zelda!
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