4 Ways You Could Be Sabotaging Your Singing

[Music] hi guys I'm Madeline Harvey and thanks so much for joining me today we're gonna be exploring four possible ways that you could be sabotaging your own singing and not even know so if you liked today's video please be sure to give it a thumbs up or click the subscribe button below I'd love to see you here more often so much so much of vocal development is about exploring your voice so the degree to which you are present and self aware while you sing is so crucial for example if you like to spend a lot of your time up inside of your head space while you're singing maybe you know worrying about the quality of the sound or maybe judging the quality of the sound well then you're going to miss the subtle cues and sensations that your body is trying to communicate to you to let you know that something may be out of balance so think of singing as a total mind-body unity both will play equal parts and you'll need the cooperation of both for a fun fearless totally sabotage free vocal experience so here are four ways that you might be sabotaging your voice number one holding back we start ladies and gentlemen with the biggest saboteur of all singers holding back is downright dangerous why because it reinforces hesitation let me explain your voice is at the mercy of your nervous system that means that even the subtlest even the smallest degree of discomfort or anxiety is going to reflect itself in the overall quality of your voice that's why we always sound different on a stage than we did in the shower or maybe in our car and that's why also that when we are completely overwhelmed with nervous tension the voice simply does not cooperate with us one bit it's not really until we're able to relax into the moment that we're even able to really enjoy the pleasures of performing so what do we do we have to go to the body first we have to go to the body first we must teach the body that's singing is the relief that comes as we release the voice from the body say this with me singing is the relief that comes as we release the voice from the body we have to feel that first feel the expression of release and ultimately feel it as relief then you can add the filter of the mind that being you know checking pitches checking tone qualities adjusting sounds maybe adding little artistic embellishments here and there but do not go for the prettiest sound first because that just reinforces hesitation as well it keeps you locked into one choice one variable and that could ultimately reinforce the love the sense of hesitation as well so remember go to the body first feel that singing is the relief that comes as you release the voice from the body and then add the filter of the mind so as you were playing with releasing the voice from the body do not judge yourself because ultimately that's that's the foundation of it all that's the very thing that we're afraid of either judgement from ourselves or from someone else and all of that nonsense just reinforces all of that holding back and that's what we just can't have that we can't stand for it so find yourself a place whether it's your car whether it's your shower or if you have a room or a time to practice where no one else is listening and just go crazy I'm a huge advocate for weird noises because I believe that those weird noises are temporary coordinations that get that ball rolling for you they give you access to coordination and two places within your voice that you might not have had otherwise so play play with the relief that comes as you release the voice from the body and release that judgment from yourself and as well from others number two over singing just like holding back over singing is the other extreme of sabotage for singers but over singing puts too much pressure on your voice and can keep you from making those more refined more balanced coordination often times many people will end up over singing simply because they're in the room that has funky acoustics and they actually can't hear themselves if you find that you're singing in a room where the acoustics are really dry you're gonna end up over singing just to try to try to hear yourself a little bit more a good practice for this is to take your hand and make a cup and take your fingers and put them in the tiny fold of your ear bring the heel of your hand around very close to your mouth and this will give you a more accurate way of hearing yourself tada that way you don't have to over sing in an effort to hear yourself if you also find that you're over-singing because you are milking or checking the quality of every note that comes out of your mouth during your performance well that's also what you're going to be communicating to your audience as long as you're up in your head analyzing every note that comes out you've created a sense of separation from your head and your heart and separation is sadness people want to be engaged they want to be invited into the conversation just like working with the body there are times where you have to put the mind aside as well and just allow yourself to enjoy the story and enjoy the connection to the audience that you make do not spend so much time working on the notes and obsessing about the quality of the notes that you also forget that you're telling a story number 3 rushing your progress this one's real right now and that's because we have so much information just at the tips of our fingers you know we want to gobble it all up and it's easy friends it's easy to bunny hop from one exercise to the next without actually ever developing any sort of foundation or muscle memory that supports you I will often say that learning to sing is a lot like learning to be a prima ballerina you know those dancers that dance on those incredibly painful pointe shoes you know it's a craft that demands such dedication and athleticism but all we see is the grace the beauty the eloquence and the effortlessness so I encourage you to stay in the room with your voice stay with your voice engage each exercise what you can do slow you can do fast quality will breed quality do you remember how I said earlier at the beginning of the video that the degree to which you are present and self-aware with your voice is gonna determine its overall quality this is exactly what I mean stay with your voice be patient be curious explore and forgive yourself your body doesn't know how strong you are yet but you do work towards that give your muscles the time that they need to develop and support your sound and now we come to number for our final sabotage example comes to you in the form of singing along with the radio yeah this one can reinforce so many things it can reinforce both holding back as well as over singing you could be over singing in an effort to hear yourself over the original singer or you could be positioning yourself just under the volume of everything because maybe you don't want to hear yourself at all but the sabotaging element here is in the mimicking of the original artist mm something to think about isn't it now it's totally fine to mimic you know artists that you respect and appreciate and admire from time to time especially if that artist has a unique quality to their voice that you'd like to explore within your own voice but but but the limiting aspect here is in the mimic by default that's that is to say exclusively wanting to sound just like that one artist it's super limiting it locks your voice into one very specific sound and that sound could be incredibly different then your most authentic sound and it can also keep you from even being curious to know who you really are because especially if you sound like ariana grande I mean who wouldn't but it's just as awesome to cultivate the freedom to do it your way so give yourself some space and as painful as this may seem try practicing your songs a cappella that way it's just you and the melody and you get to play with your point of view with your delivery and you can cultivate that uniqueness that is totally totally your own so that's it guys that's it for today's video we have number one holding back number two over singing number three rushing your progress and number four singing along with the radio I hope you've enjoyed today's video if you found this video thought-provoking well then give it a thumbs up and click the subscribe button below for more singing and performance tips and I'd love to see you more often thank you so much for hanging out with me and I will see you next time bye [Music]

Channel: Madeleine Harvey

Views: 27,681

Rating: 4.9950352 out of 5

Keywords: sabotage my singing, sabotage your singing, sabotage singing, madeleine harvey, voice lesson, over singing, holding back, singing along with the radio

Id: iVfRCFbgiVc

Length: 11min 6sec (666 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 15 2017

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