How many hours a day can I safely practice singing?

Question

I have studied privately for a year, so I have a reasonable foundation. Assume I constantly move through the whole *comfortable* range of the voice. I am trying to develop a beautiful, natural, tension-free sound, and improve my intonation. I am willing to work as much as possible at this because it is a career for me. I'm currently striving for about 3 hours a day, which consists of mainly scales, arpeggios and long tones on a wide variety of vowels. I've done this for about 3 weeks now and have noticed some improvements. My voice does feel tired at the end of the day, but there's no pain or hoarseness. If I can practice more, I would like to. Also, any suggestions on what to concentrate on when I practice? What to think about, and what exercises to do? I want a tension-free sound with a nice vibrato (it only creeps in once in awhile for now). I will resume singing lessons in a few weeks.
No facetious answers please. I think only a professional singer or singing teacher would know.

Answer 1

Not a lot of pro singers or teachers here, so I'll help as much as I can.

The main thing you want to avoid is the pain or hoarseness you mention. It doesn't help to increase the time in one day in which you practice, just make sure you practice consistently. Singing is mostly about developing muscle memory, and that takes time with mental processing time (e.g., sleep) in between lessons.

In order to develop a truly versatile voice, be sure to keep changing your practice routine. New material will help you with interval jumps, range extension, transitions with throat voice or falsetto, vibrato, vowel formation, and more. By repeating the same exercise or song, you only get good at that song.

Recording your voice and playing it back may give you additional ideas of things to do, because our perception of what we sound like is influenced by the vibration of our body, and what is transmitted through the air is different.

Working with a tuner may help you to make your pitches more exact and consistent. Working with a piano or keyboard may improve your pitch recall. Try to focus the sound lower in your chest to achieve a more solid note and consistent vibrato.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Hi, im a trained soprano and first begun vocal training many years ago, when I was 7 years old. I am now fully qualified and often give tuition to others. Practice definately improves your voice. There is no doubt about that. However, I don't think its a good idea to work on your vibrato and projection by yourself. The vocal chords are so highly sensitive and can be damaged really easily. Vibraot especially isn't something that just comes naturally to everyone and chances are, even with tuition, it may never be something you can do. Don't worry too much though, there's so much more to singing than vibrato - you don't essentially need to be able to do it. I think if you are serious baout wanting to improve your singing, you should think about a vocal coach/trainer. They will be able to help you gradually - and safely - build up your voice, in terms of pitch, projection, volume, quality, etc. Being able to sing strong & powerful is great, but sometimes, when practicising, there is a danger of going a bit over the top and damaging your voice. A vocal coach from my earlier years once told me that in rehersing you should always hold your vocie back a little, and save the full throttle for performances. that way you are not pushing your vocie to the max on a regular basis. the strain would be too much. In the meanwhile, as you are practising, please remember to never launch straight into a song, there a number of things you absolutely must do prior to singing. First you need to practice basic facial and mouth movements, which might sound odd, but they help unhinge your mouth, neck and vocal chords. Try making wide yawning sounds and saying the vowels (a,e,i,o,u) in a very exgerrated voice. Next try some basic vocal excercises. Scales are really good and they allow the voice to to go from low to high registers gradually, thereby easing your vocal chords into it. Sing the scales to the vowels again. Some people find humming for a while prior to singing is also useful. Sorry for such a long winded answer. Hope it all helps though, and best of lcuk with whatever you decide to do & all your future years of singing :)

Answer 4

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Hoowever there are several key things to do to improve your singing voice, yet some rely on upon your gender and some don't. Since I don't have a clue about your gender, I'll let you know the ones that are not gender particular. I'll give you some suggestions but I reccomend to follow the course that I posted above...I did it and I know you will apprecciate it! Learn to breathe from your diaphragm, not your lungs. - most straightforward route for a beinging voice understudy to learn this strategy is to lie level on your back and breathe without considering it. You ought to perceive that it is your stomach climbing and down, not your lungs. Congrats, you've spotted your diaphragm. Presently remained up and practice breathing through your nose and pushing the air into your stomach rather than your lungs. Practice breath/breathing strategies
When you've figured out how to breathe with your diaphragm, you have to show yourself how to work those muscles in a manner that will improve your singing vocals. This is accomplished by something many refer to as breath exercises. Fundamentally, you use five to ten minutes doing these before endeavoring to sing. Here are some to kick you off: "the pregnant woman puff" is where you utilize the labor breathing method taught in lamas' classes to work your mouth muscles. "the straw" is where you suck in all the air you can oversee and afterward gradually release it again on your own pace while switching up the variations of the breath release. For a better work out in this exercise you can really sing a few bars of a tune also. good luck!

Answer 5

I am a voice teacher and singer, and I would NEVER practice for three hours straight. Even seasoned professionals "mark" during long rehearsals.

At your age and experience an hour a day of good solid singing is plenty. Now, time you spend learning and memorizing your music is something else, but you must be careful not to overdo it. Fatigue is normal to a certain extent, but I would be very cautious about singing that much. If you experience pain, you have a BIG problem, and by then it is often too late!

What does your teacher say?

Answer 6

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Singing teachers will cost money and can be expensive so they're not for everyone. Singing can be learned so it's not an "either you have it or you don't" kind of thing.

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Answer 7

Listen to the two guys above.

I assume since you are developing your vibrato that you are focusing on more classical training. That is my background, and hence what these suggestions will be based on.

In the time you are not singing, you can still be doing things to improve yourself as a performer. For example:

Do light weight exercises for your back and abs to help with supporting the tone.

Drink lots of water to stay hydrated. If you do get hoarse, suck on cough drops and drink tea with honey.

Listen to famous singers in your voice part and style of singing to learn from what they do, what they sound like. You might also listen to their CDs to find works you want to add to your repetoire.

Learn German, French, and/or Italian. Knowing the language you're singing in helps with diction and the emotion you put behind the words.

If training for Broadway or opera, watch movies or stage performances of the famous shows in the respective genre. Knowledge of many shows will help with auditions and performances come around.

If training for more concert/album production, build your repetoire, and read a book or take a class on how to plan the music for a recital.

That should keep you occupied. Good luck.

Answer 8

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Answer 10

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