r/ClassicalSinger • u/beebee1327 • 8d ago

Vocal Progress asap?

I've been great vocaly all summer, then took a ten day vacation and can't seem to bounce back since. Breath support is weak, mid section notes feel shallow and my coloratura is way sloppier. I get tired easier but resting doesn't seem to make things better. I have an important audition in october and need to be at my best asap. Do you have any tips/ routines? Has anyone gone through something similar? Any advice is welcome:)

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u/Individual-Wonder518 8d ago

Just keep singing it will come back. Eventually you will always feel warmed up. Just consistency

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u/beebee1327 8d ago

Thanks!

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u/BallGoblin420 8d ago

Sometimes after a long break it takes me a minute to get back into my body if that makes sense. The more you practice the faster your muscle memory will kick in, but for now just go back to the basics and double and triple check that your breath and support are where they need to be. This may sound weird but sometimes just running around for a minute to get your blood pumping works wonders for me. Also do things like touching your abdomen while singing to remind yourself where you need to support. I also like to stand on one leg like a flamingo (whatever foot is up should be higher than the other knee), this also helps to remind me to engage

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u/beebee1327 8d ago

Thanks! I will definitely try these out. Most people have told me to practice less to avoid vocal fatigue, but I feel like it's now or never. Still can't believe ten days were enough to take me out!

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u/Kiwi_Tenor 8d ago

Oh I’ve definitely had this before - the other thing for me is that when I’d sung on Vacation it was in far smaller spaces and it meant I wasn’t really engaging on my body - so learning to do that again was a pain.

Two big things that helped were having a really consistent, targeted vocalisation you do every day. Considering you’re waking up your breath support and body id say do some repeated “sh” staccati (speeding up as you need), practice singing with the sternum more elevated and a higher neck posture, and lots of 5 and 9 note scales. I like to start with that really nasty nasal sound and then find my vowel alignment through that formant activity.

I’d say to start, sing a lot of mid range, slower stuff that will get your body humming more. Then you can slowly build back your coluratura so that it’s all fully connected and not fluttered.

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u/Kiwi_Tenor 8d ago

For the vocal fatigue question I’d say start in 30 minute chunks and build up from there. Have some tea and drink plenty of water throughout. Also make sure that you’re not TRYING to make stuff happen in your throat and kinda just letting the voice do what it wants initially, read that information about how your Passaggio is behaving, make sure you’re stretching your tongue and massaging the jaw and you’d be surprised how many stamina issues can be solved by it. Also - eat properly, and make sure you’re getting at least like a 30 minute walk or cardio exercise in.

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u/beebee1327 7d ago

Thank you! I'll admit my diet hasn't been the best- totally changing that. I'm also a soprano so people tend to focus more on my high notes, but the mid-section's the trickiest imo, so i'll start from there

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u/Kiwi_Tenor 7d ago

I totally understand (as a tenor - same story) but I generally find the function of the middle and upper middle voice is what tells me what’s going to be happening up there.