Muscle memory is a big topic, and we’ll only be scratching the surface of it here today, specifically in relation to practice and vocal development.
Those of you who know me, know I tend to ask a lot of questions. Ever since I was a kid I would ask questions about things. I always wanted to know how things worked, what certain things were, and why things were the way they were.
I think that the power of the last question – why things are the way they are – is something that still fascinates me to this day. Things rarely happen for no reason. They might happen for reasons that are unclear to us, but they are rarely without causation.
There is a GREAT book on why things happen in the way that they do, called ‘Freakonomics’, and is a fabulous book on incentives and understanding the way people think and behave. It really sharpened and renewed my desire to understand the ‘why’ behind situations, as it is amazing what information you can glean when you always look to answer the question ‘why’.
So what’s the ‘why’ on my mind?
Something has come up a lot in the last few years is in relation to students that I work with. In particular, that there is a discernible difference between those that have lessons once a week (or more!) and those who have them once a fortnight (or less frequently)…
Once upon a time, I advised new students to have the first 3-5 lessons weekly so we can have the most impact on their voice, and then they are welcome to move to fortnightly lessons, as the convenience of fortnightly lessons works well for many. I still advise something similar…
But I noticed something. I noticed a HUGE difference between those who had lessons EVERY week without fail, and those who had them fortnightly without fail. Surely the difference is that those who have them weekly are twice as good as those who have them fortnightly? They have them twice as often, so they get twice as good… right?
WRONG
They were three, four, five times better. Sometimes even more so. The difference of having weekly lessons compounded their progress such that their development vastly outstripped the progress of those who were having lessons fortnightly. That’s even over those who were practicing diligently between fortnightly lessons.
This experience actually resulted in me completely re-engineering the way I run lessons, and the general recommendations I make when people start out working with me. The muscle memory these singers were creating was/is rock solid, and was developed incredibly quickly.
The majority of my clients do practice regularly, as you can hear the constant development in their voice lesson to lesson… however, those who have lessons weekly are dramatically overtaking those who have lessons less frequently. That’s not to say there are not big improvements across the board, but there is a substantial difference in quality of rate of development in the voices of those who are in weekly.
This is a combination of having regular contact time to work on and tweak the weekly exercise workouts for the student, and also because of the discipline that is clearly evident in those who make the time for weekly lessons.
So what’s your point here Mark?
My point is not to beat people up for not being in as often as once a week. My point is not to make people feel bad for not practicing as often as they feel they should. At the end of the day, everyone is different, and we don’t all have the time to work on our voices weekly with a teacher.
My point, if I am making any point at all, is that if you care deeply about something – such as your vocal development – then making regular weekly time for it is essential to develop that necessary muscle memory. I have seen bigger improvements in 3 months with some students who are in weekly, than I have in 12 months with those who are in less frequently. Again, that is not to say those who are in less frequently are not seeing big improvements, but we are seeing ENORMOUS improvements in those weekly students who commit the time in and out of lessons. It’s startling what that regular contact time can create in your voice.