Chapter 26 of Learning to Sing

by Jenna Pastuszek

Congratulations, you’ve reached Chapter 26 of learning to sing.

This is where you’ll stay for the rest of your life.

Don’t panic!

You’ve conquered the music making basics: you can sing on pitch, carry a tune, rock a solo, learn a complicated rhythm, maintain a difficult harmony, conquer a Sondheim melody, sing, act, and/or dance all at the same time.

Now it’s time to learn how to sing: embrace imperfections, shift gears subtly, and have fun simultaneously. Yes, that will take you a lifetime to figure out, so sit back, crack open a seltzer, and breathe, baby. You and Audra are now in the same chapter.

Learning to sing isn’t about getting something right. It’s about exploring and identifying your acoustic options. And, just like we as people evolve, change, and grow, so do our voices. So, what may have worked for you yesterday, last week, last year, last decade, might not be available to you anymore. And that’s okay! This chapter has many other tips, tricks, and tools for you to unlock.

Chapter 26 is all about learning to adjust on the fly. Listening to your voice, your body, your brain, your heart, and most of all, your instinct. Chapter 26 is about acknowledging the vocal habits that got you this far and then choosing the options that you’d like to use in the present and take with you into your storytelling future.

As my voice teacher Joan Lader says, “If you want to do something else, don’t always do it vocally.” Chapter 26 is about expanding your ideas of what’s possible while storytelling through song. What other acoustic choices are at your finger tips besides belting loudly? What else can you try that may help you make your point?

Chapter 26 is about expanding your curiosity and replacing worry with wonder. It’s about letting go of tension that hinders you and replacing it with tension that helps you. Let anxious, fear-based tension dissolve and release into singing fearlessly in the moment.

If you aim for perfect singing, you’ll fail. Every time.

It’s way more fun to acknowledge that you’ll be digging into this chapter of singing for the rest of your life, so smile, breathe, and let’s get to work!

PS- The next round of our 28-day voice challenge starts April 12th. Registration is open.