VOCALS
WEEKEND WARRIOR | Sheri Gould
Are you a (vocal) weekend warrior? Many of the sing for an hour without preparing either. The brother and I loved to skate and would travel
folks I work with across the country are. Many results can be painful. to many different rinks all over northern Illinois
of the folks I teach at conferences may have where I grew up. When you first learn to skate,
sung daily (hourly!) at some point in their lives you must learn to coordinate many muscles
but things change. We grow up, leave school,
get a job, get married, have kids… etc. And
to work in a way they haven’t worked before.
The key is to
Many new skaters are frequently exhausted
what may once have been a favorite pastime
is now relegated to a once a week “dust off the
shelves” activity that we employ to serve God
and others. So how does this impact a singer?
and sore while they are learning, but eventually
sing. Sing as
the muscles develop ability and memory and
skating becomes as easy as walking. That’s
how it was for my brothers and me.
often as you
SINGERS ARE ATHLETES
There are several groups of muscles we use
when singing. Any time we use our muscles in
an extended activity we tend to think of it as
athletic. Here’s one definition of athletic:
“involving the use of physical skills or
capabilities, as strength, agility or stamina.”
I would say singing qualifies.
We tend to forget that singing not only involves
muscles but skill, agility and stamina. It’s difficult
to maintain these if we aren’t making the effort
to regularly work the muscles. When we sing
irregularly yet expect our bodies to perform the
way they used to, we set ourselves up for some
potential problems. Regular stretching and
conditioning will help to alleviate this. Even if you
That was many years ago. I’m a grandmother
can throughout
the week. Sing
to something you already do on a regular basis
- like taking a shower, commuting, walking your
dog, etc.) This alone will have a huge impact
One of those kids recently had a roller skating
(birthday) party. Having never missed a birthday
party yet, I decided to go ahead and try my
hand at skating. I was wobbly to be sure, but
within minutes (maybe 30) I began to relax
along to the
and much of the muscle memory came back,
allowing me to skate in a similar fashion to the
music you’re
old days. It would take many hours (maybe
days or weeks) to get back to my original ability
listening to. of course, but I sensed I could likely get there...
Sing in the If you were a well-seasoned singer at one point
though maybe slightly less agile.
in your life, that muscle memory is still there,
perhaps a bit out of shape, but mostly still
elevator or
there. With a little bit of time and commitment, I
can’t sing for hours a day like you used to, you
likely can find a way to warm up regularly (add it
now to 13 (soon to be 14) wonderful kids.
believe you can (largely) get back to where you
walking up the
were. At least to a very functional place. And I
would like to encourage you to do so. We need
“seasoned” (a gentle word for older) singers
stairs.
populating our worship platforms. Your wisdom
on your overall vocal health. The key is to sing. and maturity in the Lord is a welcome sight to
Sing as often as you can throughout the week. all and you can be a mentor to others as you
Sing along to the music you’re listening to. Sing USE IT OR LOSE IT? lead in worship. Even if your voice isn’t exactly
in the elevator or walking up the stairs. Instead What if you used to sing but haven’t sung for what it once was, it will be close enough.
of “whistle while you work” make it “sing while a while? Is there still a chance to get back in you work”. Sing, sing, sing, sing, sing! Look shape and sing again? It’s safe to say that there at your weekend singing routine in the way a is definitely some loss of ability when we stop runner might think of a marathon. The runner using a certain muscle group, but...
knows that he/she can’t do it without preparing
and conditioning. He’d never even try to run for When I was growing up, roller skating was all
an hour without preparing. You shouldn’t try to the rage (I suppose that dates me eh?). My
66
September 2019
God bless you as you sing for Him.
Sheri Gould
Sheri is an internationally acclaimed vocal coach.
She’s been helping artists and worshipers find their
voice for over 40 years. For help and resources visit
her site.
www.SheriGould.com
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