If you’ve been in the singing business for a while you’ve probably met some fantastic Stage Managers.  Let’s be honest, we’d be so much better of if they were all in politics and running the world.  They get stuff done and know how to put up with a whole lot of drama.  However, we need them in the theater otherwise, what we do would not exist.

Undoubtedly, if you’ve had a conversation with one of those stage managers, you’ve also heard them talk about the triangle of Cheap, fast and good.  You can have 2 of the three, but never all three.  You want something done fast and cheap, it won’t be good.  you want something done fast and good, it won’t be cheap. 
This delicately balanced formula also applies to a lot of different things not only in the performing world but in life in general.  Perhaps you’ve already thought of a few applications.

One of the most obvious is the formula we use in academia.  The performance, practice, lesson model. Have you ever wondered why your teacher is barking at you to act more in your lessons when you’re supposed to be working out technique? Or why your performance felt so different (better or worse) than what you did in your lesson.  Perhaps the most common phenomenon is the “it was great in the practice room” scenario when you get to your lesson and it’s like you’ve never sung a note in your life.

We have to synthesize information in a lot of different ways as musicians in order for it to “stick.” It’s not enough to make a random discovery in a practice room at 10pm on A Thursday night after a killer burrito from Chipotle or some Nashville hot chicken from Prince’s. You have to be able to bring those practice room sounds to your lesson, and then to the stage.  Many times, however we have great success in one of the three, but not the others.

Think back to high school. Were you someone who got fantastic grades in class, but bombed the tests? Maybe you were the person who didn’t study at all, then completely aced the test.  Most of us are one of those two, and that translates to the performing world.  Can you sing with a teacher in your face barking things at you? Can you motivate yourself to find the sounds you need to find without that teacher in your face? What about on the stage, does the adrenaline feed you or cause you to implode?

What’s the secret? Well, it’s no secret, and it’s boring.  You just have to keep doing it all…a lot! 


You have to spend enough time in the practice room that things actually show up in lessons.  If you can turn it on, on the stage, that will only last you so long.  Eventually those little become stale and your experience level outpaces your technical knowledge.  Or, the reverse is true and your vast technical knowledge which you have developed in solid practicing and productive lessons, never synthesizes on the stage.  You look and feel like it’s your first time singing in front of people and you’re doomed to the practice room “hey come here and listen to what I can do!”

So!  How do you know where to start? Well, if you don’t know how to practice well, that’s the first place to start.  If you’re not having productive lessons, that is a little harder to assess.  If you are not excited to get up on stage and sing for people, you have to ask yourself why.  A good reference point is to think honestly about which of those three you dislike the most.  That’s probably your weakest area.  We don’t like to do things we don’t do well.

If your practice sessions stink, here are some things to keep in mind:

-Are you practicing enough?

-Are you practicing too much?

-Are you just singing or are you actually practicing? Singing is what you do in the shower and the car.  Practicing is what you you do to improve.

-Do you learn new music by singing the entire piece through the first time with text and music? So, basically bad sight reading?

-Do you have specific goals in mind, or are you just checking your practice box so your teacher doesn’t get mad?

-Do you spend more time trying to figure out the chords to your favorite pop song than  you do learning notes and working on technique?

If your lessons are rough, consider the following questions:

-Are you coming with questions for your teacher or just “waiting to be inspired.”  Remember, you are in charge of your progress, your teacher is there to guide you, not do it for you.

-Are you recording your lessons, or taking notes during  your lessons? If not, you’re going to miss a lot of information.

-Do you find your teacher has to address the same exact thing for weeks on end? If so, it means that you’re either not making progress or it’s a big issue that has to be addressed before moving on to other things.

-Do you find yourself trying to kill time in lessons or saying things like “I didn’t practice as much as I wanted to?”  This is usually a sign that you’re not prepared, or perhaps you are just not invested in getting better.

-What is your energy like when you walk in to a lesson?  The way you enter the studio sends your teacher a clear signal about how hard you want to work that day.

-Do you  have a good idea of what your current strengths and weaknesses are?  Perhaps you have a different idea of what needs to be fixed than your teacher does.  Ask!  Make sure you are both on the same page and that you have a realistic and honest analysis of your vocal abilities.

If you’re having trouble in performance scenarios, consider these questions:

-How often do I perform?  If it’s only occasionally, every time you get up will feel like the first time. 
Find ways to perform more.  Specifically, find ways to sing in front of people when you can’t stop to fix mistakes or do something again.  If you perform a lot, do you set goals when you perform, do you look for things you can improve, or do you just park and bark?

-When you get up to perform, what are you thinking about? Words? technique? If it isn’t primarily communicating with your audience and telling a story, it probably means you still need to iron out some fundamental technical elements, learn your pieces earlier or more completely, or you just need to practice shutting off your “technique brain” as you perform.  Yes, we all start somewhere, but if you are unable to shut off the technique monitoring at least a little, you’ll miss out on some important performance discoveries.  It takes a lot of practice, but it’s important to develop this skill. Often performing is where we synthesize all of the things we have learned and they forge some important vocal victories you can’t get in the practice room or voice lesson.

-Are you treating the performance seriously? Do you warm up? Do you prepare the night before? What are you wearing for your performances? Sometimes in our effort to avoid the anxiety of performing, we don’t prioritize it and just get up and hope for the best.  In other scenarios, we stress so much about the performance, hold ourself ot unrealistic standards, or obsess over things we can’t control so much that we ensure a stress-filled experience on stage.  It’s tough to balance the two, but important to think about how you prepare before you get up on stage.

-Are you putting yourself in successful performance situations?  This can be rooted in a few different areas, some of which are appropriate repertoire, good vocal health, and adequate preparation.

All in all, we need these three components of practice, lesson and performance, to make legitimate and long-lasting vocal progress.  We can’t rely on only one of them, and we have to work at finding some level of comfort in all three. When you find a good synthesis between the three, you’ll quickly discover that you’re happy with the direction you are headed and you are making the most of all available forms of learning.