Do you REALLY Need To Sing Scales?

 (Transcription slightly modified to suit the blog post format)

One of the complaints people have when they start singing is they start singing they come to training and they find out that they have to do scales and they are like I actually wanted to sing songs they. if that is you, in this video I will tell you why is it important and how to actually enjoy them.

 My name is Jorgelina and I’ve been fully dedicated to teaching contemporary singing voice from a holistic approach for 13 years.

Now, when you decide to be a singer, you decide to be a singer because you like a singer very much or because you want to sing songs powerfully. And then you’ve come to singing lessons and you see that you have to sing scales and you are disappointed. And I understand that. So I’m going to start by telling you why they are important and why we have to do them Well, firstly, you don’t HAVE to do them.  But singing scales provides a very strong shortcut to singing better in less time. So, it’s not really about just singing scales, obviously, but HOW you sing them, with what sounds, with what body posture, that gives you different things. But one thing to understand is that when you sing scales, the goal is not ‘to sing a scale’. It’s not about that. And this is where a lot of people get it wrong. They (think) just, ‘Oh, okay, I have to do those drills, don’t know why, but I’m gonna do them’. And they just do them mindlessly, like, thinking about other things or while they do their dishes or something else. And sadly, I have to say, that is not gonna do anything at all for your voice.

Now, if you are interested in singing well in a shorter time, you need to use scales wisely. If you practice scales properly, they provide a clear, strong shortcut to achieve your voice goals. So now I’m gonna tell you three benefits of singing scales, but there are many of them. Now, as I said, they accelerate your learning if you do them properly and mindfully. For example, one big advantage of singing scales is that they help you balance your voice muscles. Now I’ve talked about that in another video, what does this mean and why do we need to have a balanced voice?

If you want to sing powerful notes, if you want to sing low notes, if you want to sing high notes, you need a balanced voice. If you don’t want to do it by hurting yourself and if you want to have control over your voice. So when you’re singing scales you are singing in a more organized way so your muscles have the ability and the possibility to adjust little by little and that gives you very good training. It really is like going to the gym or if you do ballet for example when you do your barre exercises at the beginning of the class that would be similar to this, so the number one benefit of doing scales is that they help you achieve your singing goals faster by training your voice muscles and your overall voice system in a way that it is functional and that it gives you the desired results in your songs. For example, singing scales are a very organized way to increase your range, expand your belting notes, or lower your range.

So if you want to sing a song and it is out of your league for now, doing vocal drills and scales that are designed to give you those results, is going to provide a shortcut for you. Also, when you are doing scales and drills, you are using specific vowels that unlock certain frequencies and you are also using specific consonants that give your voice different qualities. For example, there are different sounds that you use to allow your larynx to become more flexible and more stable there are vowels that you use to start mixing your voice, connecting your low voice with your high voice in a smooth way, for example. There are scales and sounds that are designed to open your head voice. There are scales that are designed to strengthen your chest voice. So, it really is like going to the gym and you can benefit from them a lot if you use them wisely. Another giant benefit of singing skits and drills is that they help you increase your body awareness. Now it is very important when you are a singer to develop your singing awareness. For example, if you take a look at singer Dimash, you’re going to see that he uses his body and his voice in an organic, holistic way.

So the voice and body are one. And this is very important for singing. A lot of times I get singers that, don’t want to move and they are like this (demonstrates) and they are like… Why can’t I belt out songs like Cristina Aguilera? It’s like, well, have you ever seen a powerful singer, just retracting themselves like that?

No, no. You need to increase your body awareness to be able to connect your body with your voice, so your voice it’s easy to produce. And singing scales is an organized way to do that because when you’re doing scales, you have an organized instrument, and you have the time, you’re not worried about remembering words or scales. You are not worried about remembering rhythms, or words, or big jumps, or anything like that. So, you are actually focusing on what matters. So, discovering and unlocking the instrument’s possibilities.

Now, one important thing is that you don’t have to hate scales. And I’m telling you this from a personal experience. I am not only a vocal coach, but I’m also a singer. As a singer myself, I used to hate scales as well because it was never taught to me how to actually enjoy them, but now I love them and I practice them every day because once you start understanding what they are for and how to use them they actually end up being a sort of meditation practice in a way but also as you start developing body awareness and feeling your instrument there is a lot of pleasure that comes from the connection between your voice and your mind.

And so how can you enjoy your scales? Two things I’m going to recommend: Number one, super important. And if you want to, this is going to give you the fastest results in singing. Be present. What do I mean by this? Most of us are slaves of our phones!

So you are practicing skills and your phone, gives you a notification, and you look at the phone. Alright, that doesn’t help. If you want to get the most out of your skills, just be fully present, no phones, no people around, and no doing other things, not thinking about other things.

Just be fully present, and perceive your instrument, because perceiving your instrument is the only thing that gives you control over it. Always remember that when you are singing at a high level, you are working with internal muscles. And so that is why it’s so important to develop body awareness when you are singing.

And now the second thing you can do to start enjoying your skills a little bit more is to develop curiosity. It is scientifically proven that when you are in a curious mode you learn faster and better and you can add that to your own skills. Now, this is also from my own experience, I can tell you, that you can train yourself to be motivated. So when you are singing scales, be curious. Observe your instrument. Observe. Oh, why am I breathing like this here? Oh, my breathing just changed. Oh, I didn’t notice that frequency there before. There is something new happening. When I move my mouth like this, the sound changes like this. And that is how you start being in control of your instrument.

Now if you want to be the master of your own voice, if you want to control it, then you have to be curious. You have to be present and you’re gonna be great. And if you see any of the great singers, you’re gonna see how much in touch they wear with their own instrument. That is a big part of it, and that is why we do scales. Now the problem with scales is doing the wrong scales for you, or the wrong drills with the wrong sounds and the ones that are wrong for your voice type. Everybody needs a different scale at a different time and, we also have to learn to do them in a way that actually helps because, as I said before, it’s not just about doing scales, but doing them in a way that actually helps you.

So if you want help with this, go ahead and book a private lesson with me. Alternatively, I am just about to release a vocal course for absolute beginners that is going to explain what drills are good for you at this time and how to do them properly now. This course also comes with an included voice assessment.

So if you are interested in doing it in the right way with good feedback, then go ahead and get in contact with me.