How to practise singing quietly in a hotel room
Due to some family health issues, I have been traveling for the last few days and have stayed in a hotel room. We are supposed to be quiet when staying in hotels, so I am missing my singing training quite a bit. However, in times and situations like this, we must rise above the circumstances and be creative. So today I want to share with you some tips on how to practise singing quietly in a hotel room.
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How to practice singing quietly in a hotel room
Due to some family health issues, I have been traveling for the last few days and have stayed in a hotel room. We are supposed to be quiet when staying in hotels, so I am missing my singing training quite a bit. However, in times and situations like this, we must rise above the circumstances and be creative. So today I want to share with you some tips on how to practise singing quietly in a hotel room.
When we talk about practising and specially designing our singing practise, we must remember that our practise should be aligned with our singing goals.
If you are a bit lost on what your singing goals are, you can find some insights HERE.
Of course, sometimes you might have very specific goals, such as training for a concert, show or presentation. And sometimes your goals might be more specific, for example, recovering from a voice injury, general strength, etc.
Whatever your goals are, make sure you have them in mind when planning your training sessions, so you can ensure that your exercises and singing goals are aligned.
Since I traveled to attend to some family health issues, not only is my space limited, but my time is also very constricted right now. So my singing sessions for these next few days are focused on keeping my voice in shape while I take care of other things in my life.
How to practise singing quietly while in a hotel room – my short practise sessions
I have designed a 30-minute voice practise routine in order to practise singing quietly in a hotel room.
I thought this would be a great opportunity to take care of something that I have neglected a bit lately –my breathing practise!
YES. We breathe every day, all day, I know. However, most of us breathe in a way that is not functional for singing. Even more so, in this case, with me being in the hospital for the most part of the day, my emotions are a bit all over the place at times, and my alarm system goes off. This means my breathing changes as well, so this is a very appropriate time to make sure I take care of my breathing.
Also, being in a hospital reminds me that good immunity is a great thing to develop. Did you know that breathing plays a big role in that? I will expand on that in another article.
Anyway, in my quest to practise singing quietly while in a hotel room, I have been working with the following breathing exercises. They are designed to:
- Expand lung capacity
- Strengthen your lungs
- Make you more resilient
- Improve tolerance to CO2 (very important for a strong and resilient voice that responds in any situation)
- Strengthen your voice overall
The exercises are as follows:
Exercise 1 – Expand Your Wings
For this exercise, we are going to stand up comfortably and distribute our body weight evenly throughout our feet. Make sure you are not sitting on your heels too much!
From here we are going to coordinate movement and breathe. Inhale slowly while you bring your arms up to your sides (90-degree angle with your torso). Keep your arms straight – don’t bend them!
Keep your arms up, hold them, and at the same time hold your breath.
Finally, exhale slowly while you slowly bring your arms back down.
Once you get familiar with the dynamic, we are going to set up a metronome at 60 BPM. To start with, inhale for eight seconds, hold for another eight seconds, then exhale in eight seconds. If this is easy for you, you can hold a bit longer. After a few days we are aiming to get to 12 seconds per step, but if that’s too much, by all means, do what’s comfortable for you. Eight seconds is a great place to start.
Exercise 2 – Building Tolerance to CO2
For this exercise, we are going to use a hissing sound. Your hissing sound should not be too ‘floppy’, but equally you don’t want it too tight. Somewhere in between is good. We are looking for a hissing sound that you can sustain with even pressure and without squeezing your body too hard.
Breathe normally for a few breaths. When you are ready, take a good breath in without raising your chest, and start the timer as you begin hissing. Don’t stop when you are purple – stop when you can’t continue the hissing comfortably anymore. How long do you last?
If you are lasting less than 20 seconds, this is an exercise you should be practicing regularly. Aim to expand your number to 30-40 seconds, maybe adding one second per day until you reach that goal, if possible.
Exercise 3 – Voice Work
In order to practise singing quietly while in a hotel room, I brought one of my favorite singing devices – a cheap 1.5 cm hose!
This exercise is great to warm up your voice, strengthen, balance, and massage it.
All you need is a hose that is 1-1.5cm in diameter, 35cm long, and with one end cut diagonally. We will then fill up a bottle with about 2cm of water and insert the hose, the end with the diagonal cut at the bottom.
We are going to simply practise our warm-ups but through the straw. You will of course be producing bubbles in the process. If you take a look at the bubbles, they shouldn’t be too big or all over the place. Equally, they shouldn’t be too loose. As always, voice technique is about finding somewhere in between.
There are lots of warm-ups that you can practise with this exercise, and this will depend on your particular goals.
For me, as I am still recovering from a terrible bout of laryngitis, I am taking it easy, as well as adding some light flexibility training to start bringing my performance level up. So right now I am focusing on:
Slides – descendant and ascendant while always keeping bubbles steady and even.
1.5 scale
If you have absolutely no idea of what I am talking about, you may be a beginner. In this case, you should definitely sign up for my newsletter, as I will be releasing an online course for complete-beginner singers soon!
Visualisation
Finally, when you have to practise singing quietly in a hotel room, you have a great opportunity to practise your visualisation skills.
It is well known that visualisation affects the same areas in your brain that would lighten if you were actually practising to the full extent. In other words, visualisation is a powerful tool when you have to practise singing quietly.
When you visualise, try to imagine yourself singing what you need to practise in the way that you want to sound. In other words, try to visualise yourself singing how you want to sound, instead of making mistakes. Try to not rehearse your mistakes! This technique takes quite a bit of practise but the more you do it, the clearer your singing visualisations are.
When you are visualising yourself practising your singing, try to also get in touch with how you would feel if you were actually singing that phrase or song. Connect with positive emotions. How would you feel if you held that note effortlessly? If you are practising a song, how would you feel if you could effortlessly execute that stylistic flip?
I hope that was useful. If you are interested in learning more about singing, we have some options for you!
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I help people to develop their voice and singing from a holistic approach. I teach vocal lessons in person in Auckland, NZ, and online. Also stay tuned for my new online singing programs!❤️
My greatest passion has always been the voice, music and energy arts.
My personal and artistic journey has led me to understand that the voice and the body are fully connected, and that includes not only the physical body but also the mental, emotional and spiritual body.
Through holistic vocal training you not only learn to become a great singer while taking care of your voice, but you also improve your mental and physical wellbeing❤️
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