TIP 1 Find the right pace for You.While I was studying in India my teacher invited me to sit in on ...

1. 5 Tips To Help You Experience A Breakthrough In Your
Singing by Esther Wilds
TIP 1 Find the right pace for You.
While I was studying in India my teacher invited me to sit in on a lesson with one of her other
students, a young girl from the local neighbourhood. I was particularly taken with the sound of this
girls voice as it had a wonderful quality of simplicity and purity as she sang. When I mentioned this
to my teacher later in the day she responded by saying that she was very pleased with the progress
of this particular student. It turned out that she had not been able to sing in tune or produce a sound
of good quality when first asking for lessons and my teacher agreed to give her lessons on the
condition that she would practice for the first six months by singing only one note. This story
demonstrates the power of taking things at the right pace for you and creating a strong foundation.
Just think about a baby learning to walk. When you have a strong desire to sing and you make a
commitment to keep going, even if it is one tiny step at a time, you open the door to new
possibilities. I nearly gave up my studies in Javanese singing after one year, as I doubted my ability
to reach the goal that I wanted to achieve. I am grateful that I found the will to keep going because
after years I was able to say with confidence that I had reached the goal I had
set for myself.
ACTION: Connect with the strength of your desire to sing. Feel how much you want to do this.
Visualise how it will feel to achieve your goal. Then make a commitment to go at the right pace for
you. Understand that it is a journey and give yourself permission to take things one-step-at-a-time.
Be patient with yourself and always keep your dreams in your sights.
TIP 2 Working with your power source; the breath.
You may not have thought about it before but the voice is a wind instrument similar to the flute or
the clarinet. The instrument makes no sound until the breath brings it to life. The breath is therefore
the
power behind the voice. When we carry out everyday activities our breathing is automatic and we
may not have considered how or where we are bringing the breath into the body. For our singing,
however, taking
time to explore the breath and have mastery over the power source can only add to our experience
of singing.
ACTION: Stand with your legs hip width apart and if possible in front of a mirror. Raise your arms

2. over your head. Notice how the ribcage feels lifted and open. Bring your arms back down to your
sides but see if you can keep the ribcage area lifted and open. See if the back can also be straight
with a feeling of openness across the front of the shoulders. All of this is to be done with a sense of
ease and curiosity- no hard work or straining is necessary.Take a few deep breaths. Breathe out
using the sound ssssss. Keep going until you have no air left in your lungs. Notice that your ribcage
and abdomen will contract as you make sure to completely empty the lungs of air. When there is no
air left to breathe out allow a relaxation of the muscles involved and feel an expansion occur in the
rib/abdomen area as the body itself pulls air back into the lungs. Notice how this process can be
virtually automatic, the body taking over and the air rushing into the lungs. Be alert to any
temptation to focus on the mouth as the place where you are taking a big breath. Keep your
attention on the rib/abdomen area as the muscles that were contracting are now relaxing and the
area expands. Repeat this process at least five times a day in the beginning until you can choose to
allow the breathing to occur in this way at will without having to focus on it beyond your initial
decision. Once you have this capacity for natural breathing start to integrate it with sound by
exploring how it feels to sing on the out breath, first with single notes and then working up to
phrases.
TIP 3 Pay attention to your thoughts. Good Wolf / Bad Wolf.There is a traditional Native American
story that goes like this: A grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, "I feel
as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the
vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one." The grandson asked
him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?" The grandfather answered: "The one I feed." This
is a very simple story and yet it serves a very important purpose. It reminds us not to underestimate
the power of our thoughts. When singing we may be unaware that we are making a choice to feed
the vengeful wolf when
we automatically believe such thoughts such as It sounds terrible, I cant do it or Ive gone wrong
again, will I ever get it right? This tip reminds you to become conscious that you have a choice about
which
thoughts you will invest energy into.
ACTION: Become committed to identifying those moments when you are falling into the trap of
feeding the negative, violent wolf and choose the option of finding a compassionate thought to feed
instead. Start a journal and make a note of the thoughts that you most often find yourself
feeding(believing without question)when thinking about or practising your
singing. Explore how you can re-phrase the thought to be a loving compassionate one. An example:
Why cant I get that right? is a violent response to something considered a mistake. Consistency will
come through
repetition. As long as I am aware of my destination repetition will take me there. I am willing to be
patient but persistent as I change my habits is a loving and compassionate response to something
considered a mistake. Mistakes are a NECESSARY part of learning. It is impractical and misguided
to think otherwise.
TIP 4 No Holding Back.
When I was learning to sing Javanese music I shared a house with other western students. One

3. morning one of my housemates asked me if Id like to practice the song I had just been learning with
him. I said yes and so he accompanied me while I sang. He said he was interested in exploring the
Javanese concept of Los which he translated as not holding back. As we
started to practice he kept stopping and asking me to sing louder,pointing out that by singing loudly
I might experience the feeling of not holding back. I didnt really want to sing loudly as I was worried
about the other people in the house and also those on the street outside as the houses in Java are not
at all soundproof. He asked me to consider whether the sound of someone singing would really
cause anyone a serious problem but that just made me more resistant. As the situation went on and
we kept stopping and starting I got more and more angry with him until I
finally reached the point where I thought Right, Ill show you how crazy it would be for me to sing at
full volume with no holding back. I launched into the song but within a very short space of time I had
to stop
as I was overcome by the intensity of emotion that accompanied the experience. Aha said my
housemate, Thats what I was talking about, I could really hear a difference in your singing that time.
He was right of course.
ACTION: There are many ways in which we might be holding ourselves back from giving 100% of
ourselves when we are singing. Find someone who is willing to be an audience for you as you
practice singing a song that you know really well. Think of this as a fun exercise and exploration,
there is no final goal. You may or may not feel something earth shattering but it is a worthwhile
experiment to carry out as part of your vocal journey.
It is important that the person you choose as your listener is someone you feel very comfortable and
secure around and who will be supportive if you do feel overwhelmed or emotional as a result of the
experience. Explain to them that their role is simply to receive what you have to offer through your
singing and to be aware if they are getting the impression that you are holding back. Start by
singing the song through once or twice to get comfortable and face any initial fears of singing in
front of someone. Then repeat it over singing loudly and freely asking for feedback from the other
person about whether they felt you were holding back in any way. Its not about shouting or straining
to belt out a maximum volume whirlwind its about the mindset of knowing that you dont need to
hold back. Letting go involves the ability to put all of yourself into your singing with another person
around who is focused on receiving what you have to offer. Once you have experienced the power of
singing with no holding back you will want to come back to it again and again because it feels so
good.
TIP 5 Listening to yourself.
When I first used to do performances in Java they were often a long way from where we lived and
the driver liked to listen to tapes of that nights performance on the way home. He would usually try
to find the parts where the puppeteer had been talking to me and where I had been singing. I found
this very uncomfortable and would be squirming in my seat at having to listen to myself sing. One
day I had the thought that it might be possible to enjoy the experience of hearing my own voice.
Next time I heard my recorded voice I decided to identify what I was unhappy with and how it could
be different. I realised that when I listened to my voice I wanted to hear confidence, strength and
passion. Once I had that realisation I started recording myself practising so that I could get feedback
on the sound that I was producing. Working with a teacher is an invaluable way to get feedback on
your singing but your ultimate goal is to be your own compass. By recording yourself and listening
back you are better prepared to identify areas that you can work on in order to get a sound that you

4. feel is a true reflection of you.
ACTION: This is something to try when you can be sure that you wont be tempted to lambast
yourself for sounding awful or likely to give up completely if you dont like what you hear. It is
essential to use TIP 3,pay attention to your thoughts and write in your journal. If you dont have an
old cassette recorder or other method for recording yourself you can get a second-hand or
inexpensive tape recorder. It doesnt need to be of the very highest quality in order to be useful to
you. Start by recording yourself practicing and then listen back to see if you are happy
that the sound is a true reflection of you. Never be discouraged if you feel that your voice is not a
true reflection of you, this is the moment where you open the door to exciting possibilities. Once you
have identified the qualities that you would like to hear in your voice then you can work with those
aspects. For myself it was a feeling of confidence that I most wanted to hear and an unconfident and
scared sounding person that I heard whilst listening to those early recordings. By knowing clearly
where I wanted to be, and taking things step by step I got to a position where I can quite happily
listen to recordings of myself singing.
I hope that you have found these 5 Tips useful. They are all based on my own direct experience and
the journey that I have made from non-singerto singer. It takes time and commitment to integrate all
of these tips into your practice.
Please get in touch with me and let me know about your experiences in working with this material.
Keep feeding that loving compassionate wolf
To find out more about my singing projects and further assistance in experiencing a breakthrough
singing you are welcome to visit my web site below.
Esther
http://www.estherjanewilds.co.uk/" target="_new
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