Okay so I embarked on an impromptu learning journey again tonight. I have always had fun singing and by now I have given up on my dream to be in a choir (I attempted years ago, but I realized that it would really clash with my priorities because being in a choir requires some commitment of time and effort). Currently, the only times that I'm applying my vocal skills (😎) are when I sing in karaoke or when I do some covers, just for the fun of it. Well tonight, I thought of challenging myself and upping this hobby to the next level. Why not learn to sing the right way?

There are tons of material online on vocal lessons that you can follow on your own pace and the one that I have chosen is this one on LinkedIn Learning. It's interesting because this is a series and there are promising teaching materials ahead of me!

So for tonight, I tackled the first few videos wherein the instructor discussed about the differences of vocal exercises, warm-ups and cool-downs. I have watched a lot of vocal lesson materials and this is the first time I have heard of a vocal cool-down. It actually makes sense if you think about it because our vocal chords are muscles. So just like how we do cool-downs when we exercise our body, so as it applies also on our voice after a long singing session.

The instructor also taught about some massages you can do before singing to loosen those tight muscles around the neck and some parts of the face. She suggested an activity, which I tried, wherein I sang a song before the massage, then followed along and did the massage as per her instructions, and then sang the same song again.

Here are the recordings of the before and after massage. Do you hear a difference?

Unfortunately, I'm not the one playing the piano. I used the instrumental track of Sing2Piano. Credits to them. 😀