Motivation Homeostasis

In pursuing improvement, we have to concentrate on the imperfections, the challenges, and the roadblocks that keep us from a level of polish and accomplishment we want to reach. But when these foci dominate our practice, singing can begin to feel like a burden of things to overcome: too much negative feedback throws off our motivational homeostasis. To balance this unavoidable pull to the negative, build into your practice some intentional focus on positive aspects of your voice and the act of singing. What do you like about your voice? What vowels / range / style / songs / musical contexts do you feel good about? What do you enjoy about the act of vocalizing? Observe the individuality of your tone, your musicality, your expressiveness, and spend some time indulging in the qualities you like. Remind yourself that this is not vanity or a waste of time - neglecting the positive aspects of your singing voice (and positive music-making contexts) undermines your motivation, your confidence, your enjoyment, and the whole point of why we sing in the first place.