Life Updates and Navigating the Singing Slump

It's been a couple (ok, a few) months since my last blog. What have I been up to, you ask? Well, Mr. Salty and I are officially landlubbers now. We bought a house and moved in two months ago—know anyone who wants to buy an awesome liveaboard boat? Send them my way!

Oh yeah! I also held my first Pop Up Choir for GOOD Fundraiser a couple of weeks ago, and we sold 45 tickets and raised almost $2000 for the U-District Foodbank! And yes, the next fundraiser is in the planning stages—stay tuned!

So yeah, I've been a bit busy!

Now that I have a bit of time to breathe, I went back and read the last blog post I wrote. Side note here: I love when I go back and read something I wrote and am pleasantly surprised that it doesn't suck. Can you relate?

Anyway, I thought that now would be a good time to write a follow-up to that post because now that the semester is about four months in, this is when folks start to feel THE SLUMP. Truthfully, the slump usually starts mid-third month, so we're getting past the slump part since our final karaoke session is in a month and folks are starting to amp up for that. But this is still good information.

The Slump

When most folks start out, they are PUMPED about singing classes and it feels pretty easy to start singing a bit more. In my experience, singing starts a bit slowly as my clients figure out what they want practicing to look like in their lives and how to actually practice in a way that's useful for them.

Here's a timeline that I often see:

Class starts. Takes 2-6 weeks for folks to figure out how to practice. This depends on the client—some folks have some experience already so they have a better idea; some folks have zero idea what to expect.

Progress happens. People usually start seeing some kind of progress almost immediately, but it's really at about the 2-2.5 month mark where they start to realize that, damn, this singing thing is feeling a bit easier!

Back slides start to surface and frustrations begin. Yes, we would all like for progress to be linear. But yeah, that's not how anything works, lol. I think we get a bit cocky after the initial progress, and then when we backslide, it takes us by surprise. I get it. It's annoying.

SLUMPVILLE. And then, the slump. How the hell can I make myself practice again?

This is the tricky part. We all experience slumps. The problem with slumps is not that they happen—it's that we think slumps mean we're failures who will never amount to anything. I know it sounds dramatic, but that inner critic... oof... she can be a salty bitch.

So what do we do when Ms. Salty Bitch shows up in our brains? (And in this one case, I'm not referring to myself. I am THE Salty Bitch, not Ms. Once again, I digress.)

Working Through the Slump

First thing: honor it.

Maybe there's a reason that you're not able to practice as regularly as you'd like. Maybe you're "full" and can't process or concentrate.

When we force ourselves to practice when we're feeling this way, I can almost guarantee that we won't make the sounds we want to make. Concentrating becomes more challenging, and we can reinforce habits that we're trying to change or even just get vocally fatigued more quickly. I'm not saying there's never a reason to push through, but there needs to be a damn good one, in my opinion.

The next thing I like to remind folks of is that practicing doesn't have to look like just one thing.

Don't have the spoons to practice for 30 minutes? Then lip trill around the house to whatever you're listening to. Throw in some "Unpracticing" syllables after the lip trills (like meow, my, yeah, etc.) for a couple of songs and call it a day. This makes a difference, I promise. And it's stupid and silly, which is a good thing. We shouldn't take ourselves too seriously—keeping it light and fun is a worthy thing to do, it's NOT being lazy.

I tell my clients all the time that sustainable practice habits can't come from a place of shame. If we're dicks to ourselves and try to shame ourselves into practicing, then not only does singing become a slog, it becomes a punishment. #NOTHANKYOU

The Bottom Line

Here's what I want you to remember: slumps are not failures—they're part of the process. They're your brain and body's way of saying, "Hey, we need a minute to integrate all this new stuff we've been learning." Instead of fighting against the slump, work with it.

Some days you'll have energy for a full practice session with scales and technique work. Other days, you'll have just enough energy to hum along to your favorite song while making coffee. Both count. Both matter. Both are moving you forward, even when it doesn't feel like it.

The students who stick with singing aren't the ones who never hit slumps—they're the ones who learn to navigate them with kindness toward themselves. They're the ones who understand that progress isn't always linear, but it's always possible.

So be gentle with yourself. Trust the process. And remember: even THE Salty Bitch believes in you.

Now, who's ready for that karaoke session?