Take a look!

I was standing in small vocal room facing the piano where my voice teacher sat. We were practicing a song that I would be singing at the end of semester performance. About halfway through my lesson, my teacher stopped me. “Instead of facing this piano, let’s have you face the mirror,” he said. I turned to face a full length mirror on the wall to my left. Seeing myself as I sang helped me. I was able to see and catch myself physically doing things that I wanted to change. I noticed that I could drop my jaw more and not sway as much. Thank goodness I took a look!

When we watch ourselves in the mirror while we sing, we are seeing what the audience will see. In a way we are able to be both the audience and the performer. Doing this gives you power. You receive the power to make sure that the audience will see you do what you want them to see you do.

Watching yourself in the mirror may also open your eyes to things that you could do to improve you singing. For instance, you may notice that your diaphragm is not filling deeply because you see that your chest is rising with air as you breathe in instead of your stomach. Or, you may see that your eyes seem bored and dreary instead of alive and involved in the music. These are things that you may not have realized without actually watching what you do.

The next time you are practicing your vocals (hopefully that is soon), face a mirror and TAKE A LOOK!