Hello, and welcome to Groove Singh and All The Things.
I'm your host Amy Halstone.
Welcome to the podcast.
Today, I wanna ask you, are you learning to sing or play guitar? And I wanna tell you hitting a plateau is normal, and let's talk about ways to move through it.
So again, I'm Amy from Amy Halstone Studios.
I've been a guitar teacher for over thirty years.
I've been a vocal and performance coach for nearly a decade.
I love to teach my students how to sing and play with less tension and more freedom.
So let's jump into the episode.
So whether you're learning to sing or to play, we all hit a plateau occasionally.
Yes, it can be frustrating, and it causes us to feel a little defeated, a little, a little sad.
Right? Like, when why is this happening? I was making great progress.
But let's talk about some of the ways to deal with it and to work through the inevitable plateaus.
We've all been there.
You're, you know, you're learning to sing, you're you're playing, you're feeling great, you're putting the time in, you're putting the work in, you're making progress.
You can play that scale you were working on.
You can play that song you were working on.
You can sing that that higher note.
You can do that arpeggio up into your whistle voice or whatever it is.
Then In a moment, everything feels like it comes to a screeching halt.
Your voice might feel tight, heavy.
Your fingers feel awkward.
Your cords aren't ringing.
You can't remember the song you're learning.
You know, your voice might feel tired.
Heavy.
Your energy is just off.
And no matter how much you try to push through it, it kinda causes it to get worse.
And the more you worry about it, and and again, try to overcome it, the worst it seems to get.
We think, okay.
Tomorrow will be better.
You show up to practice.
Same thing.
Road blocks, tension, worry, frustration, and it becomes a cycle that can be a little bit difficult to get out of.
But don't lose hope You can move past it, we all go through it.
So know that you're not alone.
As with so many endeavors that take time, passion, and effort, plateaus are bound to happen.
It's never gonna be smooth sailing all the time.
That's just not realistic.
As much as we would like that to be the case, that's just not realistic.
And we just have to accept where we are that day.
Worry and stress just causes more tension.
The more we worry about being stuck at a certain level, the more difficult it can be to get through it.
It might not seem comforting.
But knowing that everyone who has ever accomplished anything great has gone through the same things.
But they work through it.
Of course, there are countless others who don't make it through the plateau times perhaps ultimately singing and playing or whatever they were working on was not for them.
And I'm sure if they left it behind, they found what their purpose was.
But I have a feeling if you're here, talking to me about this, music is your thing, either singing or guitar playing, or it this all can apply to songwriting as well.
All the arts, you know, Again, arts and sports are kind of really close in the fact that we show up.
We work consistently.
We're gonna hit plateaus.
It just happens.
It's how you work through it.
And that the fact that you will continue to work through it until you get through it, that's the win.
You've already won if you just keep showing up.
If being a singer or guitar player is your destiny, I encourage you to know that you will get through the plateaus.
I'm not saying it will be easy, but you will make it through.
So before we continue with the episode, I'd love to invite you to join my weekly newsletter.
Honestly, please sign up.
I need some people on my newsletter.
I wanna send out, like, singing tips and fun things like that.
And, anyway, I'd love for you to be on the the newsletter.
And in return, I would love to send you a new PDF I made, that's called five steps on how to really learn a song.
So learning a song can feel overwhelming, and I share a series of steps to make the process of learning a song a little more easy and a little more enjoyable.
So click the link in the description below.
Sign up for that newsletter, and I would love to send you that PDF.
So what else can you do when you're going through a plateau time in your learning? Visualize the outcome that you want.
So stop singing or put your instrument down.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath.
I know this all sounds simple, but it's simple because it works.
So let your belly fall forward.
And when you take that deep breath, just like in singing, let the feel the sides expand.
Feel all this come out.
Right? And again, visualize the outcome that you're working towards.
Is it a certain passage in your song that you wanna play with ease, or you want to sing that high note in that the climax of this song without worrying about, am I gonna hit the high note? Right? It may be like a scale or a lick that you wanna just sing really smooth or you wanna play really effortless.
And whatever the goal, see in your mind's eye, see yourself doing it effortlessly, and feel in your body what it would be like to play and sing that effortlessly And if you actually so in your mind's eye, you're actually doing it.
And how do you feel after? So make it as real as you can as as if it's all happening right now.
So do that for a few minutes.
Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself.
Just try it.
Take those deep breaths.
Let some of that anxiety go.
Go back to your practice session.
Feel as if you have already accomplished that goal.
Stay in that relaxed state, try to, and and get back to your practice.
Do your best not to let any more tension back in.
Scan your body for the tension.
If you feel any tension when you do that scan, Take a deep breath.
Let it go.
Now, I know keeping that relaxed state is tough, especially when you're anxious already.
You're anxious about what you're working on, what you're trying to accomplish, Keep getting to that relaxed state until you can easily perform the thing you're working on.
Relax, slow everything down, take little, little chunks of whatever you're working on, and then try to put it all together.
Whether it's that day or the next day, just do a little, then put it all together in a day or two.
If that makes sense.
Hope that all makes sense.
Basically, Give yourself grace to as to where you are in your process.
Everyone's at different levels.
Don't beat yourself up if you don't accomplish a goal in a day or a week or even months.
Hopefully, it won't take a month or months, but you have to be okay if it does.
Give yourself that grace to accept where you are, or it will continue to be difficult.
To get to your next level.
Acceptance is is powerful.
So before we continue in the episode, I'd love to give you a gift that I've been working on.
It's a PDF on five steps on how to really learn a song.
So learning a song I know can feel overwhelming, and I share a series of steps that you can take to make the process of learning a song a bit easier and a bit more enjoyable.
So just click the link in the description below and I'd be happy to send that over.
And also that way, you'll be signed up for my weekly newsletter, which I'm so excited to do.
I just I need more people to send it to.
So I would love to send you, uh, weekly tips on singing and playing and, uh, keeping in touch like that.
So please click the link below, put your email in, I'll send the PDF over, and then I'll keep in touch every week with a new newsletter.
Alright.
Thanks so much.
Let's get on with the episode.
So you can also change your environment.
I remember times I'd be practicing and I would just keep hammering the same thing for hours telling myself, this time I'll get it.
I didn't.
I think I just created more tension and more disappointment and more heaviness and what I was trying to accomplish.
And it wasn't it wasn't until I learned to let go of an outcome and learn to relax that any progress was made.
And I have a really stubborn mind and body, so it took a while.
I don't think it has to take everyone a longer time for me.
It did because again, I'm I just type muscles and stubborn, you know? So hopefully you can avoid some of my mistakes.
And again, you will hit plateaus, but if you know it will happen and don't beat yourself up about it, I think you'll make it through faster and easier.
If it were easy to learn to sing and play, we live in a world for the great singers and great guitar players.
It takes a lot of time and a fierce will to keep going.
Through the ups and downs of learning to play are same.
And again, I know my audience is guitar players and singers, but no matter what you're working on, the rules are the same.
Visualize it.
Allow yourself to accept where you are, know where you're going.
So keep practicing.
Keep working through any difficulties you're having.
I believe you can do it.
Thanks so much for tuning in today to Groove Singh and all the things.
And we'll see you in the next episode