1. Set aside a consistent time to practice.
   1. General rule of thumb: 30 minute lesson = 2.5 hours of practice a week, 45 minute lesson = 4 hours of practice a week, and 60 minute lesson = 5+ hours of practice a week.  
   2. If you sign up for voice, it is a commitment of at least 3 hours per week of lesson time & work.  
2. Before starting to sing:
   1. Stretch your body tall, stretch side to side, stretch arms out, up, and around.  
   2. Do a few shoulder rolls and arm rolls to relax shoulders and arms. 
   3. See Vocal Exercises and go through 5 exercises for relaxation, and straw phonation.  
3. Start vocalizing with descending 5 finger scale on an easy vowel (e) or (u)
4. Do vocalizes as assigned
5. Practice sections of the song you are working on, then repertoire. 

Learning a new piece is a process that is personal.  Here is a general guide, but make the process one that works for you and is effective.  This is the heart of being a good musician- study, practice, refining, curiosity, more study, and maybe performance.  Not every piece you learn will be performed, but the more consistently you practice the more experience you will gain in singing well.  

6. Study & Sight Read:
   1. Take time to research the composer, the time period, the style, the subject matter for deeper understanding of the music.  
   2. Take time to read and understand the text, speak it out loud.
   3. If you enjoy the surprise of hearing something for the first time, take a moment to sight read the melody on the piano.
   4. If it is a common repertoire piece, there is probably a recording of it.  Feel free to listen to the recording along with reading the music before sight reading it.  
7. Rhythm
   1. Clap/ tap and count out loud before playing
   2. Speak the text in time
   3. Count sing
8. Slowly practice melody focusing on consistent rhythm, use a neutral word: La, Da, etc.
   1. Go Slow
   2. Consistent rhythm: use the metronome as tolerated and to speed up
   3. Consistent melody: write in tricky spots and practice 
9. Language work:
   1. If in native language, focus on vowel production and breath line.
   2. If in foreign language, work through the IPA and translation, seek help if needed, speak in time before singing. Then focus on vowel production and breath line. 
10. Start putting song together in phrases (typically 4 measures), repeat until comfortable 
11. Isolate areas to focus on and slowly add back into the phrase
12. Sing the piece adding articulations and dynamics, stopping to note areas to improve
13. Focus on improvement using steps 9 & 10
14. Review the music again for articulation and dynamic markings to be sure they are present in your singing.
    1. Recording a section of your singing is helpful to hear if you are doing the articulations the way you are hearing them in your head as you sing.  
15. If you work with a collaborative pianist, all the above things should be ready before you meet with them.  You are there to collaborate on the piece of music, not learn it with them.  Come prepared to work together on articulations, direction, line, and make updates to your singing approach.  They will do the same.  
16. Sing for your teacher and incorporate suggestions.
17. Memorize the piece in phrases and sections, again consistent in fingerings and rhythm, articulations and dynamic expression.  
18. Research the piece again.  At this point, If you didn’t do it at the beginning of the process, you should be curious! If you did research, maybe the process of learning has changed your thoughts or understanding so you should do it again.  Take time to review the composer, the poet or lyricist, the time period, the style, the subject matter for deeper understanding of the music and see if applying any of that knowledge changes your interpretation of the piece.
19. Sing!