HOW TO MASTER ANYTHING: 7 Guidelines of Practice 

"Now I don't want to call anyone out" *Calls everyone out* I kid, this is the motivation and analysis I needed, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

This is actually great advice for anything, not just voice training.

I thought I came here just to learn how to get better at voice training, but feels like I just stepped into a TED talk about how to succeed throughout your entire life. Thanks Z

I practice by narrating what I'm doing while I cook dinner and every time I talk to my cat :D

I've been practicing voice for a number of months now. When I started, it was difficult, frustrating, upsetting, and impossible -- it even took me to a fairly dark place, for a while. I now pass very well over voice coms (to the point of having to prove that I wasn't someone else), phone calls, and even in person. The first video of yours that I saw placed heavy emphasis on positivity, and I see that message preached in your videos today. *You were right.* You were *always* right. I now also have the hilarious habit of talking to myself all day, annnd that's lead to some pretty funny encounters. Thank you

Me: *Practices 6h a day as a beginner* Z: 20 min is a lot Oh ...

"The road to the end goal is paved with numerous mistakes. Everybody who gets where they want to be with some skill leaves in their wake a pile of mistakes." Again, this is all such wise life advice period

The worst part about practice is that when I practice, I hear my voice. And that sucks.

as a tertiary music student it's refreshing, and frankly unreasonable, that i've never heard practice portrayed in this way. your influence is larger than you realise.

ah yes, the seven keys of practice: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G

Return of the queen

as a Buddhist, a lot of your perspectives on the theory of practice (and the practice of practice) are really familiar. I forget that the principles I learn from my Buddhist practice can be applied to other things, so you've reminded me that I can take on the same principles in voice training too. In a way, you've also helped me deepen my own understanding of my Buddhist practice by showing me how these principles are common to all practices, indeed of life itself.

My hero/idol has come back✨✨💜💜

i wish i could just take a magical pill to change my voice, but i'm just gonna have to practice my ass off. i hope this advice can help! my biggest struggle is getting stuck in the defeatist mindset, and i just need to push through it

I've been following your channel for two years. I'm a woman and I'm still learning to change my voice. Been bullied since a kid for having manly and masculine voice. I just want to say thank you.

[18:43 - 19:14]: "In some ways voice learning is a lot like I give you a completely blank map and there's a red X on it that says 'You are here'. Well, it's completely blank so it's completely worthless. You start to look at the map and you're like 'Well there's nothing here. How does this make any sense? I don't know where I'm at.' So every time you're doing an exercise or an exploration, the goal is to populate that map with landmarks so that you can understand where you are and navigate the terrain by relativity of those landmarks." Your comment here reminds me of the Artificial Intelligence work that I am doing that has to do with (1) Areas of Interest and (2) Proportionality Metrics You mentioned the proportional catalogue of ideas: (1) Map Landmarks and (2) Terrain Relativity. You are very smart. You may be interested in a career in robotics and artificial intelligence. What kind of Robotics company would you start?

One of the things I'm doing is combining practice with learning a language with an app. All the speaking segments get done with some element of fem voice, and the app incentivizing maintaining a streak means I'm doing at least a little bit every day.

"Trans people are just crazy" This video exists teaching all how to practice life better.

lol im a musician with ADHD so its so much harder for me to practice for only 20 mins then it is to practice for hours. I have practiced guitar and banjo for 12 hour sessions but i believe there is a thing as overpractice. Straining yourself and burnout doesnt help anyone and i only can play music for such long periods because ive played my whole life

I have no room to practice as the walls in my house are super thin, so I would be easily overheard.

Z how do you just get prettier and prettier! I’m pre-everything and I can’t keep up lol Edit: watched video and it’s so insightful! Made me remember how when I was a kid I taught myself to whistle by just practicing throughout the day for a few seconds at a time and got it down in a month or two. Thank you so much!

Thanks so much. I would have probably ruined everything with 3-4 hours daily practice. It s so nice to have a those videos to learn. Without you I wouldn t know what to do, I can t talk about this new thing I feel with anyone. I m so shy , humming or talking alone is already so hard. Sorry for talking so much. Have a nice day

As someone who came out on Trans Visibility Day, practicing this has been one of the most frustrating things I've ever done 😭

I have no particular interest in changing or let alone feminizating my voice. I just bumped randomly into your channel and found this gem of advice applicable to life-long learning. Thank you

You nailed the school teacher look this video!

I thought this video is only about voice but it turns out its also about psychology , self conscious and making peace with your self, such a master piece ;)

I want to thank you for helping me figure out that last step I needed to consistently sound feminine. Going through your video on retraction and doing the exercises (as well as mimicking for some of your other videos) really helped me. As far as practice, I usually just did it randomly while working, driving, or doing chores. Since I live by myself and work from home, I was confident since no one would hear me. At first I tried having actual conversations with people over the phone, but that ended up straining my voice.

Your content is riveting. I was just looking for basic singing exercises & ended up checking out your "Feminize Your Voice" video out of curiosity. Was immediately blown away by the level of detail and conceptual/practical mastery that you demonstrated. Skimmed through some more of your content on both channels and am intrigued by your breadth of knowledge & skill, as well as your ability to consistently deliver concise, yet massively informative content - even in more casual interactions. It would be very cool to get a behind the scenes look at the research, planning, process, & workflows that go into your videos/visualizations/music/etc. A great example of this is Jeff Delaney's "How I Make Videos for Programmers" video, where he details the philosophy & process behind his "Fireship" channel's content. Looking forward to your future content & musical creations, and wish you success in your strategies to work the algo!

You really are an amazing teacher. Your videos are so clear and concise. Having your advice to guide me during my transition has really helped me from getting frustrated or discouraged. This video was a huge ray of positivity into my day. Honestly, these lessons you laid out here are going to carry over into anything else I practice. I've been passing online lately, and I have more practicing to do, but wouldn't have been able to get this far without your help.

This mindset is also a very good mindset for anything! This is literally the mindset to success!!

hi! i just learned im a trans woman a few weeks ago. i started your voice lessons yesterday and have been practicing by singing and late at night. your content is so helpful and has already brought me so much closer to where i want to be. thank you for being a great and free resource for me and others. :)

I've been trying to work my way out of a plateau with my voice for the past few months and have never felt so grateful for being called out. Thank you for all the videos you make and all the insight you bring into the world

I enjoy the sensory embrace, 15 minutes practice does it justice, fun of variety, when you are teaching me Zehra, time flies, Petra-B ❤xxx

I got a few AMSR tingles from your voice. That's the mark of a great lecturer by my standards!

Thank you! 😊 Edit: your makeup looks so natural!

I was having a rough day, and my vocal dysphoria bothers me a lot, despite my regular practice and improvement. I had actually intuited several of these on my own, and hearing you say things similar to the ones I had been telling myself was reassuring that I'm on the right track and just need to be patient. Thanks, Z.

As a budding voice teacher and as someone who's been experimenting on his own voice a lot, this video and your channel have just been a goldmine of wisdom! Keep doing what you do!

I had this in my "watch later" playlist for so long, BECAUSE of what you mentioned--practicing and working on my voice became a chore, something that I didn't enjoy and therefore something that I didn't want to do. I've finally come away from that mindset (somewhat) and decided to watch this video, and it was a huge relief for the advice to be so positive.

Lol, I listened to one of my recent recordings, and I literally said "Another day, another practice session...I don't really wanna do it..but I want to achieve my goal". If this sounds familiar to any of you, this video is the antidote!

Thank you so much for these videos i was nearly on the verge of a major mental break down over my voice

"Sometimes progress is figuring out the thing we don't want to do." (12:46)

I personally find that singing while listening to music to practise is the most fun way to practice for me and I'm always listening to music so I practice without even noticing it. If you like music I recommend this alot.

The tip about not thinking of practice as a 20min + thing and instead just throwing it in whenever has been so helpful. I went from no practice most days to over 20minutes of practice a day, but spread out in tiny little chunks. LOVE IT

I just watched this video, and shared it on my Facebook, writing the following: "Here's Z's latest video, where she goes in depth on an important theme from one of her earliest videos. Her advice is completely generalizable to any skill you'd like to learn or improve. I wish I'd had her advice when I was learning the piano, violin, guitar etc. and dreaded practicing, even though I usually enjoyed it once I got started. Heck, I think her advice could even be tailored to tasks with deadlines, and might help me be less of a procrastinator (or just blow off homework and tests completely) next time I go back to college. This Fall. I can do it with a better mindset. Thank you, Z! You help me believe in myself!"

i needed to hear all this ! 💜 ive slowly been regressing in my voice training and it had to do with my mentality. when you mentioned that progress in voice training isn't linear it brought so much reassurance 🖤

Looking more and more incredible with each video.

Starting this video I was worried it would make me feel bad about myself and my "lack of discipline." It was actually incredibly liberating to watch. Thanks so much for this!

That's true for any learning. Every teacher and instructor should know this. Thanks for putting it in such a compact lesson.

I'm guilty of all of those... I've been 'practicing' for 5 years and I haven't progressed further due to falling in the self-depreciation cycle. While my voice isn't bad and I pass 9/10 times over the phone, I'm stuck with two main problems keeping me from my goal. I still default to a more androgynous sound or even lower during normal speech; And when I consciously try , my voice often sounds like a child with a sore throat, (high, unclean and scratchy). I just started watching your videos to try and correct this.

I took lessons from you for a spell a few years back and something that has always stuck with me is the depth of conscious and thorough thought you put into the psychology behind your craft. You teach more than just the necessary physical movements, you also teach the required mindset to succeed and that's amazing. Your videos share that special personal touch that your lessons brought. You're a gift to our people. Bless.

What the fuck this is so useful. Everyone deserves to know this. If you're reading this right now, like the video. Boost it in the algorithm.

Zhea, as a musician and educator it makes me so happy to watch your content. With regards to length of time spent practicing, it makes me think of a pithy phrase said so often in Jazz circles on learning to improvise: “Practice should feel just like performance” (and vice versa) - but I’ve never heard anyone talk about what is performance supposed to feel like! Of course it’s deeply personal for everyone, but regardless, it is supposed. to feel. GOOD!

My dysphoria watched this video and laughed hysterically. I was hoping it would die from laughter, but it only got stronger.

I have been on HRT for almost 8 years and have always been discouraged from practicing my voice, makeup, etc due to anxiety, depression and the classic negative feedback loop. I gave up on myself and accepted a sad life of dysphoria, always being disappointed in myself and mad at the world. Your description of gender dysphoria on your Patreon is how I often feel. I am a big fan of behavioral therapy as it has helped me a lot the last 2 years, but I never applied what I learned from CBT to practicing my voice or anything else because it was "easier" to run and hide from it... I just want you to know that you have given me a lot of inspiration through your videos to try again and to not give up; practicing doesn't feel so daunting anymore! Sometimes we need to be taught or reminded that we can do it, and that's OK. Thanks Z 💚 I have happily donated and I wish all the best for you and everyone else. We are not alone on our journey!

Z you are such an inspiration to women 💖

Your are more into development of oneself, more than the voice training, if you apply the principles into everyone's life it can change anything, kudos 👏 emulate the good work

Some stuff can't be practiced without preparation. Some times concentration without outer influences is a good thing. For voice you're right.

Great advice for practicing in general. The fear of failure is such a big part of what makes practice hard, so setting microgoals and being willing to practice for short times more often can break open those fears.

I would add to the list, admitting and acknowledging progress. Even if the voice is still far away from the goal, you'll hear more and more changes over time. My voice is still far away from where I want to be, but it's already passing on telephone and some every day situations. I sometimes forget to acknowledge that, which is also a good sign of I'm trying to hard and stopped listening to what I'm doing.

I've got better with just a few minutes of practice a day for over a month! Thank you! cashing my last check last I was wearing a face covering but I swear I was talking not so low tones to start and a minute in I sounded feminine for a few minutes I think she noticed, was a nice talk. I am normally too afraid to post but I had my appointment the other week and I will be starting HRT sooner than expected so a couple more months I'll tell the public+change name, ive only had 2 laser sessions so far, im not even worried about my voice compared to my facial hair lol even though I will still practice voice. Took a lot of courage to post, I just told my family this week im trans, can't just keep suppressing me like I used to.

It's a positive attitude towards anything we do in life! The video has already made my day, I feel achieved something while working and listenning to your talks! It reminds me of the time when I was learning to sing, the most progress I made was not in the long practice sessions, but in the 15 minutes drive to work, singing in the car.

great video! i watched all of your videos, some of them i watched several times. I really learn a lot from you! I just want to point out that negative feedback loop doesn't mean negative effect, but rather the effect opposes the cause. example: global warming causes more evaporation and clouds forming, these clouds reflect sunlight that reduces global warming. on the other hand, positive feedbacks can have negative causes like for example: global warming melts polar ice caps, less reflection of sunlight, which leads to more global warming. sorry if i got too technical. Most people wont even bother. thanks again for another video!

As someone who struggles greatly with dysphoria in regards to my voice, and almost never practices because of it, this has inspired me so, so much. Even in regards to completely unrelated things, I've struggled with that same unwillingness to do things and leave my comfort zone because they seem so monumental, at detriment to myself. This video gave me the inspiration I needed to not only truly begin my voice training journey, but to also improve my enjoyment of life in general, and to become more proactive in taking my life in the direction I want it to go. Thank you so much.

in brief: The video discusses the fundamentals of successful practice. 1. **Introduction**: The video emphasizes the importance of effective practice as the key to mastering any skill. The focus is not just on the specific exercises but on the mentality and perspective while practicing. 2. **Unhealthy Practice Model**: Many people have unrealistic expectations about practice, such as believing that practice sessions should be 20 minutes to an hour long, feeling guilty for not practicing, and avoiding experimentation. 3. **Keys to Effective Practice**: - **Key 1**: Construct a practice model that provides a positive feedback loop, even during failures. This involves understanding the ideal length and frequency of practice, the nature of exercises, and how to define progress. - **Key 2**: The ideal length of practice should be short, even as short as 15-30 seconds. This makes practice more approachable and less daunting. - **Key 3**: Practice should be frequent. Instead of long sessions, multiple short sessions throughout the day are more effective. - **Key 4**: Practice should integrate seamlessly into daily life and not feel like an interruption. - **Key 5**: Observation, reflection, and awareness are crucial. It's not about doing exercises perfectly but understanding and learning from each attempt. - **Key 6**: Progress is subjective. It's essential to set incremental goals rather than always comparing oneself to the end goal. - **Key 7**: Always experiment and challenge habitual boundaries to avoid plateaus in learning. 4. **Conclusion**: The essence of mastering any skill lies in designing a practice routine that is enjoyable, rewarding, and constructive. It's about creating a positive feedback loop, setting realistic expectations, and continuously learning and adapting. The video ends with a thank you note, encouraging viewers to engage with the content, join the community, and check out other resources provided by the creator.

I feel like making sure it’s fun is an unhealthy expectation, you don’t want it to be a painful and mentally harming, but for the majority of people it’s never going to be “fun”

thank you for everything you've done for the community

One thing I'm really happy about is that I seem to have made some of these choices already whether consciously or unconsciously. 3-6 mins of practice at a time at most, but I do it when I get free time, in the car, walking, at home alone. In the car I sing, but I try to use a higher voice with less weight.

Oh my, this was GODSENT! Thank you, I am stuck in negative loop for months but now I have some guidence to progress

I love how the music in your videos is your own. Very cool and thx for the tips.

Huge! This is huge for learning ANYTHING! Spot on Z. (High five)

Gotta get back on the horse. This was very insightful and I'm gonna adjust my approach. Thanks!

Well then, time to diversify and shorten my practice in all the things I want to learn. Transvoice, drawing, and instruments of multiple kinds.

thank you , been really struggling with this a lot lately. i will give this all a shot!

its crazy how all this advice applies to i presume every other skill, as an artist/painter. i've told myself to do many things you stated in this video. "any amount of time practicing is enough, as it means youve done something" is something i've applied to drawing a while, but it never really clicked in my head that i could apply it to practicing voice, as well. same with learning from failure, there's a piece of advice i've heard that tell you to "fail faster" because failure is a learning opportunity.

This made me feel so much better

I think the length of practice and frequency were the biggest things starting out for me. I started practicing by just talking to myself while I would be driving in my car. So i would get multiple times a day in shorter intervals of 5-15 minutes each time I was in the car

You are such a good teacher, thank you.

Cis girl here, despite not being strictly interested in the topic of voice training I still watch every single one of your vids; you're such an incredible teacher! I could listen to you speak for hours on en

Great video as always Zheanna! Not only are you a voice saver, you're actually a life saver as well, since these tips are applicable to most things that require practice. Personally I have found that 40 minutes is the longest I can focus for at a time, and so I've been doing that much since Jan 19. Proud to say that now I can do good resonance, pitch and open quotients. Couldn't have done any of that without your help. Keep up the good work!

I semi recently stumbled across your channel, and as of 3 days ago ive started voice practice. Your videos have been a huge help! This video has been super informative for me, not just for voice practice but also guitar. Thanks again! Oh, also the new setup looks super cool!

Damnit your intro music has a lot of Adagio for Strings vibes. Luv it!

I used to play the piano when I was a kid and until about 18 (I'm 29 now) and whatever I've been trying to learn I've always related it to how I learned the piano. I was never good at it, but it was still a thing that I learned and even though I never knew how to articulate it, comparing it to the piano always made sense. It's interesting to what point your personal growth plays into how you learn skills. I moved out pretty much as soon as I turned 20 and I didn't play the piano other than on very rare occasions for about 6-7 years, but when I picked it up again I found that, even though it was really hard and took a long time to get back to playing, it now sounded way better than it ever used to be. I have a different understanding of what I'm doing when I play and I can relate to how I learned other skills. Thank you for yet another amazing video, arriving just when I needed it! Love

Omg ICON, Adore you so much; I want to apply this to my studies and all other skills I want to acquire!

This is incredibly helpful I always felt like I wasent practicing enough but I only go about 30 minutes a day so I don't hurt my voice I just learned how to use r1 from you videos and have now finally hurting hurting my voice from trying to use a falsetto

The positive feedback loop may sound obvious but that was an amazing illustration that really made it sink in for me. Thank you so much! You are a wonderful teacher and skilled communicator♡♡♡

Z, I need to thank you more than I can put in words. I had a more feminine voice when I was younger, and I had to train my voice to sound more male, and, voilà, over 3 decades of life and I find myself at the beginning of my transition and needing to unlearn everything and learn new things, and you are really helping me feel confident that I can achieve what I want. So, thank you very much. I'm a teacher, so I have to speak 8 to 9 hours a day, and I try to use some of the readings I have to do in class to practice. This is really going to help me. I'm really, really, really passionate about my voice because I love to sing and I first need to learn how to speak again and then learn how to sing again, and that's why I'm so focused. Thank you!

Yeah, definitely needed to see this. For voice, and for life.

You have literally changed my life Z, thank you

I love how you explain everything about voice training. Very wise words from the heart. Will definitely follow and transform my deep voice.

this video has honestly changed the way i think about practicing anything, not just voice training. it shouldn't be this arduous task, it should be something that you genuinely enjoy doing so it feels actually fun and you want to do it more. thanks a ton!

You boiled This Project Is Large And I Am Intimidated down to its bare essentials, thank u

Hi I’m 35 and new to all this I’ve known something was different about me since I was a child but my environment never allowed me to be true to myself. My journey begins now

Absolutely fantastic video! Nearly all of this advice applies to learning literally any new skill. It's so, so easy to fall into all these little traps that make us sabotage ourselves and we wind up burning out before we even start to see progress.

Thank you so much! I could find a few different voice feminisation exercises and guides but none of them were clear on what exactly I would the while time during a practice session. Some just said to repeat the same exercises every day. This is what we were all missing :3

Thank you for this, Z. It’s been a while since I’ve had a session with you, but this video is extremely useful because I was stuck in a negative feedback loop for quite some time. It’s very important what you are saying, and I truly appreciate your work for us. Thank you. Your new background looks super nice btw 😅 and so do you 😊

Notification squad and happy you're back! Listening to you before work right now, which is what i do on a regular basis, and my practice is shoehorned into my 30 min before getting there (got called out 😅). honestly don't think i feel negatively about my practice - although I do listen to your videos on repeat, which may be a little plateau-y hahaha Anyways, you're awesome and I love just listening to your voice, even when I'm not actively voice training

I started about a month ago and am currently using my cycling trips to and from work for practice. This way I get about 1h30m a day of practice 3-5 days per week. I'm sure I sound like an idiot making weird noises, singing badly and making weird facial expressions, but so far its been working great. It helps that I'm mostly cycling through barely populated areas. It does become a bit harder towards the end due to me being tired from both cycling and practicing/singing. So far I've been really happy with my progress. I already have happy memories from first being able to consistently speak lighter, figuring out how to easily change my resonance, reducing my false fold engagements, figuring out how to maintain longer notes without sounding like a deflating and dying cat. Most of it while cycling :)

Thank you so much. Your advice is better than any motivational book I have ever read.

I setup a disc I play in my car so I can practice whenever I am driving. It has worked quite well for me. It was never a chore to practice. I thought it was a good use of time when I had nothing else constructive to do. I also practice when walking on the treadmill.

i love the way your brain works also the new studio looks amazing, the black and white is super classy