Over easy.

I have been working for a while with a student who is preparing a major operatic role. She has been in rehearsal for a while and has told me that she has been 'Trying to avoid over singing' to save the voice. We had a discussion about this and about what she means by avoiding over singing.

If by over singing she means pushing,  then I'm all for avoiding that. But if she is what I call under singing, that may be just as big a problem. To my way of thinking, under singing is simply holding back on the voice. Holding is never a good idea. Trying to sing while holding back is like trying to drive your car up a hill while stepping on the brakes. You're not going to get very far and you're very apt to break something.

Marking is a good alternative to holding back. In marking, the singer sings everything down an octave softly, leaving all the high notes out of the possibility of being pushed. Obviously, with the repetition necessary to get the benefit of a rehearsal, one cannot sing full out the whole time without tiring the voice. But under singing, holding back one's energy will do as much damage to the voice as pushing.

I suggested that she simply sing. Sing the way she plans to perform the work. Fully and easily. Beautifully. Then upon having to repeat sections or the whole thing, MARK! This will keep the voice much healthier.

She did this at the next rehearsal and sounded and felt wonderful.

Once one has figured out the best way to sing comfortably and beautifully, just do it. Don't monkey around with almost singing. Almost singing will get you nowhere, and it may give you vocal stress.

Any rehearsal period is stressful. You are constantly changing staging or tempi until you find just the right way to do whatever it is you are doing. You must be wise as you go through this period.

So here are my rules for repeated rehearsals:
Do not push the voice.
Do not under sing. In short use your energy!
Do sing as you want to perform.
Mark when necessary.

By holding back on the voice you are stymieing your energy. Energy is a singer's best friend. Our air is our energy. Take a deep breath and use it.

If you follow these rules you should be able to sing beautifully for many years.