At this point in your development you should be practicing every day. Your instructor will guide you on how much you should be practicing. Typically, singers practice less per day than other instrumentalists, because the voice is delicate and has difficulty keeping up a rigorous and long practice time. It’s important to keep your voice in tip top shape.
If you’re not practicing for a specific performance, 30 minutes should be fine for keeping your voice finely tuned and the muscles that support it accustomed to being used. During these times, play around with songs, phrasing, improvisation, and try out different keys that your voice sits comfortably in.
If you are practicing for a specific performance, keep in mind the types of songs you will be singing and where they sit in your range. If you know that the majority of the songs you will be singing sit higher or lower within your range, really focus on exercises that strengthen that part of your voice.
When you’re practicing be careful not to compare yourself to anybody, even yourself. Since your instrument is inside of your body you might sound slightly different today than you did yesterday. There are many different factors that effect this including diet, sleep, hormones, and general health.
Since we practice to improve, keep that in mind. Everyone is somewhere in the process of obtaining a goal. Your current goal might be different than your peers or your instructors, but we are all in the process. Instead of striving for excellence and achieving the ultimate goal, strive for the next step. Your ultimate goal will come to you but if there are many steps in achieving that goal, it will get overwhelming and set you up to feel inadequate. Work with your instructor to assess what your next goal is. Celebrate that goal when you’ve achieved it!
Make sure that you don’t forget about the reason you started singing in the first place…passion! You started singing because you loved it and wanted to learn more. We sometimes get so caught up in what we need to know, what we need to apply, and what we are learning that we forget to relax and have fun! Take time to sing for no reason, have fun, try different things, don’t over analyze what you’re doing during this time. Sing while you are in the car, cleaning your house, with friends being silly! These are the times that will keep the inspiration going for learning the academic part of music. Be your amazing self!