All About Singing Lessons - 3 Key Questions Answered
Note: If you're looking for a voice teacher in Vancouver or nearby, feel free to take advantage of my free intro lesson offer (December 2020) to experience an immediate change in your ability to access high notes, yourself (see below, re 'how to choose a teacher').
Singing Lessons - Do they Work, Are they Worth It, and How to Choose a Vocal Coach.
Do Singing Lessons Work?
This is an important question with a nuanced answer. I would say that singing lessons could work if you practise as intended by the teacher, at least 4-5 times a week. Even then, some lessons work, and some don’t or, more tragically, they don’t work enough to be worth it and, worse, the beginning singer might never understand the limitations they’re being sold–paying, in fact, to turn limiting technique into habits. Understanding what makes a great singing teacher can be mysterious to non-experts, and most singers likely do not have enough experience or knowledge to have a full perspective of what results to expect, and when, and they may be further biased by the initial positives of the lessons (some improvement, teacher they like).
It seems likely to me that for the majority of singers in training, at all levels–working with teachers, practising–the lessons are not working, by my criteria.
For the lessons to be working, you need to be learning to play your vocal instrument skillful technique that improves to an advanced level over the course of 2-3 years, in many cases, assuming basic musicality and pitch-matching ability when a singer begins training.
As someone who’s had to audition, hire, and adjudicate singers for twenty years, I know that most training isn’t effective because I’ve auditioned so many young performers with years of voice training through a college program who are still not singing skillfully. They can belt, but generally not very high, and a bit too loud and strident, and slightly out of tune. There is some skill, but there are also limitations and a seeming lack of awareness of what the skillful version is.
Kind teachers are common. Teachers who can quickly help you sound better in the easier parts of your range are also common. The real question is, do you keep improving in a way that will lead to you playing the harder ranges of your vocal instrument in a truly skilled way, or are you only experiencing limited improvement and then instead of continually improving, actually beginning to spin your wheels. Or worse, are you now reinforcing limiting habits that will ultimately make it harder to progress to the level of skilled singing you want to reach?
If your never learn the difference between ‘less strained high notes,’ and ‘truly effortless-yet-powerful high notes’ or–ideally–feel the difference—you might never know that something is missing. On the other hand, if you can find a teacher who, early on–in the first one to six lessons–can guide you to singing high notes that sound powerful but feel effortless–then yes, those singing lessons are working and will likely continue to work.
Are Singing Lessons ‘Worth It’?
Teachers who can get you singing high notes with both power and ease are less common, but let’s get even more specific, now. I want to side-step the different ways of describing vocal registers here, and just say, for now, that there are two important types of commercial high notes–let’s call them, collectively, ‘mix-belt range’ notes (as opposed to more ‘head voice’ / Classical-sounding high notes) that are usually tricky for less-skilled singers:
- The ‘lower mix-belt notes’ that are easier to unlock, and also easier to ‘cheat’ on and sing with a ‘tight belt’ kind of compromised form–something in between a completely tense scream, and a completely relaxed-but-strong mix-belt. There are many teachers who can help you access your lower high notes in this way.
- The ‘higher mix-belt notes.’ These notes are much trickier to access for most singers, and require more nuanced technique to produce with any frequency and consistency. Teachers who can help you access these higher mix-belt notes with ease and good tone are rarer. This is the type of teacher I highly recommend you seek out. They are the ones most likely to understand how to train you to play your instrument skillfully and beautifully.
Even if you aren’t particularly concerned about virtuostic high notes, a teacher’s ability to help you access this range is an important indicator that they can give you great technical coaching in all parts of your range.
If you don’t find a teacher who can help you hit higher mix/belt notes, I don’t really think lessons are worth it, at any price. The chances are too high that you’re paying someone to help you develop limiting habits (even if it feels like you’re progressing, at first). You are also likely paying to lose valuable time–not just time spent not progressing, but also potential months of ‘bad habit replacement’ time.
So, are lessons ‘worth it’? Often, no, in my opinion!
However, if you do find a teacher who can get you into your high mix, quickly and effectively–ideally in one lesson–then everything changes. Suddenly, there is a much stronger case that the lessons will be worth it.
Tim Evanicki, in his book, The College Audition, says this about high quality voice lessons:
“They are expensive. They are necessary. They are a wise investment. The very first thing that colleges will be looking for in a musical theatre candidate is a strong, dynamic voice.” 1
He also advises that singers shop around and only choose teachers with a successful track record with singers in your genre of choice, and who have a strong foundation in voice technique pedagogy–these credentials should be listed on their website. Great advice.
How to Choose a Vocal Coach
In researching this section, I found an article by Los Angeles-based singing teacher Arden Kaywin that concluded with a point so strong that it just simplified the whole question of how to choose a singing teacher in a way I didn’t know could be done.
Before finding this article, I was going to write a long, nuanced section on factors to consider when looking for a vocal coach–and maybe I still will, in a separate post–but what I’m about to share with you will let us skip all that, for now. If you’ve read the first parts of this article, this tip should look familiar:
The simplest, best way to choose a vocal coach, according to Kaywin, is to look for a coach who can, in the first lesson, get you to experience singing in a way you simply didn’t imagine was possible.2
That’s it.
I’d qualify this a little and say that, specifically, you want to experience clean ‘higher mix-belt’ notes with an effortlessness you never imagined was possible.
I’d further qualify this to say that if you’re new to making music and matching pitch, in general, you may need more like two to six weeks for this to happen. The extra time is partly to find the pitches and the coordination, but also to develop the perspective and awareness to realize that you’ve hit a high note powerfully, yet without any effort or strain.
However, if you are already musically experienced and can match pitch, I agree with Kaywin–the teacher should be able to get you to produce strong, effortless high notes in a single lesson.
She goes on to say, “These teachers exist. I’ve experienced this type of lesson, and you shouldn’t settle for less.” I couldn’t agree more.
How do you find a teacher like this? You ask around. You look at their track record with clients and their testimonials. You read about their training and ongoing development. You check out their content. But at some point, you need to take some lessons.
You’ll likely need to pay real money for these lessons, as teachers who can reliably do this will likely have strong word of mouth and will not need to offer free lessons. Pay the money. It is expensive, but singing skillfully is important to you, you should find a teacher who can help you unlock your full range, with an ease you never realized could exist, and it will be worth it–at least it was for me.
All the best in your search for truly ‘worth it’ singing lessons.
Was this helpful? Questions? Disagree? Let me know in the comments or drop me a line at info@courtenayennis.com.