Singing Lessons for Adults - What to Look For, What to Expect, and What NOT to Expect

How do you choose an effective voice teacher? Voice lessons, like many professional services, involve specialized knowledge. This means that, like mechanics, lawyers, and doctors, voice teachers often often must be hired with some degree of blind trust involved. There are ways to decrease the amount of blind trust involved, but which ways matter and which ways don’t? Before writing this, I polled a large community of singers, and reviewed other articles on voice lessons for adults, and I’m passing on the best advice I could find, as well as my own thoughts on what to look for in quality voice lessons. This article is by no means comprehensive. I write extensively about finding good singing lessons elsewhere in the blog. Search for the and tags for more insight.

What to Look For - The Basics:

Other articles will get more in depth on specifics, but I will cover a few very basic points, here, about what to look for.

Private Singing Lessons:

If you want to change your voice, my recommendation is to seek out quality private lessons and avoid losing precious time in the black hole that is YouTube. I wouldn’t bother with online courses or group lessons, either. The crucial problem is feedback. Private individual lessons often involve constant micro-feedback, in the form of many tiny tweak suggestions or affirmations each minute that are custom-tailored to what you are doing that instant. Prerecorded or group lessons just can’t match the observation and feedback from private lessons in either quality or quantity.

Note: If you're looking for singing lessons 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 bottom, re 'an epiphany in the first lesson').

Also note: I talk a lot about why good teachers don't offer free trials, in this article. I am breaking my own rule, for December 2020, and offering one free lesson to new prospective clients, just to make it easy for singers to verify that I can deliver the clean, effortless high notes, discussed below, quickly and easily.

The Right Singing Lessons for You:

Every time I poll my singer friends about what they look for in a singing teacher, I get a surprising number of responses citing ‘kind, patient, trusting, non-judgemental, has kleenex...’ etc. This is madness to me. I’m sure every town and city has one or two nightmare personality teachers, and it seems many of the singers I know were burned by this type of teacher in the past but, by and large, finding a teacher who is kind and patient, while important, should be automatic within, say, two attempts. It’s an utterly common and unremarkable trait in voice teachers, in my opinion, and most importantly… whether a teacher is nice or not tells you nothing about a teacher’s effectiveness at what is uncommon and crucial: their ability to train you to play your vocal instrument in a truly skillful way.

A Bigger Challenge than Finding Someone you Like and Trust:

Yes, if you work with a teacher and you don’t like how things feel, interpersonally, you should probably keep looking, no matter how highly recommended they come, but… a far more common and serious issue is singers finding teachers who are lovely, but can’t change your technique–or not enough–and then sticking with that teacher, long after they've hit a wall with their high notes.

Different types of voice teacher, and the one that 90% of singers need:

These types of teachers come straight from Daniel Robertson's thoughtful video on choosing a voice teacher. The two main types of voice teacher out there are:

1. Style Coaches (various genres)
2. Technique Coaches (various genres)

Style Coaches:

Style coaches, as you can guess, are best at helping you with things like vocal style, as well as musicality, and performance. They might have a few moves to help you with high notes, but if those don’t work, you might need to work with a technique specialist to sort out your high notes, before you can fully access what a good style coach has to offer you. And sorting out your high notes is, while not the only challenge, is usually the most significant challenge singers face.

Technique Coaches:

In theory, it’s possible you could study with a great technique teacher and master your technique, but become limited by their ability to coach you in style. In reality, I’d say this rarely happens. Most great technique coaches are also great style coaches, because, like style coaches, they will likely have a strong understanding of how to break down stylistic effects into musical subcomponents, but unlike style coaches, they will be the best at breaking down stylistic effects into technical subcomponents, as well. Most singers will probably get the most mindblowing breakthroughs, technically and stylistically, by working with a coach who is a technique specialist.

What should I look for in a technique specialist?

First, many teachers will not explicitly call themselves a technique or style specialist on their website, so it’s a good idea to ask them, and see a) what they say, and b) how they back up any claims they may make about technical expertise. Consider if they’ve created any posts or videos on technique and if they contain citations, or just unreferenced claims. Also see if they list any relevant training–ideally recent training–and/or professional affilliations. I like to list what’s in my library, too. I know that 95% of visitors to my site won’t care, but it’s there for those who do.

A technique specialist in your genre of choice:

You want a technique speicalist in your genre of choice (i.e. if you want to sing pop or musical theatre, study with a technique specialist who works primarily with these genres, and has pedagogical training in these genres. i.e. In this case, you do not want a classical technique specialist.)

Some mention of vocal acoustics.

If a teacher’s site doesn’t mention vocal acoustics, ask them what they know about this topic, and how they incorporate it in their teaching.

What is ‘vocal acoustics,’ why does it matter so much, and why have I never heard of this before?

If anyone ever suggested you ‘just talk it’ more on a difficult phrase, and suddenly a high note became stronger and easier–that’s vocal acoustics. If you’ve ever copied the exact diction of a famous singer and suddenly found it easier to hit the same notes they do… vocal acoustics. If you ever tried humming a phrase through closed lips or a straw and it got easier next time you sang it–vocal acoustics, again. To be fair, there could be additional factors playing into these ‘quick fixes,’ but vocal acoustics is likely a big player in all of these examples.

No really, what is vocal acoustics?

I explain this in much more depth in other articles but the super-quick explanation is that our voices need to shift gears as we sing higher, a bit like a bike or a car–and a lot like wind instruments. Whether the teacher talks about it a lot or not at all, voice training that has vocal acoustics as one of its foundations is crucial for singers who want to learn to play their instrument as powerfully and as beautifully as possible , with ease, over the widest range possible.

Why have I never heard of vocal acoustics?

Voice science, especially as it applies to singing, is a continually evolving, fast-moving field. Although teachers have, intuitively, been using vocal acoustics as a training tool for centuries, what’s new is the explicit understanding we have as to what, precicely, we are adjusting, when we adjust our vowels, and why it works. You may not have heard of vocal acoustics until now. You may not hear much about it for another ten years–I don’t know. But most institutions offering graduate-level training in singing pedagogy now know about it and teach it, and your teacher should, too.

This said, vocal acoustics is not the only important concept, but if vocal acoustics is not something you can find mentioned on a teacher’s website, that’s a sign–not that they’ll be an ineffective teacher, necessarily, but that you might need to go more on blind faith. All effective singing teachers are making adjustments to vocal acoustics whether they think of it that way or not. You might still want to just try a lesson to see if they are effective at making your high notes strong and easy, ideally in one lesson. It’s strange–It matters less what a teacher knows about vocal acoustics, intellectually–it matters most that they’re effective at using acoustics to get you results, whether they know that’s what they’re doing or not.¹ But, again, my goal with this article is to help you eliminate as much blind faith as possible when choosing a teacher, so you should look for a teacher who can talk about vocal acoustics, first, and then pay for a lesson and see how far they can take your voice.

What to Expect:

Kindness and Connection, but also…:

As previously mentioned, most teachers are friendly and patient. You should also look for a good interpersonal connection. But, remember–this should be easy to find. Yes, you want this, but don’t stop there. You also likely want a teacher who demonstrates technical expertise.

The Wild West:

Sorting out which teachers truly have technical expertise will likely be your biggest task, as a discerning buyer of professional services. Even many pro and semi-pro performers I’ve polled tend to assume that anyone with a voice teaching website has the expertise to help them unlock their instrument to a professional level, but… I strongly disagree that this is the case. Anyone can launch a website and call themselves a singing teacher and a technique specialist. Taking the time to dig a little deeper, and being willing to spend a few dollars more each lesson for more effective and/or less limiting lessons can save you so much time and money in the long run. As mentioned above, finding a teacher who is fluent in vocal acoustics is a great sign, but more than this, they should be able to lead you to strong effortless high notes in a single lesson. If you’re a complete beginner, you might want to allow a few more lessons. I write more about this, . Read their reviews, and read about tangible results (college acceptances, work booked), but do not rely on these alone. A certain percentage of singers leaving reviews are already gifted and would have done well with or without a teacher–you need to figure out if a teacher will likely be effective for you. Find out what they do for ongoing training. Find out about their professional affiliations. Then book a lesson and don’t expect good teachers to offer free trials.

Patience, but also Results:

A teacher who gives you a strong result in a single lesson is a great sign. But worthwhile artistic skills take time to to develop and singing is no different. It will be a while before the type of skilled singing a good teacher can guide you to becomes a reliable habit. So have some patience–but not too much patience. It’s hard to tell if your singing is changing week-to-week, but it should be easy to tell by listening to a lesson recording from 3-4 months prior. CEVS uses a couple different objective methods to measure and track what my students can and can’t do, technique-wise, each quarter. If you’re not sure if you’re progressing, listen to a lesson from 3-4 months ago. If you feel your singing hasn’t progressed, consider discussing this with your teacher, and telling them that you expect to be progressing, and would love an objective way to measure this, and see what they say.

What you Pay For–sort of…:

The teachers who are good at unlocking singer’s upper range know they are rare, and know they can charge a premium, and most do. There are also teachers who have had a few celebrity clients but are not particularly effective who also charge a premium. So if you pay a lot for a lesson, expect a lot, and if you don’t feel confident that this teacher will be effective–ideally via results in the first lesson–move on and consider asking for a refund.

What Not to Expect:

You Already Know how Singing Works:

You probably don’t. The most common concepts I see about how to sing better have to do with ‘breathing’ or ‘breath support,’ followed by ‘placement’–learning to ‘place’ or resonate the sound in a certain part of your body. But this advice has also been refuted by world-class teachers and singing science researchers for at least seventy years.² I don’t know how teaching singing could be regulated, because every genre is different, and the technical and stylistic knowledge needs to be somewhat different, too. But because of this lack of regulation, and this Wild West environment, and our bias toward simpler explanations… misunderstandings persist.

Your TEACHER Already Knows how Singing Works:

This might sound crazy, but don’t automatically assume that your teacher will know how singing works. This has nothing to do with how smart, caring, or well-intentioned teachers are. I believe most teachers care tremendously about giving responsible advice to their clients. This is more to do with decades of pseudo-science masquerading as solid science in the realm of singing, lack of training in formal research, and other subtle factors that keep well-intentioned teachers from realizing that, e.g., their frameworks may be outdated, or they might be unconsciously biased toward information that reinforces what they believe, and not necessarily what is now most supported by evidence.

Attitude and Posturing:

While your teacher should ideally be an expert, this is completely different than being an elitist. You should never feel condescended to or otherwise judged as lesser because you’re at a certain level of ability or knowledge, or appreciate a certain artist or genre of music. I don’t think teachers would do this to intentionally manipulate clients, but this mindset can be accidentally taught at music schools, and get perpetuated when the students become teachers, themselves. This superior attitude can have a weird Helsinki-like effect over some students, in which the more the teacher talks down to them, or denegrates certain genres or ideas, the more the student believes their teacher is exceptional, despite what should be a growing number of red flags. In my opinion, the best experts to learn from are also open-minded and considerate people. If your teacher seems to be offhandedly insulting you or music you love... run.

“Cheap and Good”

I started my singing journey with lower-cost (but still expensive!) lessons with a less-recommended teacher, and this did not turn out to be an effective move, for me. There are sometimes good teachers to be found at lower rates, but just make sure that you’re working with them because they truly are good, not because they’re cheap–even if money is very tight. Especially if money is tight, consider that you will likely spend less money, in the long term, by studying with a teacher who can get you the skills you need as quickly and reliably as possible–i.e. in as few lessons as possible–not by taking many more years of ineffective and/or limiting lessons at a lower rate.

Free Trial Lessons from Good Vocal Coaches:

Part of me would love to offer free trial lessons, but if you consider some of the less-obvious nuances around this issue, you may see why you might want to avoid free trial lessons when it comes to singing. This may all sound counter-intuitive, but, first, consider that the more you’re spending on lessons, the more you likely you may be to practise and commit, and therefore actually get results. You might also be more likely to self-advocate and hold your teacher accountable if you feel you aren’t progressing fast enough, or they’re not explaining something clearly when each lesson is a serious investment. You may also be more motivated to switch teachers sooner, if you feel your expensive lessons are ineffective. These are all good things for your progress³

Another one of the reasons I’m hesitant to offer free lessons, although other teachers might, is that I’m not like most neighbourhood voice teachers. My training is world-class, and my advice is valuable and powerful, if taken seriously, and if I cheapen it by offering it for free, that can send a signal to potential clients that maybe I am the same as more generalist teachers, and/or that the advice itself is not that valuable and will not be particularly effective. This can lead to the exercises and concepts not getting practiced / considered in the same way, if at all. This helps no one.

This might seem improbable, but it’s not just theory. Over the years, I have noticed that of my few clients who didn’t progress that much, many of these were my pro-bono clients–it’s hard to be certain, but I think the main issue was often lack of buy-in. A huge part of being a good coach is finding better ways to create desired changes in your clients, and I’ve found that I can’t create change as effectively when the relationship starts with free lessons. If you needed a serious operation, would you go with the free trial surgeon, or the reputable surgeon?

Note: I will sometimes offer free consultations, in which I will offer up a shorter amount of time for us both to assess fit. I will also listen to singers' voices and offer an assessment and some general strategy for how I would improve a given voice. But I will stop short of prescribing specific exercises in a free consult, for the above-stated issues around differentiation and buy-in.

On the flip side, if you find free trials, why not try them? Here’s why: Bias and reciprocity. You may be biased to see a teacher you’ve met and connected with as more expert/effective than they are. Also, you may unconsciously feel obligated to hire a teacher because they offered you a free trial. This is the reason car salesmen always offer you coffee. Finally, you might think that knowing about these phenomena negates their effectiveness, but this isn’t necessarily the case.⁴

That said, if you do your best to keep these caveats in mind, free trial away!

An Epiphany in the First Lesson:

While I think it is unrealistic to expect a breakthrough around strong, easy high notes in your first lesson, I think you should still be open to it, and if you get this, you should shortlist this teacher. So don’t expect it, but demand it, anyway. Thanks to for this brilliant tip.⁵

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1. I recently surveyed a large group of teachers invested in vocal acoustics, and they all agreed that it is better to choose a teacher who is effective with training singers via vocal acoustics but doesn’t realize it over a teacher who can intellectually understand vocal acoustics, but can’t transform their theoretical understanding into effective training.↩

2. Richard Miller, Structure of Singing 1950ish? Johan Sundberg? AATS Paper ~2011?↩

3. If you feel your progress is plateauing, definitely talk to your teacher about this. You maybe should give a teacher a few weeks or a few months if things seem to be plateauing, but this is much better than plateauing for years, but not trying other teachers because you like your current teacher’s rate.↩

4. Umm, where did I read this??↩

5. Kaywin, Arden. “8 Things You Want in a Voice Teacher.” Backstage.com https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/things-want-voice-teacher-7580/ Accessed 2020-11-10.↩