| Published: December 15, 2020 |
Do Singing Lessons Work?
If you are wondering if singing lessons can help you, the answer is, “Yes!” Just keep a few things in mind.
An experienced and knowledgeable voice teacher who is well-versed in your genre can absolutely help you become the singer you want to be. Singing is a physical skill just like golf or knitting, so gaining the accuracy and stamina you desire may take time. You wouldn’t take your first swing at a golf ball, miss, and then say, “Well, I guess I can’t do this.” No! You would expect to miss at first, and then improve over time. In the same way, you should expect that your singing skills will develop little by little.
Student-teacher trust and chemistry play a big role in how much you will grow in voice lessons, which means some teacher personalities might be a better “match” for you than others. This is why you might consider committing to a few months of lessons with one teacher, then taking a break to reflect on how much progress you made and how you felt with that teacher.
Having clear goals matters too. If you have goals, you will gain more from singing lessons than if you don’t. Your goals – and therefore your path of learning – might be easy to identify, for example, if you have just signed yourself up to perform in a cabaret in 4 weeks and need help to get ready. That’s a situation where the singer and teacher can quite easily figure out what they are trying to achieve together!
If you are not sure of your goals, a great place to start is considering what inspired you to want to sing. Is it a desire to make others happy? Is it a feeling that you have something inside you that needs to get out? Is it a desire to emulate another singer who you love? You might even consider listening to recordings of singers you want to emulate with your voice teacher to help you clarify your goals and dreams.
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Singers During the Pandemic
Many regions around the world have been through their second lockdown in this pandemic, and we are now facing a Christmas season where we can’t gather with our loved ones. Jaime Babbitt’s article for singers during the pandemic tells you how to make it through this trying season.
Romantic Christmasy Goodness
A lot of people may be feeling quite alone this holiday season, and so a lovey-dovey video like this may not be the best thing to click on today. If you can stomach the adorableness of these two and their puppy, however, this is an absolutely lovely version of the classic “The Christmas Song.”
Kathy Alexander is VP of Curriculum for Singdaptive. She was a staff writer for 6 years at VoiceCouncil Magazine and works for the University of Victoria as a practicum supervisor. Kathy is also a singer, vocal coach and choir director. Career highlights include guest appearances in Europe with Quannah Parker jazz fusion band in Norway, and back on the West Coast with Vision TV’s Let’s Sing Again, The Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and the Victoria International Jazz Festival.
