MA Instrumental Teaching/B.Ed/Dip.Mus.
Tel: 086 36 93 812

The Skerries Music Studio

Fiona Mullaney Vocal Coach

FAQ

How often should I take a lesson?

How long does it take to learn to sing?


I'd like to sing classical music, but I also want to sing rock/pop. Will I learn how to do both?

I want to sing LOUDER. Can you help me gain more power?

I want to increase my range. Can you help me ADD high notes?

What is the right age to begin serious voice study?

I am an older singer. Is it too late for me to learn how to sing?

Do you teach all ages?


How often should I take a lesson?
Once a week is adequate for beginning and intermediate students. More advanced students and those who are preparing for recitals, auditions and competitions usually take lessons more frequently


How long does it take to learn to sing?
Beginners who practice intelligently on a daily basis can expect to notice improvement within a few months. It often takes a year or two or longer for a student to establish good habits and develop a reliable technique. Singers who are serious about their art study all their lives.


I'd like to sing classical music, but I also want to sing rock/pop. Will I learn how to do both?
A good classical technique will teach a singer how his voice works and what to expect from his voice at any given time. The goal of classical technique is to find the most true, free and resonant tone of which the particular voice is capable, and a tone that will carry over an orchestra without additional amplification. This approach to singing takes time to master.

To a certain degree, pop techniques may be applied more quickly as they often bypass the establishment of the most acoustically correctly produced tones. This is due to the use of microphones. Singers wishing to sing more contemporary music need to understand voice qualities/ingredients. Depending upon the sound you wish to produce will determine the combination of these vocal ingredients which will result in your favored recipe. Blues/Gospel/Country/Pop/Folk/Musical Theatre. The main vocal modes/ingredients taught here are: Speech, Sob, Opera, Belt, Twang, Falsetto.


I want to sing LOUDER. Can you help me gain more power?
If you study a classical technique you will learn, through many processes, how to sing more loudly. It does not happen quickly. If you need to sing more loudly within a few lessons, classical technique is not for you.


I want to increase my range. Can you help me ADD high notes?
It is impossible to add notes to your range. The physical structure of your vocal mechanism -- the length of your vocal cords, the size of your larynx, and more -- dictates the range of your voice. The top and bottom notes of your range are built-in to your instrument. If your range is small, you simply have not learned how to access those built-in notes. In certain extremely rare cases, an underlying medical condition may diminish voice range.

Most people who are using their voices effectively can count on a range of from 2 to 3 octaves. This is normal and this is sufficient, and there is nothing wrong with normal and sufficient.

A NOTE ON RANGES AND CAPABILITIES IN OLDER ADULTS WHO ARE BEGINNERS OR RETURNING TO VOICE TRAINING: If you have not sung for a number of years or have never studied voice seriously, you may find some limitations. Older voices usually are not as flexible or resilient. Training the voice involves the entire body. As we age, our breathing capacity is diminished and we must work much more diligently to keep the body musculature strong enough to support a good voice technique. The execution of extreme high notes or lengthy coloratura passages, for example, requires Olympic athleticism. While you may not achieve international acclaim, you still can find a great deal of pleasure, improve and refine your technique, learn some of the world's most wonderful repertoire, feel sated in the knowledge that you are doing something special that not everyone can do or is willing to attempt... all while receiving positive reviews from those who hear you and appreciate your talents.


What is the right age to begin serious voice study?
With the upsurge of stage schools, students are beginning formal voice instruction at younger and younger ages. I operate a buddy singing group class for the 8-12s which incorporates music theory, rhythm and harmony singing. Depending upon the maturity of the voice and indeed the child one to one classes can offered from age 10, however generally it is at 12 years old.

The growing, changing and developing voice can be susceptible to strain and damage from singing too loudly, and too loudly too often, yelling, singing in an inappropriate range and more. That said, younger singers may begin to learn the principles of correct breathing, singing legato and with musical phrasing, enunciation, pronunciation of other languages, etc. Songs should be of a gentle nature and in reasonable keys and ranges. Many traditional Irish and International folk songs fill the bill quite nicely.

Damage done to a young voice may not show up until some years later. It manifests itself as reduced range, register breaks, a raspy quality or in other ways. It is not always possible to correct the problems, as the mechanism has already grown tired from the continual strain and bad habits are ingrained.

Between the ages of from as early as age 10 (sometimes, though rarely, even younger) and into the later teen years, boys experience a voice change that can be abrupt or slow and awkward. The voice may go lower, then higher again. It may take many avenues before it begins to settle. Even after the voice seems settled, it continues to change. Boys may be in their early twenties before the real voice starts to show itself. GREAT care must be taken to exercise the voice only as its present condition warrants.

A note to parents of younger children


I strongly recommend parents steer their musically inclined children who are too young for formal voice training toward piano, violin or another stringed or reed instrument -- wherever the most interest lies. A child who is interested in the sound of the singing voice will also be interested in the sound of other musical instruments. The instrumental musical training will give the student a good foundation when he takes up singing at a later time. If the child loses interest in practicing an instrument, he will also lose interest in daily vocal practice.

Singing takes MORE discipline and is potentially more frustrating than playing an instrument because of the 'invisible' nature of the vocal instrument. Do not be mistaken.

Our modern lives and the media are permeated with a perception of fast results and easy stardom. The notion of developing as an artist is not reflected upon as favourably. The end result of this cavalier treatment of the arts is a dumbing down of a society which is increasingly more detached from the value of fine art.


I am an older singer. Is it too late for me to learn how to sing?
Do you think it is too late for you to learn to do anything else?

If you love singing, or you love the thought of singing an Italian or French Art Song or German Lied or a great aria, you owe it to yourself to do what is in your heart. While you may not become a singing sensation in a few easy lessons, you will learn and you will have fun. Failure is not an option.


Do you teach all ages?
Age 8 through adult, all levels, all voice types.