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.