Hello, I'm Sandra Smith and I've been teaching singing, breathing and performance techniques to individuals, groups and choirs for over 30 years. I started off performing after my degree in performing arts in the 80's. A long time ago! I have loved teaching young and old, professional and beginners to sing. It is the most satisfying job for me.
I was recently contacted by a singer/songwriter from Bristol who was feeling bemused at what to look for in a singing teacher. It is a very common dilemma. He was confused by the variety of different advice, websites, online singing courses etc as well as people offering 1 to 1 coaching, which has made him nervous about taking the plunge. He was willing to invest in training his voice but couldn’t afford to make the wrong choice. I'm often asked for referals to other teachers - but it is a hard thing to do. It is up to the singer to find a teacher that works for them. I've put together a few tips and hope it may help some of you.
The 2 jobs are different. Be clear about what you are asking a teacher to provide.
If you just want to sing through songs a good pianist/piano teacher can help you probably as much as a singing teacher.
If you want to have some vocal improvement then read on:
On a 121 level
My belief is a good teacher can tell you HOW singing works. Quite specifically!
‘Good technique’ is really getting ourselves out of the way to allow ourselves to sing naturally and freely again. That’s the basics. We then move into the skill of learning how we can shape our new free sounds to lend interpretive weight and emotion to our songs.
A good teacher can hear and see where you hold unnecessary tension that gets in the way of that free flowing vocal production. They can offer you an understanding about how the singing instrument works and what you can do to help it work more effectively.
As we learn more about our singing instrument often we can shift our own blockages – some of which are physical some can be emotional. A sympathetic teacher is essential.
Why have a teacher?
For a beginner singer it can be difficult to understand that the voice you hear in your head isn’t necessarily a good sound on the outside. It may FEEL wonderful to you and a sound big and strong inside your own head (Think of the X Factor singers who don’t get to boot camp) but to the audience it can sound muffled and weak and often untuneful. This is to do with what we call placing the voice. So it is useful to have an outside ear to teach us the difference of holding the voice back in the throat and allowing it to be free. When we allow the throat to let go, the singer may feel the voice is ‘further away’ but to us as a listener it sounds much bigger, more colourful and more resonant. So often a teacher is supporting the singer to change a listening perceptive as well as correcting technique.
Cd’s and Video Tuition
I can only speak from my own perspective and experience.
I once had a very accomplished and intelligent musician come to my studio armed with her bought CD of exercises. She hadn’t had any previous singing training although she sang a lot with her job. She ran through the vocal exercises with the ‘virtual’ teacher making comments about how to practice the exercise. Every note was incorrectly placed and straining her vocally and really all she was doing was compounding bad mistakes.
But….how would she know? – There was no feedback to her singing. Why?
No-one was listening.
I think that practice Cd’s can be very useful as an extension to 121 lessons. After you understand what it is you are aiming to change. As your voice starts to develop the comments your teacher will make about the same exercise will change. You will be constantly guided as your voice becomes reliable and consistent and able to do more tonally.
Unless you get feedback it is difficult to imagine what you can do differently. If you could imagine it – you’d do it!
On a practical note!
It is fine to ask a teacher about formal qualifications.
They could have a degree in music – specializing in singing.
They could have a qualification from contemporary techniques such as Voicecraft and Estill trainings.
They could have a wealth of performing experience and expertise.
They could have
DipABRSM (Diploma of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)
LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music)
FRSM (Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music)
But more importantly you need to trust them to guide you. Word of mouth and listening to their other singers is a good guide. Talk to other students and find out what the lessons consist of.
You can book a trial lesson to see how you like working together and then take it from there.
