What Makes a Voice Teacher Qualified?
(It might not be what you think...)
(It might not be what you think...)
Fall 2021 Prizewinners |
Fall 2021 Prizewinners |
What makes a good voice teacher?Becoming a good voice teacher takes time in the field and commitment to continued learning of the field. You want to find the person who has invested in becoming a teacher by having an advanced certificate or degree in vocal pedagogy. Next best would be to find a teacher who has a voice degree from a school that offers an in-depth teacher training program in which they have taken courses. In either case, this person must be someone who seeks continuing voice pedagogy education and professional development after graduation to remain current in the field. Even for a good teacher, it can take 2-4 years to build a voice from the ground up. The track is different when a student arrives with a lot of the vocal groundwork already established. These types of students have already shown the motivation and discipline to tackle the hard vocal issues with prior instruction, so focusing on polishing artistry and professional development is the street to travel. There is not much more thrilling, though, than finding diamonds in the mud. THE ROOT ISSUE:
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Luis, Luke, Joseph, Josh, Amogh, Eva, Carmen, Norah Eight NATS National Quarterfinalists 2022!!!
Many university professors contribute much to researchMany university professors might be more on the research than the applied side of voice and focus on advancing the understanding of voice training and function. The work of these academics is a joy for me to interpret and apply to my own teaching. |
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A GREAT ARTICLE ABOUT CHOOSING A VOICE TEACHER |
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"More is demanded of the professional singer today than ever before. Not only must you have the voice but also you must have the brains. Not only must you have a good musical instrument, but you must use it for the expression of the thoughts and emotions that define and motivate humanity.
You cannot learn to sing from a book or a record. It takes personal interaction. You need a trained ear listening to you, encouraging you when you make progress and alerting you to bad habits that inhibit your progress. It is also important to find a teacher who really understands the basic vocal mechanisms, and can effectively educate the student. My gripe with so many of the teachers is that they just sit and play scales and don't really explain how to get the most benefit from each scale. Today's teachers vocalize, they exercise, but they don't educate their students. A teacher must be honest, and must be able to demonstrate the technique, and be able to show the control of their own voice. Never study with a teacher who is chronically hoarse. The teaching and the technique should be very natural. While proper technique may be difficult to learn, it should not make you feel physically uncomfortable. If a technique takes a great deal of physical effort to demonstrate, then it cannot be correct. This is one area where the old saying, "Those that can't do...teach," does not apply. If your teacher does not have a beautiful vocal instrument, beware. Even though the goal of study is not to imitate the teacher, a voice teacher should be able to demonstrate the validity of the methods he or she is teaching. The job of a voice teacher is to teach you to control, and thereby free the voice to develop to its full potential. A teacher should not impose a style for you, for style and flair come from within. When you are vocally free to express you own feelings, your unique style will develop naturally. (Cont...) |
An objective way to judge a teacher is to hear his or her students at certain intervals. Any teacher can, by luck, produce one or two good voices, but the reputable teacher gives something to all students that makes them progress at their own optimum pace. "High notes created in the shortest time... technically faulty singing will be corrected... develop great vocal power...etc." An honest teacher could never promise so much. Students who hear these outlandish claims should be on guard. Such dishonest teachers will never admit their inability to keep their promises. Instead, the fault of failure is laid on the student's head. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you have a physical defect that will never allow you to become a singer." Don't believe it. Unless a throat specialist tells you that you have a serious throat problem, you can sing!
Before I paint the perfect voice teacher, I would like to stress that teaching is hard work, a commitment which takes years. A teacher gives the advice gained from years of study and hard work, and earns every penny he or she gets. You don't get something for nothing in this world, and if you are benefiting from your voice lessons, then you should be glad to pay for them. Nothing worth having in this world is easy or cheap. And a career as a singer is a thrilling experience that only one person in a thousand may be able to have. Don't measure your teacher by the dollar, however. The cheapest voice teacher is not necessarily the best bargain. Likewise, a voice cannot be bought by the pound, so that even the most expensive teacher may not be the one for you. The expression, "Penny wise and pound foolish," really applies when choosing a voice teacher. Find the one for your needs and stick with them!" *— pp.103-105 from Breaking Through: From Rock to Opera, the Basic Technique of Voice (Milwaukee, Hal Leonard, 1994) by Gloria Bennett. (End) |