Common Questions About Voice Lessons
1. Won’t voice lessons make me sound like an opera singer?
If a person went to the gym and worked with a trainer to get in shape, they wouldn’t accidentally wake up one day looking like a competitive body builder. A body builder must work very hard over a long period of time in order to build that kind of serious muscle. Similarly, a singer will never accidentally just happen to sound like an opera singer out of the blue. In order to sound like an opera singer, you need to purposefully commit to training in opera for a considerable amount of time.
2. I’m afraid I will lose my own sound if I train. Is that true?
Actually, with proper training, you can sound even MORE like yourself. Often, untrained singers will struggle to find a natural vocal production. They don’t know how to handle the transition between the different registers in their voice and will often resort to pushing, squeezing, yelling, or singing in a disconnected, or “breathy” manner. Yet, when your voice is free from excess tension and you have learned how to sing over the different breaks, or passages, in your voice, you will be able to focus yourself on your own unique style.
3. I think I sound great already, what’s the point in taking lessons?
Imagine if you lived inside of a piano. You would think you really knew how that piano sounded. Yet, you would be quite surprised to learn how differently people outside the piano heard the sound of the piano being played. You DO live inside your own instrument. What you are hearing as you sing is very different from what the audience is hearing.
Even if you record yourself, it’s quite difficult to be as objective with your own voice as you might think. A good voice teacher is an expert with an external pair of ears who can help you to fine tune and adjust how you are singing to sound your very best. Good voice teachers train for many years to be able to give you a level of feedback and instruction that you may never be able to find on your own. You can save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you are training regularly with a well-trained voice teacher.
4. I sing songs all the time, why do I need to sing vocal exercises?
There was a famous teacher named Mathilde Marchesi who once said, “There are only two styles of singing: the good and the bad.”
Good singing means well-balanced singing. Why do you want to find a great balance in your voice? When your voice is balanced you can sing for long periods of time without fatigue. When your voice is balanced you can access more vocal range and greater dynamics. When your voice is balanced, you are able to sing with immense power any time you desire.
Vocal balance isn’t achieved by simply singing songs. Vocal balance is achieved by working with a teacher on specialized exercises that are prescribed for YOUR own personal vocal needs.
Vocal training is for ALL styles of singers. Voice lessons enable you to build power, range, flexibility and endurance so that you can sing in the style you desire, and do it in a healthy way. Vocal training helps you to avoid vocal damage by learning how to “operate” your vocal mechanism in the healthiest way possible in whatever style you sing.
When you train on a regular basis with a well-trained instructor, you are able to establish and maintain a professional edge within YOUR own style, and keep your voice for the rest of your life!
