Frequently Asked Questions
- How many lessons will I need to take?
Learning to sing correctly is an ongoing process. The number of lessons needed to create a balanced voice varies from student to student. Serious students realize that they continuously need to study voice for the rest of their performing lives. Little tendencies become habit and disrupt the balance of the voice. Even the best voices, those who win Grammies, continue to see their instructors throughout their careers.
- How often should I take lessons?
Lessons should be taken once a week or more, depending on the student’s tendencies. Each student comes to the first lesson with his own set of “tends to’s.” Those with several tendencies, such as pulling chest and then “flipping” into falsetto, may need twice a week. After the voice is balanced, lessons would be needed less often.
- How often should I practice?
Often! Minimally, practices should be 3 or 4 times per week. If a student is serious about his voice, practices should be as often as every day, once or twice each day. You wouldn’t go to the gym once a week and expect results. You would go often. It’s the same idea with developing strong vocal cords.
- When can I start learning songs?
As soon as the connection between your chest voice and your head voice, you will be given a song to learn. At that point, you are ready to apply the skills you learned through your exercises.
- What is chest voice? Head voice?
Chest voice is where we speak. The chest cavity produces the resonation. We have two chambers, chest and head. There is a mix in between that is a combination of the two chambers. The “mix” is the most difficult to acquire. We use our chest voice each time we speak, and it’s the easiest voice to sing. Head voice is our upper range. We feel that resonance differently than we do chest voice. A singer who easily goes from chest to head, complete with mix, has a connected voice. There is no falsetto; just one voice from bottom to top.
- How do I know what key I sing in?
Most people sing in many keys, depending on the range of the song. There is no one particular key for all songs. You may sing one song in the key of C and another in F. It depends on the range of the singer, and the range of the song.
- What is the best age to start singing lessons?
There is no upper age limit. A person who is in her 70’s can learn to sing. If an 8 year old has a good attention span she can take voice lessons. Younger people seem to have fewer inhibitions, fewer “tends to’s,” and are more easily drawn into the mix of their voices. However, “young” could be 35 or older, depending on the student’s history. If one has abused the vocal cords for a long time, by yell singing and flipping into falsetto, it may take longer to get her into her mix. The idea is to take voice lessons, no matter your age, if your goal is to sing correctly.
- Should I learn to play an instrument?
It is always good to learn to play an instrument. Piano is probably the most helpful. But it is not absolutely necessary . You can become quite a good singer without learning an instrument or learning to read music. Playing an instrument helps students to understand the relationships between melody, chords, tempo, song structure. It also helps further develop a musical ear. I suggest piano or guitar lessons. These are instruments that are most frequently used to back up one’s own voice. Unlike horns, you can sing while playing piano or guitar.
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