Survival for Singers

Make sure your teacher or coach is a good fit

Just because you pay someone for a lesson or coaching, doesn’t always mean you are getting good information.

We all need a vocal check-up regularly. Whether it’s every week while in school to every month when you’ve graduated, to every few months as a working professional.  These vocal tune-ups are essential. Many singers are stuck with an unhealthy instructor situation and stall out in terms of progress, or start to develop unhealthy and damaging habits.

As a working professional or a student, you will most likely be working regularly with a coach as well to prepare roles, address stylistic components, fine-tune language and diction elements, and prepare for auditions.

There is an old saying floating around in the business which says “those who can’t do, teach.” The sentiment suggests that if someone is not an active performer, they’ve gone to hide behind teaching to make a living in the field in which they have trained, but in which they are not “legitimately” working. This is simply not true.  

There are gifted teachers and gifted performers everywhere. Often in the most unlikely places. There are also a number of individuals who are gifted at both teaching and singing, but they tend to be rare.

There is another group of teachers and coaches who do not know what they are doing but are excellent at marketing, branding and promoting.  They make a fantastic living selling themselves and watered-down or just plain bad information to those who don’t know any better.  They are not good teachers, but excellent salesmen.  

How do you know if what you’re getting is good information? Here are a few things to consider.

• Does the instructor or coach say virtually the same thing to every student they work with no matter what?    Every coach or teacher will have their favorite things to talk about, but if it’s the same lesson with every student every time, that’s cause for concern.
• Does the instructor or coach explain or demonstrate the entire time, or do they allow you to demonstrate the issues you are having?
• Is the instructor or coach abnormally cheap or expensive for the current lesson or coaching rate in your area?
• Are you getting different results or feedback when you audition after a few months or years of work with your teacher or coach? 
• Do you have concrete concepts or suggestions to implement after the lesson, or is the info mainly generic ideas, anecdotes, and thoughts.
• Assuming you have invested yourself fully in the lesson content and have genuinely tried to implement the information, does your singing feel any easier or
  healthier?
• Is everything an absolute? “THIS is the way you fix that, go do that until it works,” or are you able to explore multiple solutions to see which feel best?  Quick fix, one concept teaching is dangerous.
• Does everything you are doing need to be “fixed” no
  matter what? There’s a good chance you’re on the right track with at least one or two foundational components so if every single thing is deemed “broken,” it might be a cause for concern. Or, you may just be a horrible singer and might consider a career in sword swallowing or eating fire. 🙂 

Singers, what do you look for in a teacher? What horror stories have you had? Advice for those searching for a good instructor?

Some extremely active performers are truly excellent teachers as well and can be very affordable, but again, rare. They teach because they love to teach, help young singers, and pass on the knowledge that was so critical to their success.  In many cases, they would rather the student have a lesson than charge what they are worth in the form of a rate so high that the student can’t afford to study at all.  It’s a sacrifice on the part of the teacher,  no question. Sometimes the price is just high,  and one has to understand that you are paying for all of the experience, knowledge, and lessons learned in that high-priced lesson.  Sometimes, it’s worth it, sometimes it’s not.  Trial and error is often the only way to find out.  

Others charge an exorbitant amount for lessons to hide the fact that there is little content in the instruction. The student assumes that if he or she is paying that much, it has to be good information, period. Students often dismiss a lack of progress, frustration with the instruction process, or little or no improvement in the singing.  They tend to blame themselves rather than wonder if they are paying too much money for bad information or a teacher/student situation that’s simply not a good fit. Not all teachers will work for everyone. 

Just because an instructor doesn’t work for you, doesn’t mean that he or she is not a good instructor. It may just be that they are not a great fit for you. Even if the teacher has a laundry list of “all-star” students, it doesn’t mean that their method will work for you. Some teachers fill their studios with excellent singers simply because they had one superstar early on, which may have had nothing to do with that teacher but everything to do with natural talent and ability of the singer.  After that,  everyone assumes that’s the only place to go for good instruction or that if one studies with a certain teacher, gigs will immediately come.  Still others find themselves in a situation where a certain teacher is the only choice in an area, and it doesn’t really matter if the teaching is good or bad, they are the only show in town.  

Just as earning a Doctorate doesn’t mean that you can teach, those without an academic degree are often incredible instructors.

I will not even begin to pretend to know how to perfectly assess potential instructors. The comments here are based my own experience, the experience of my friends and colleagues, and the experiences of my students both before and after they come to study with me. As I have mentioned before, some of you may have very different opinions or methods for addressing this topic.

My advice when looking for a good coach or instructor?

• Ask around first.  Go to the Universities.  Don’t go online.  The online marketing machines are powerful and effective.  Vocal study involves individual assessment, it is not an amazon purchase based on reviews.  People will be able to communicate truthfully and honestly what experience they have had with their teacher in person. 
• After you get a few recommendations, then go online for more. Scout out the prospects you already have online, and decide on a few.  
• Ask the local opera company which local artists they have used in their productions or who they recommend locally.
• See if the symphony in your region hires locals. Are those individuals teachers in the area as well?
• Who do the local high school choral directors recommend?
• Do you hear the same name recommended multiple times? Go take a sample lesson.  Most likely you’ll have to pay even for even a sample lesson, but it’s worth it.  Sometimes you can also observe a friend’s lesson but many teachers are understandably hesitant to let someone come in, observe all the material and never pay for a lesson. This is, after all, the way they make a living.  This shouldn’t raise any red flags, it’s just business. 
• Once you have singled out a few possible instructors, record your lessons.  Video is best but audio is better than nothing. Implement the information as best you can. You will have to be “all in” with the content presented, to test it and see if it works for you. If you immediately dismiss it or are skeptical and only partially invest, you won’t be able to adequately assess its efficacy.
• Take at least 2 to 3 lessons to best assess the situation. Spread the lessons out over a few weeks or months to give yourself enough time to implement the content. Keep a detailed record of the content you cover in lessons. Do the suggestions feel healthy? Sustainable?
• Those of you in academia.  You have an extra challenge as your teacher is assigned to you or you have only had limited contact with him or her before choosing to attend your school.  Keep an open dialogue with your teacher.  Don’t just check out if things are not working.  You have a responsibility to speak with them.  A strong student/teacher relationship takes time to cultivate and takes a great deal of trust.  Let your teacher know what you feel isn’t working or what you feel you need.  If you don’t speak up, there’s only so much a teacher can assess without that level of honesty and dialogue.  So many bumpy teacher/student relationships have been saved by good communication and trusting your instructor enough to confide in them about your concerns. Don’t be afraid to speak with the area or department head as well if that is not your instructor.  Often this person can help to fix whatever may not be working, or will at least be aware of the situation. 

To sum it all up:

There are many world-class teachers who have never had a career. In addition, many singers have had enviable careers but are horrible teachers. Don’t trust the stereotypes, be skeptical of hype and remember, if it works, it works, no matter where you find your instructor.

You only get one voice. As Matthew Epstein is fond of saying, you must be your own board of directors.  I would add CEO, COO, marketing director and head of quality control and product placement (among other things). No one will care for your voice as much as you, and you owe it to yourself to find the right fit in a coach and vocal instructor. Don’t settle for a situation that is less than ideal.