‘A good singer is someone who never stops learning’ Seth Riggs, Master Teacher often described as ‘the best coach in the world.’
As a professional singer and singing teacher it often comes as a surprise to fellow musicians, teachers and students alike that I still have regular lessons and training. Singing lessons are just for people who cannot sing, right? Absolutely, totally wrong. My teacher also has a teacher… and my teacher’s teacher has a teacher who has taught Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Ozzy Osbourne and Josh Groban to name but a few. I sincerely tell my students that they should be incredibly worried if I didn’t continue training because I was under the false and rather arrogant belief that I already somehow knew everything there could be to know.
The truth is that every single person who books a singing lesson wants just one thing: an improvement from where they currently stand.
This not only goes for beginners who wish to learn how to hold a tune and intermediates trying to smooth breaks or generally improve their vocal skills. Professional singers, whose voices need to survive busy performance schedules, must learn how to sustain their voices and sing safely. After all, nobody cares how loudly you can belt or how well you can distort your voice if you have to cancel the show due to vocal fatigue.
For someone who simply wants to learn how to sing better, a vocal coach is a luxury. For a busy singer such as:
- The lead vocalist in a band
- Someone performing on stage at The West End
- An established covers or tribute act
- A studio session singer
- Someone who wants to become any of the above
…it is nothing short of a necessity.
Could your voice get through three or four performances in a row? What about seven performances a week? For three months? Sometimes using, especially if you’re in a band, cheap equipment that means you cannot hear yourself properly? While you have a cold?
It absolutely can be done, and of course IS done, by thousands of professional singers every single day…but only with a little help from their coach.
If you sing for a living or have any ambition to sing for a living, a voice coach is essential.
If you are reluctant to believe this please consider that every singer you have ever heard of most definitely has a voice coach. There may be the odd exception but, across the board, professional singers always have the professional help their voice deserves…and sometimes they still have problems, a recent example being Adele who had a vocal hemorrhage earlier this year. If you think I’m trying to use scare tactics then you’d be right…but only with the best intentions. As a singer I understand what your voice means to you and I know how devastated you would be if it were damaged. The amount of students I have seen who have only come to see me once the damage has been done is heartbreaking when one considers how easily it could have been prevented.
The biggest culprits are:
- Shouting your way through the passages in the voice
- Using too much breath
- Singing either too aggressively or too quietly
- Singing or speaking with a high larynx
- Trying to sing in ‘belt’ voice or use distortion without knowing how to do it properly (and even then most expert teachers will say it isn’t safe to do sustainably but more on that in a future article).
So, I have made my case and now it is up to you to do whatever you feel is right for you and your voice. If you do decide to find a coach you must be aware of what to look for, what questions to ask and how to decide whether or not to continue training with him or her. I have written ‘How Do I Find The Right Vocal Coach For Me?’ in order to guide you through the process.
Sincerely, Olivia Hyde x