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

Getting the right vocal coach is essential. The right coach will help you to achieve more than you ever thought possible but unfortunately ‘bad’ coaches are a genuine problem and, worst case scenario, can actually damage your voice. A singing teacher should always have at least basic knowledge of how the larynx and vocal chords work and how to address common vocal problems with this in mind. Lessons should not be glorified karaoke sessions where you simply do some warm ups and then sing for half an hour but should instead be sessions working specifically on improving your singing with bespoke vocal exercises and a well chosen repertoire. Here is what to ask any potential teacher- including myself- if you are thinking of taking the next step (good for you).

“Do you teach people at my level?”

The needs of a beginner and a professional voice user are very different. I have witnessed world class coaches lose their patience with beginners as they’re used to dealing with a certain sort of clientele.

• Someone working with a beginner should have the patience of a saint and an honest enjoyment of the process
• Intermediates and above need someone who knows their way around the larynx otherwise the training is a waste of time and money
• Professionals need someone very experienced and confident who isn’t intimidated by working with advanced students

“Do you teach the genre of music I want to sing?”

Whether you want to learn pop, rock, musical theatre, rap or opera your singing teacher must must MUST allow you to make your own creative choices. Do not accept ‘I teach ALL genres’ as an answer. Technically speaking voices do work the same but if you want to sing, for instance, rock songs and the teacher is more used to singing Gilbert and Sullivan Showtunes it is very unlikely you will get your needs met. In the same way, if a teacher is more comfortable with modern genres they probably won’t be the best person to teach you opera. Your teacher should be able to suggest material within your genre of choice but never impose it.

If your genre of choice happens to be rock or metal then it is doubly important to ensure that they are teaching safe, sustainable singing methods or you will lose your voice faster than you can say Metallica. Make sure they are teaching safe distortion which should never be painful and is not the same as constriction i.e. dragging your chest voice so high that it sounds like distortion. Also be sure that you are not shouting your way through higher notes.

“What are the principles of your teaching methods? How will you deal with my specific vocal problem?”

The sort of things you DO want to hear:

• Singing should be easy, comfortable and sustainable
• Vocal problems will be diagnosed and corrected with a bespoke set of exercises, a lot like how a personal trainer works with clients
• Sessions are recorded so you can improve outside of lessons
• Lessons will show you how to navigate your bridges easily, safely and sustainably
• Even though you will feel an improvement straight away, there are no quick fixes and you must be prepared to put in a great deal of passion and dedication in order to improve at the optimum rate
• Interpretation (putting emotion into a song) will be worked on alongside technique

Also, if you are equally as keen to work on your performance skills as you are on technique, make sure that this is offered as the average coach almost always focuses on technique. Unless you are already a confident performer or have no desire to perform, make sure this service is offered.

The sort of things you do NOT want to hear:

• Anything about lots of breathing exercises- very outdated technique and no modern singing techniques use them very much
• Anything about singing from the diaphragm- physically impossible and only useful as a visualisation exercise at best
• Anchoring or supporting the voice by tensing any muscles or using core strength- it really isn’t necessary and can encourage strain
• Any promises of quick fixes- even though you should be able to feel an improvement from the first lesson, it will take time to ingrain those changes into how you sing permanently
• Anything about how Singing should feel like lifting a weight, the higher the note the heavier the weight- terrible advice which is actually dangerous if listened to

Also, be wary of teachers using lots of big words you don’t understand without an immediate and understandable explanation as to what they mean TO YOU. Do not be seduced by charismatic individuals who use long ‘science-y’ words unless they can back them up by showing you an improvement in your voice from Session One. For instance I could try to impress a client by saying ‘Ah yes, your vocathyroid glands are restricting the necessary airflow from your larangael tract muscle in order to produce a sustained, even true fold sob quality’ with so much authority and conviction that one would be forgiven for assuming that they simply aren’t knowledgeable enough to understand me…but that I sure know my stuff! Well, the truth is that I just made all that up and that most of the terms aren’t even real words. Of course i am not saying that a teacher would deliberately make up words to impress you, only that they could use complicated lanuage to make an impression and still not necessarily understand exactly how your equipment works or what is right for you and may win your trust nonetheless unless you are on your toes.

*One more thing that is a bit controversial and you will need to make up your own mind about by doing your own research is my negative view of The Estill Method which is often inaccurately described as the ‘industry standard.’ To my knowledge The Estill Method has damaged more voices than it has helped including my own so please use caution and skepticism when engaging with an Estill Method teacher as much of what they did to my own voice were impressive quick  fixes rather than sustainable techniques. That said, you absolutely must make up your own mind as there are some who swear by it and I may have just been unlucky.

“What are your qualifications?”

This is the most complicated section as, in my experience, subscribing to a certain technique and swearing by it can be dangerous. Therefore, ‘qualifications’ can be as much of a blessing as a curse. The reason I do not have any specific qualifications in singing is that too often in the past I have held as gospel the teachings of whatever style I had committed myself to at my detriment and, it shames me to admit, the detriment of my students as an extension.

• I have had teachers with degrees in music who have been a joy to train with and clearly have learned a lot from brilliant individuals and have a lot of useful wisdom to pass along.
• I have had teachers with degrees in music who teach methods that are (and this is fact, not just my opinion) totally wrong such as ‘singing from the diaphragm’ because it is what they were taught and they’ve never questioned it.

Therefore a qualification in music or performance is no guarantee that they are the right teacher for you, nor a reliable way to tell that they know their stuff.

• I know of very experienced, busy professional singers who teach whose methods are reliable and have an excellent track record of successful students.
• I know of very experienced, busy professional singers who teach who haven’t a clue what they’re doing.

Therefore a wealth of practical experience is no guarantee that they are the right teacher for you, nor is it a reliable way to tell that they know their stuff.

• I have had respected teachers who are qualified to teach a certain established method (and charge the earth) who have done wonders for my voice and, in some cases, rescued my poorly voice in time for an important gig against the odds.
• I have had respected teachers who are qualified to teach a certain established method (and charge the earth) seduce me with charisma and big words who have wrecked my voice.

Therefore a qualification in an established teaching method is no guarantee that they are the right teacher for you, nor a reliable way to tell that they know their stuff.

The only exception I can think of here is Speech Level Singing as I’ve never encountered a qualified SLS teacher who teaches damaging technique- and as someone who has no affiliation with SLS I have no ulterior motive for saying so. However, due to past experiences of subscribing to a certain method to my detriment my advice is still to always question whether or not you are improving and learning sustainable technique.

Some final points

• Good teachers never exercise their own ego at your expense and are never mean or cruel. Ever. You should never feel intimidated or criticized by your coach. Someone who gets a kick from being in a position of authority or, worse, from imposing that authority is the worst kind of teacher.
• A good coach finds a way of giving honest critique and correcting mistakes without making you uncomfortable.You need to like your teacher and find lessons with him or her fun, rewarding and something to look forward to. So much of singing is simply about being relaxed and creative and to do that you will need to feel that you have a safe space in which to practise with a teacher who believes in you.

In Conclusion

There is much to consider when choosing the right coach for you. Here is my summary:

1. Make sure the teacher understands you, your goals and your musical style.
2. Ask questions about how he or she will deal with your vocal problem. Can they answer in a language you can understand?
3. Make sure that their teaching methods come down to singing safely and sustainably. If they’re encouraging shouting, belting or using lots of breath their technique could even be damaging to the voice.
4. When it comes to experience and qualifications, keep an open mind when finding the right coach for you and, if you’re convinced that they could really teach you something worth knowing, give them a shot. If after the first lesson you feel a marked improvement, while bearing in mind the above advice regarding big words and quick fixes, stick with them.
5. A good teacher makes lessons fun, rewarding and something to look forward to. They provide a safe environment where you can work on your craft without fear of criticism or ridicule.
6. A good teacher believes in you even when you don’t.

Hope you have found this helpful. The best of luck on your musical adventure!

Olivia. xxx

By Olivia Hyde, Professional singer and coach

The average person seems to think that singing is some kind of wizardry. It is something that only the lucky minority can do. It is a talent you either have or have not. People often believe that you can develop the existing skill but only if you have some ability to begin with.

Saying ‘I’ll never be able to sing because I’m tone deaf’ is like saying ‘I’ll never be my ideal weight’ or ‘I’ll never be able to quit smoking.’ Sure, if you are twenty stones over your ideal weight and smoke sixty a day you are further from those goals than someone who is just a couple of stones heavier than they would like and someone who only smokes at weekends… but the goals are still 100% possible. It’s just going to be harder and take longer. And, just like with Singing, success or failure will have more to do with you and your outlook than what is merely physically do-able.

Can ANYONE learn how to sing? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that it depends on how badly you want to learn as there is no magic wand you can wave that will remove the need for a great deal of time and energy. Nor is there a pill you can take which will dissolve the self doubt that is usually the main obstacle where beginners’ progress is concerned. Nevertheless, it can be done.

Singing is just like any other skill in the world. There are individuals who are born with almost freak-like natural abilities in their chosen field but, the vast majority of the time, ‘talent’ comes down to two things: passion and dedication. Singers and musicians are often described as gifted but in fact their particular gift has almost certainly been very much earned.

They have trained in the same way as a dancer, athlete or doctor etc. has.

When somebody says that they are ‘tone deaf’ it normally means that they find it hard to hit the right notes and that, even if they do, they sound terrible. This normally comes down to a few basic things which, put very simply, are:

•  Nervousness or lack of confidence which leads to either a laboured vocal quality (shouting) or the individual ‘holding back’ (singing too quietly) resulting in a breathy, strained sound. In both cases you get a tight, constricted larynx and it’s more or less impossible to sound good.
• The belief that higher notes are harder and therefore require more effort which, unless you are belting (which in my experience isn’t safe to do consistently), is not the case.
• Not understanding how to properly navigate the three different passages in the voice- often referred to as chest, mix and head. A trained singer knows how to safely and easily move through these sections whereas the average singer, without guidance, may try to drag up chest voice (very much like an extension of speech) to where it is dangerous and unsustainable or drag their higher voice so low that they are barely audible and sound breathy.
• Over breathing due to being previously taught flawed, outdated singing techniques. Suffice to say that there are only a handful of evidence based singing techniques with any kind of successful track record and they all agree on one thing: that support, range and power have very little to do with using lots of breath and that breathing exercises are generally a waste of time.
• Being afraid to connect with the song (and therefore the audience) and truly perform.

The good news is that any teacher worth their salt knows exactly how to deal with all these problems and more. Although you won’t put anything right overnight anymore than you could learn how to be a ballerina in just a few days,  you will see an improvement straightaway as long as you practise often. With the before mentioned passion and dedication, you could amaze yourself.

Like so many things in life, the real key to learning a new skill is self belief. As Henry Ford said: ‘Whether you think you can or can’t…you are right.’ If you believe you can learn to sing and are willing to do whatever it takes to improve then you are closer to achieving more than you thought possible than someone with more natural skill but no self belief or enthusiasm.

So, if you genuinely want to learn how to sing, here is what you will need:

1. A very experienced and knowledgeable singing teacher who:

• Understands how the larynx works
• Understands you and your goal whether that be to sing a song in tune or to perform onstage with your own band
• Records your lessons so that you can improve outside of sessions. It is absolutely vital that you are given the means to train as much as possible on your own.
• Is able to suggest material but never imposes their personal tastes
• Is familiar with your genre of choice
• Is experienced in working with beginners- whose needs are entirely different from those of a busy professional singer
• Can sing really, really, REALLY well

I have written another article called Finding Your Vocal Coach which can be read here.

2. Time and patience.

The first time you do something, anything in fact, you have to do it consciously. In other words you have to engage your brain and concentrate. Eventually though, the pattern becomes stored in your subconscious and becomes a program that your brain can perform automatically. Learning to drive, working out how to use a new phone, cooking a new recipe and literally just about anything you’ve ever done demonstrate this in action. Singing is no different. Your coach will give you exercises to get your larynx working in a safe, effective way and you are literally programming your vocal chords and larynx to sing with power and precision. It doesn’t happen overnight but the more often you spend ‘programming’ your voice in this way the quicker you will notice results.

You should be practising for an absolute minimum of four hours a week or accept that you are not going to improve at your optimum rate.

3. A genuine passion for music.

Nobody cares if you can hit all the right notes if we don’t believe that you’re singing from your heart and soul. Whether the song you’re performing is about feeling like jumping for joy because life is amazing or feeling like crying because someone has broken your heart…we have got to believe you.

This of course can be a pretty daunting task. Let’s face it: singing in front of a bunch of strangers with absolute sincerity about hopes, fears,  desires etc. is scary stuff.

• ‘What if they don’t ‘get’ me?
• ‘What if I act confidently and then make a mistake?’
• ‘What if what I’m singing about is personal to me and my vulnerability shows?’
• ‘What if they’re mean? Surely it’s a much more prudent plan to keep my guard up at least a little?’

The irony is that most people are afraid to really perform a song because, on some level, they are afraid of the listener’s rejection and yet this beautiful connection is what audiences crave more than anything else including flawless technique.

I suggest you listen to your favourite singer and even watch videos of them performing after reading this article. You will notice that while your favourite performer can hit all the notes, it’s the passion and sincerity with which they hit them that makes them so captivating.

For more on interpretation please read my article on Interpretation, Delivery and Performance.

Last but not least…

4. A kind attitude towards yourself.

For the average reader, this will be the hardest part of all. Chances are, if you are someone who has read this article because they would love to be able to sing but are not sure that it is possible for them, you’re own lack of self confidence will be your biggest obstacle. You are not alone. Even the biggest artists in the world happily admit to being insecure sometimes and feel that this adds to what they do rather than detracts from it because it makes them better at understanding emotion and empathising with their audiences. So don’t worry about your baggage- just use it to be a better singer and performer rather than let it stop you doing something you want to do.

It takes a great deal of courage to take on a new challenge such as learning to sing. Remember that courage is not absence of fear but the overcoming of it. If a challenge feels frightening do not worry. You’re probably scared because you’re doing something out of your comfort zone and this is a wonderful thing.

Climbing a ladder is fun if it’s resting against the right wall. Set a goal that gets you excited but then think about it in terms of ‘steps.’ Rather than think along the lines of ‘I want to learn to sing and perform with confidence but I can’t imagine being able to do so’ think instead ‘I want to sing and perform with confidence…what is my first step?’ As Martin Luther King once said: ‘You don’t have to see the whole staircase…just take the first step.’

So, to summarise…

The answer to the title question is yes, anyone can learn how to sing. We all have the necessary equipment. The common mistakes people make such as shouting, using too much breath etc. can be put right with tried and tested vocal exercises; pitch and musicality in general can be learned and issues with nervousness and confidence can be overcome. But in order to be the best singer you can be you will need to not only work on your technique but on yourself too…which is altogether more daunting but even more rewarding.