So what exactly do you do in singing lessons? Depending on who which teacher you work with and what your needs are as a singer. You may perform vocal exercises, learn scales, work on tone, and improve posture. Ultimately, it’s all about making you sound better. But let’s outline what a typical lesson often looks like.
A Quick Catch Up
The relationship between the teacher and student is very important. The more connected they are, they more the student will work for their voice teacher. Also, it’s good for the teacher to understand what the client practiced last week, and how that went so that they can answer any questions and adjust the lesson accordingly.
Vocal Exercises
In most lessons, the singing begins with vocal warm ups. We start lessons with exercises because it helps you carve a path of right singing. The purpose of these warm ups could be improving breathing, tone, sustaining, pitch, transitioning through bridges, etc.
Some people do the same warm ups each time, but I’d argue a solid vocal coach will adapt the warm up to help build up the students weaknesses. Once you get done with your warm up, it’s time to move onto your song.
Practicing Scales
Singing scales are a common way to improve your vocal technique and range. These simple exercises work by forcing your vocal cords to engage various muscles, such as the larynx and throat, to produce a range of pitches.
They also help singers develop a keener ear, allowing them to better discern subtle differences in pitch. Listed below are some tips for learning and practicing scales in singing lessons.
Time to Sing a Song
Once you’ve got some good habits worked into your voice through warm ups, it’s time to start applying that into a song. Often times, this will be the second half of the lesson.
While working on a song, your teacher will often focus on things like connection, tone quality, vibrato, style, and more. It’s all about making you sound as good as possible. Depending on what type of music you sing, you may also work on stage performance as well.
Working on each of these elements help you build up your talent and find consistency in your voice, making you a more confident singer.