Singing is something that people of all ages and gender enjoy whether it is bathroom singing or singing in front of an audience. If you are looking for ways to improve your singing, voice lessons is the first place to start.
Whether it’s practicing voice lessons in your home or taking lessons one on one with a voice coach, you are sure to improve with some lessons.
How can voice lessons help you improve?
While it is common knowledge that practice makes perfect but in this case you have to be sure that it is the right kind of practice and that you are using your voice in the right way. Taking voice lessons is a way for you to channel your inner singer. By taking voice lessons in your home or even if you join a voice coaching academy, you will learn tons! Such as proper vocal techniques, appropriate posture, ways to breathe effectively during singing as well as carry a tune.
Learn to warm up
As a singer warming up your voice should be an integral part of your routine, much like athletes need to warm up. Learning how to warm up is one of the first basic voice lessons you will learn. Your coach will show you simple patterns to follow before you start singing, something that you can comfortably start practicing, ideally in the middle of your range
Training your Ear
There is more to voice training than singing. Unlike learning how to play instruments where you learn how to hit the correct button or key, training your voice and hitting the right notes is a lot harder. Training your ear is part of the first lessons your voice coach will teach you. By doing this you will be able to differentiate between hitting the note perfectly or if you are going over the range (sharp) or falling short of hitting the right note (flat). Once you are able to tell apart these fine differences you will also be able to replicate a tune perfectly. Some of the most common teaching practices that your voice coach will practice with you is to ask you to listen carefully while the teacher plays a tune or instrument and then asking you to replicate it to the best of your capabilities.
Exposure to Music
Almost everyone has their favorite genre of music and tend to stick to only their preferred choices. While this may be acceptable for a music lover or an enthusiast, it isn’t a wise decision for a singer. Different genre composes of a variety of tones and notes. In order to find out your hidden talents and abilities your voice coach will expose you to different genre and varieties of music which will help you decide which one is most ideal for and your voice capabilities.
Learning to read Music
Reading music is a crucial part of most music lessons. It is an ability sought out by most choirs and choral groups. Although most singers have gone on all their lives without learning how to read music, doesn’t mean you have to ignore this part of your music training as well. Being able to read music can help your further enhance your music skills as well as improve your singing capabilities. Learning how to read music will also help you in case you want to audition for music roles, as mostly in auditions you will given a music sheet and expected to read the notes of it easily.
What should you expect of your music teacher?
Now that we have discussed how voice lessons can help you improve, let us go into what you should expect of your music teacher or music coach?
One of the first things to look for is that you should feel comfortable and content with you teacher. Once you start taking voice coaching lessons you should be looking forward to your lessons and find them enjoyable as opposed to being tedious or something that has to be done.
Here are some of the ways you know you have found the right teacher and are on the right path to learning
- You feel good after taking a lesson
In addition to gaining more knowledge about the field of music, you should be able to take the teachers criticism positively as well. Your voice lesson should ideally be comprised of ample of singing, and receiving valuable feedback from your voice coach. Don’t shy away from asking your teacher if you have any doubts about the lessons, about the teacher’s way of teaching or even what is being taught. Any teacher that is true to their profession and honest with their student won’t hold back from telling you what you are doing wrong so try to take any criticism offered positively and make an effort to build up on it and improve your skills.
- Work with various vocal techniques and tools
Since you can’t actually see how your voice works or reacts, your teacher will help teach you with the aid of different vocal techniques and tools that will help you learn better, visualize the changes in your voice and improve on your notes. In order to do so, your teacher might provide you with some images, or tell you to visualize a situation or feeling, additionally your teacher will also give you different tunes or notes to listen to or replicate.
All these techniques are going to help you improve on your voice and make you a better and more superior singer.
Conclusion
While you may need a good six months to grasp the concept of music and reach your true singing potential, you will be able to see the difference in your voice in the very first few weeks. Keep practicing and enjoy the learning journey. Also it is pivotal that you understand that this is something that can’t be mastered in one day. Rather you will slowly learn and improve over a period of time.