Question 1

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

This is for teen and adult singers who want honest, positive and constructive guidance about their voice. If you want to have full control of your voice and are willing to follow the guidance, you can make real progress. The destination is vocal mastery. 
How you want to use it is up to you, whether it is for a college audition, competition, leading worship music, singing in a band, getting better at karaoke nights, preparing for your opera career, getting your voice back in shape after studying and then having kids, or surprising your spouse with a serenade, it's up to you. Confidence comes from reliable vocal coordination. It's like riding a bike: once you know how to balance, you can take it wherever you want.

Question 2

Am I too old to improve my voice?

Accepted Answer

Age itself isn't a reason you can't improve your voice. Your overall vocal and respiratory health matters more. If you are struggling to breathe, you will struggle to sing. Otherwise, you can absolutely train your voice. For a more in-depth answer, check out this blog post.

Question 3

I think I'm tone-deaf. Can I still learn to sing?

Accepted Answer

The short answer is that if you struggle to hear or match pitch, you can absolutely learn to sing. I have helped many singers who couldn't match pitch. It requires being willing to train your hearing with exercises at home daily for a few minutes. The brain prioritizes what is asked of it repeatedly.
If you are truly tone-deaf, I really want to meet you. It is exceedingly rare, so rare that in my decades of teaching, I have never met a truly tone-deaf person.
I have, however, met plenty of people who were told by a close adult, a parent, teacher, or even a sibling, some form of “sing more quietly,” “you can't carry a tune,” or “I think you're tone-deaf” between the ages of 4 and 12. It can have a remarkably strong impact on the psyche.
One of the first things I teach people in a trial lesson is how the voice is designed to work. It responds to very clear instructions from the brain. If the instruction you took on board in childhood was “I can't sing” or “I can't carry a tune,” then you may approach singing with that instruction already firmly in place. In our lessons we will work to undo this instruction and replace it.
Think back on your childhood. See if you can identify such a sentence in your memory.
Hearing can be trained. To see how the brain actually builds new skills, you can also check this blog post.

Question 4

Do I need to be able to read sheet music to start?

Accepted Answer

No. I can teach you. I also have some good resources that will allow you to practice reading music at home so we can focus on singing during the lesson.That said, I do want my students to come with printed sheet music and learn how to read it. Music is a language, and thanks to the Italian monk Guido d'Arezzo, we have a system for writing down the melodies we create and then reinterpreting them over and over.Just like learning any new language, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to read it.

Question 5

What if I'm nervous singing in front of someone?

Accepted Answer

It depends. You do not need to be outgoing or confident to take voice lessons, but you do need to be willing to experiment with your voice. Learning to sing involves testing what your voice can do, making some weird sounds, getting things wrong, and trying again.
Singing is a proprioceptive art. We learn partly by feeling what is happening inside the body and connecting those sensations to the sounds we hear. In order to develop that awareness, you have to be willing to use your voice fully.Think of it like learning to play baseball. You can't really learn to hit if you never feel the weight of the bat or only practice with someone gently lobbing the ball toward you. At some point, you have to swing.
I am an energetic, enthusiastic teacher, and that is a great fit for some personalities and not for others. A trial lesson gives us both a chance to see whether you feel comfortable enough with me to experiment, make mistakes, and learn.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions

Who is this for?

Am I too old to improve my voice?

I think I'm tone-deaf. Can I still learn to sing?

Do I need to be able to read sheet music to start?

What if I'm nervous singing in front of someone?