How to Find an
Exceptional Singing Teacher
The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Singing Instructor
When you look for a singing teacher either online or in-person, sometimes it’s just quite hard to tell whether the instructor is professional and suited for you.
Which singing teacher should you ultimately choose? How can you tell if instructor A is more communicative and better at teaching than instructor B?
You should actively shop around and choose the best singing teacher for you because they may have a huge impact on your learning journey. Students learn a lot from watching and imitating the way teachers sing, think about music, level of vocal technique, expression and musical nature.
Table of Contents
Get an Expert Singing Teacher From the Start
- tailor your learning curriculum
- inspire a love of music
- motivate you to challenge and grow
- give constant, detailed feedback
Many singing students make mistakes by trying to start with an ordinary teacher who also charges less, and then switching to a more professional instructor. One thing to note in this shifting process is that you will likely experience confusion in learning, which might take some time for you to get rid of any bad habits.
Every singing teacher is unique and puts a different amount of emphasis in terms of lesson curriculum. Some voice teachers focus more on the technical side of singing whereas as some might tell you to focus on expressing music.
Meet your singing teacher, discuss goals and begin 1-on-1 instruction.
No contract or credit card necessary.
Check the Teacher's Educational Background
Degrees in Voice Performance
- Are you majored in voice performance?
- What was your concentration? Was it Classical, Jazz or Contemporary?
- Do you have at least a Bachelor’s degree in voice?
- Did you take any courses in pedagogy, music education, music theory or music history?
Competitions and Performance Experience
When finding a singing teacher, it’s best to see if the teacher has listed any performance related accomplishments in their resume or bio. This includes winning prizes from auditions for opera productions, competitions, recordings, international voice workshops and giving solo or tour performances.
The first thing you should do is to go to the voice teacher’s professional website and read their bio. If there are any live performance recordings updated, take time to watch them and see if you like the way the teacher sings and expresses music.
Your ideal singing teacher should at least put several descriptions of winning or participating in domestic or international productions such as broadway and opera. Their resume should also include summary of their performance experiences such as recitals, tours, summer festivals, masterclasses and public performances.
Teaching Experience in Singing
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Questions to Ask When Choosing a Singing Teacher
Once you’re done with narrowing down a number of potential singing teachers, the next step is to talk with the instructors. Here are some recommendations for questions to ask:
- How many voice students do you teach? What ages and levels?
- How do you build a lesson plan? Is your lesson curriculum personalized?
- Do you expect students to participate in recital, jury or competition?
- What are your practice expectations for beginners and advanced students?
- Do you use singing method books? If not, what music will students work on?
- How to do motivate students to practice singing and improve?
Take a Trial Lesson First
When contacting potential singing teachers, make sure to ask if they offer trial lessons. Taking a trial lesson will give you fresh insights on a couple of things:
- Does the teacher speak clearly and ask appropriate questions to the student? How does the teacher respond to the answers the student provided and vice versa?
- How does the instructor initiate and lead the singing lesson? Is the lesson engaging? How frequent does the teacher sing to demonstrate the technique to the student?
- What’s the teacher like? Happy, quiet or rather moody? Is the teacher likeable?
- How often does the teacher give feedback? Do they speak in a direct or indirect tone? Does the teacher pay enough attention to detail and correct the student? It’s also important to see how the student responds to the compliment and criticism.
- How does the instructor end the lesson? When the instructor gives assignments or homework, does the student leave the lesson clear on what to work on next?
Choosing the Right Singing Instructor After a Trial
Singing Lesson Costs
According to our recent singing lesson cost guide, the average cost is $35 for a half hour lesson. Live online singing lessons using video chats typically charge between $20-40 for a half hour lesson. Local private lessons averages $40 per half hour voice lesson, while in-person group lessons can cost $20 per a half hour lesson.
Flexible Scheduling
Your ideal singing instructor should offer a flexible scheduling and rescheduling option. Of course, it’s not a good sign when a teacher (or a student) cancels or reschedules lessons too often, but knowing the teacher offers a rescheduling option can be a plus.
Reviews
When finding a singing teacher online or in-person, you should always check and read the lesson reviews. If you’re particularly looking for an online singing lesson, you will notice the reviews left for the teacher profiles. If 8 or 9 out of 10 reviews are positive, that means the teacher is great and able to provide a quality singing lesson.
If you want to get in-person lesson recommendations, you can ask friends, neighbors or even find a singing teacher online and ask if they offer in-person lesson near you.
Contracts
Not many singing lesson providers require long term commitment or contracts these days, but you’d still want to make sure if there’s a contract required or not before setting up the first lesson. It’s also recommended for students to check the type of payment the teacher prefers and when to send the payment.
Need help with Finding a Potential Singing Instructor?
Lesson With You offers live online 1-on-1 singing lessons with the top singing instructors who earned at least Bachelor’s degrees from top music schools including Manhattan School of Music, University of Michigan, Indiana University, University of Toronto and Carnegie Mellon University.
The first trial lesson is FREE! No Contracts Ever.
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Rose Park
Rose Park is a graduate of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where she studied Piano Performance and Arts Administration, receiving both Bachelor's and Master's degrees before co-founding Lesson With You. As a pianist, Rose was a prizewinner in many international piano competitions and performed at various summer programs and festivals across the United States, Italy, and Japan.