When a New Singing Teacher Is In the Forecast

I remember a lesson that I had with a new voice student when I was still a new voice teacher at the music centre where I taught for the first couple years of my career. This particular students spent our entire time together complaining about how the studio space was smaller that that of her previous voice teacher, how the instruments playing in the adjacent lesson rooms were too distracting, and how my warm-up exercises were different from those that her former teacher had had her do. She repeatedly told me that she wouldn’t sing in front of me because she was too uncomfortable with how different things were, even after we had switched to sing the exercises that she was more accustomed to singing with her previous teacher. (As someone who was very self-conscious about my voice and extraordinarily nervous about singing in front of my first voice teacher, I empathized with her.)

Although she readily admitted that she struggled to hear pitch and quite often couldn’t find the correct stating notes for songs, she asserted that she needed no technique training whatsoever. She believed that she had already achieved her ideal tone, range, strength, and control, and felt that further technique instruction could offer her nothing of value and would be a waste of time. (This left me scratching my head and wondering why she was sitting in my teaching studio… until I determined that what she actually wanted was an accompanist to play the piano for her while she sang songs, uninterrupted by suggestions, advice, or technical or artistic direction. Ah.)

This teenage singer was resistant to change of any kind and refused to entertain the possibility that she may yet have things to learn from else and areas of her singing technique that still needed improvement if she was going to achieve her singing goals. Yet she nevertheless wished to resume taking voice lessons for her own enjoyment.

Your New Search

Maybe you haven’t been making steady progress with your current voice teacher and you don’t believe that your money and time are being well spent under his or her tutelage. Maybe you’re planning to come back from a break from lessons and desire a fresh start with a new teacher. Maybe you and your current teacher simply aren’t a good fit and don’t ‘click,’ either interpersonally or in terms of the method or approach that he or she teaches. Maybe your current teacher is taking a personal leave or is moving, but you know that you would benefit from continuing with one-on-one voice lessons.

Sometimes our goals change. Sometimes we move and staying with the same teacher is no longer possible, practical, or feasible. Sometimes, our current voice teacher has brought as far as he or she can and we need to experience a new approach or more advanced techniques. Whatever our reasons for seeking a new voice teacher, there is one important thing to remember:

Expect the unexpected.

Voice teachers have different training and educational backgrounds and unique teaching styles and have developed different strategies and exercises over their years of teaching experience. Not knowing exactly what to expect and not experiencing consistency from teacher to teacher might make us a bit uncomfortable at first. The good news is that every teacher also brings a unique set of skills and teaching style to the table and you be will be challenged in new ways to grow and develop as a vocal artist.

Change can be a good thing!

More than anything, a positive attitude, flexibility, and open-mindedness are gong to be imperative if you wish to have success at a new voice studio. As daunting and uncomfortable as change may seem and feel initially, if you walk into the initial meeting and lesson with your new teacher with an openness to trying new things and experimenting with a new approach, you’ll be more likely to benefit from the new experience. Instead of focusing on how the new instructor’s teaching style and method are different from what you’re used to, be positive and hopeful about the possibilities that a new set of ears and pair of eyes and a fresh approach could offer. Very often, trying a different approach unlocks our potential - a potential that has been inhibited by doing the same things in the same way from a long time.

It’s normal to be uncomfortable with change, and even to be frustrated by it at times. However, if a student of voice is resistant to change, a great deal of his or her energy and time will be wasted wishing and hoping (and even demanding) that he or she can find an exact clone of his or her previous singing teacher. Resistance to change can prove to be a significant hindrance to his or her growth and development as a singer.

It may take several lessons before you begin to feel comfortable with your new teacher, especially if you’re someone who is a bit self-conscious about your singing. There is always a learning curve when trying something new. You’ll fumble to learn new exercises and will need time to adjust to a new method or approach. But please give yourself sufficient time to transition, adjust, and benefit from the new teacher’s approach and expertise before making the determination that he or she is not a good fit for you and his or her methods are not working.

Change is inevitable. Change can be scary. But change is always a prerequisite to improvement. And if you embrace and welcome it, you might be pleasantly surprised by just how much you have to gain from it.