Let's Start at the Very Beginning: The First Voice Lesson

I give a disclaimer every time I have a new student come to me. I start by telling them that I don’t like first lessons, because I like to have a plan and there can be no plan for a first lesson other than figuring out where to start. This usually involves a lot of questions like “tell me about your goals,” that make me feel like some sort of hokey life coach. But I persevere through these moments to be able to get to the work I actually like to do. There have been times when I have had students fill out a questionnaire beforehand or setup a fifteen minute mini lesson as a trial to get some of the more annoying things out of the way, but that is not always feasible depending on the situation I am teaching in. However I see a student for the first time my approach is different depending on whether the student is a vocalist or an instrumentalist, so those will be split into two separate posts. Here is what I do with voice students.

I usually have at least a sense of age and skill level before the student even comes to me. If the student is young enough that their voice hasn’t changed, usually under the age of twelve, I explain that I don’t do full voice lessons. I do what might be called general music lessons with an emphasis on musical reading and concepts, a healthy dose of piano, and some basic voice work. This sets up a foundation of being a good musician before a good vocalist. There are all sorts of philosophies behind teaching young voice students, which people have literally written books about. This is the one I have arrived at personally. With these students I generally jump in pretty quickly with some light warm-ups and introductions to the piano. I will do the usual “why do you want voice lessons” sort of questions, but since they are typically beginners there isn’t usually too much to ask.

With older students, I inquire about their singing history; what styles they’ve sung, any choral experience, what solo experience, etc. I ask if they have any idea what they would like to work on, to help guide where I might take them. I will ask some questions to determine their level of music reading. I am always sure to mention that I’m not throwing them anything to make them feel dumb, I just want to know what they know. So if the answer to everything is “I don’t know” that is perfectly fine. I will always ask if they play any other instruments, because that can be helpful for comparative purposes. If they play a wind instrument for example, they may already have a good handle on their breath. Once we get through the question and answer session I will have them sing.

I always start with a warmup sequence to assess how they sing. I check for what kind of breaths they’re taking and how they support the sound. I listen for where they place the sound and how much space they have in their resonating chambers. I see how good they are at matching pitch. I will give some instructions occasionally, but mostly I just listen to see what I am working with. This is also when I give disclaimer number two. I know that I have a face that I can’t always control, and that my piano skills can be questionable. I tell them that if I make a face it is at something I have done, if I don’t like what they are doing I will tell them. This came from a lesson where I made a high school soprano cry because I made a face at something I messed up while playing. She kept singing, I just looked up to see slow tears rolling down her face. So I communicate that now. It’s always helpful to be aware of your own idiosyncrasies as a teacher.

After a few warmups I usually have them turn away from the keyboard and play a few notes to assess their ear a bit more. I start by simply playing a pitch and having them match it. The initial warmups will tell me a lot about their ability to match pitch. If I get the sense that is shaky for whatever reason, I will skip this part, rather than make them try to match pitches they are likely to miss. A first lesson is not the place to cause a crisis of confidence. If I have a sense that they have relatively good pitch I might give them notes out of their octave and tell them to match it in their own. If they do well matching single pitches I will play two notes in various intervals for them. As long as they continue matching decently well I will go up to a series of four notes.

Throughout the process I will take copious notes on the quality of their sound and technique. I will ask any other questions that occur and add it to the list from earlier. At this point I will have them sing anything they have brought prepared for me. Not everyone does, but it happens on occasion. From there I allow the rest of the time to flow fairly organically, working on basic technique work mostly, or perhaps talking about the piece they prepared.

I will set up the expectations for how I usually do lessons and then send them on their way, promising to have a plan ready for them for the next lesson. I think that communication throughout the process is key. I always make it clear that I get as much information as I can about where the student currently is. Sometimes they will see my list of notes and think that there is a lot “wrong” with them. I try to head this off as much as I can. I tell every student that so much of voice training is just about noticing your own tendencies and getting out of the way. The first lessons is all about setting up the student for growth and success.