Thinking of Voice Lessons?

Taking lessons and choosing a teacher can be overwhelming, especially in a huge city like Los Angeles. As a teacher and a voice student for life, here are a few tips to choosing a teacher and taking the leap.

1. Location: I suggest choosing a teacher no more than 30 minutes away. When you have a drive to a lesson, it’s easy to use the drive time to get in some extra practice. But if it’s too far, the drive will get old.
2. Practicing: Do you have a place and time to practice? A good rule of thumb is to practice a minimum of two times the length of your lesson time. Are you comfortable singing at your home and where your housemates might hear you? Becoming comfortable with singing in front of people is usually part of voice lessons, so you can think of it as a positive. As long as you sing during normal hours, it is about as loud as a televisions and there’s a good chance your neighbors won’t ever hear you.
3. In-person or video lessons: If you are looking that focus on ear training, musicianship, and basic vocal techniques, video lessons with the correct audio setup will work well. However, if you are wanting more in depth pedagogy and technique, in-person lessons work best.
4. Try several teachers: Unless you immediately fall in love with a teacher, I would try 3 different teachers. Every teacher has their own teaching style and things they tend to focus on; vowel shape, support, diction, breath, or posture.
5. Commit to 6 Months if Possible: If you are in the beginning of your vocal training journey, I would try your best for regularity, weekly if possible. My recommendation is to commit to 6 months. Over my teaching career, I’ve noticed there are peaks and valleys when taking lessons. Students have a boost of knowledge and growth usually for the first two months, then there’s often a lull and some frustrations around 9-12 weeks. This happens because at this point, the student knows what they want to accomplish, but isn’t usually able to achieve it yet. It’s very common for students to quit after 3 months. If a student can get past this hump, they will have another burst of growth around 5 months.
6. Consistency: Try to pick 6 months where you aren’t going to be gone for several weeks and will not be extra stressed. Consistency will build upon itself. The voice is a muscle and it will take repetition and muscle memory to lock in new technique.
7. Be easy on your growth: Learning a new skills takes time. I’ve found adults and kids can learn about the same speed. The thing that kids are able to do is not be critical of themselves and more readily accept where they are at. It’s a good lesson for adults, who often criticize their process and growth. Doing that actually slows their growth and creates tension in the voice.

Scofield Studio is currently taking in-person students on Mondays at the Santa Monica location. Click here to contact Jocelyn.