Why the cheapest voice teacher is rarely the best choice.
Getting Value from Singing Lessons
When considering taking singing lessons, you’ve got to consider your goals.
What do you want to get out of your lessons?
Are you just playing around and any slight progress you make will be OK?
Or do you really want to test the water and see how good you can be?
A big part of the equation is the natural talent that you bring to the table; I won’t deny that.
If you believe that you have great ability, you’re going to want to attract a great coach.
However, you can’t be sure where you stand with regards to your natural ability without a professional evaluation of your voice.
Singing Training Is Like Athletic Training
Just like the old bodybuilding stories of the 98 lb. weakling who turned himself into a chiseled he-man, amazing things can happen when you put your mind, heart, and soul into it.
There are countless stories in the world of athletics of late bloomers who initially didn’t set the world on fire.
Michael Jordan comes to mind, along with countless others.
What does that have to do with singing, you ask?
Well, singing really is a quasi-athletic endeavor.
You are learning how to master very specific muscles in your body — and you deserve the best possible trainer for that task, no matter what your objectives are.
Why Price Should Not Be Your First Criterion
The tragedy that I see is that when students are shopping for voice teachers, the number one criterion on their list is price.
That is an ill-conceived strategy.
Voice lessons are a bit of a buyer-beware industry.
I don’t mean to scare you, but there is no regulation out there regarding teacher quality or training.
Anyone who wants to put out their shingle can say they are a voice teacher — and it’s up to you to sift through the lot and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Please hear this clearly:
The best teachers are not the cheapest.
It doesn’t work that way with any other product, so why would it work that way with singing lessons?
You get what you pay for.
The Hidden Cost of Cheap Lessons
There is one more important thing to consider for the bargain hunters.
In all my years in music education, what I see over and over again is that when students have scrimped on the amount they were willing to pay for singing lessons, it has cost them way more in the long run.
At best, they ended up being trained incorrectly and developed such bad habits that it took two to three times longer to untrain the bad habits and retrain the proper techniques.
At worst, they learned such poor techniques that they strained their voices or even developed nodes or nodules on their vocal cords.
This is the ultimate in being penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Investing in the Right Teacher
My recommendation is to remove money as the number one factor on your list.
If you can’t afford a great teacher right now, wait until you can.
Save up your money so that you can work with someone who can truly get you where you want to go.
The alternative is really disappointing.
Because I believe you have talent — or you wouldn’t have received that inner nudge to go do something about it and find those great singing lessons.
What I ask is that you seriously consider how valuable it really would be for you to train with the best.
And like I explained earlier, quite often the best ends up being more cost effective in the long run.
Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Voice Teacher
If you are comparing voice teachers, here are a few helpful questions to consider:
- What training or experience does the teacher have?
• Do they focus on healthy vocal technique?
• Can they explain how the voice works in a clear and understandable way?
• Do they provide structured exercises and feedback?
• Do their students show consistent improvement?
Taking the time to evaluate a teacher carefully can save you years of frustration and help you make steady progress toward your singing goals.