Finding a voice teacher for yourself or your child is not hard. In Northwest Arkansas, there are hundreds listed on Google. From private-home studios to in-school teachers to ‘institutions’ with imposing names like ACADEMY, CONSERVATORY, and a Community Music School at UARK, the flagship state university. The difficulty is in finding the right teacher.
Among my colleagues and competitors, everybody is using the same lingo in their promotions; we all speak of: Singing techniques for beginners, How to improve your singing voice, Vocal warm-up exercises, Voice training for public speaking, Singing in different genres, Breath control for singing, Vocal health and hygiene, Voice projection techniques, Tips for hitting high notes, Singing with emotion and expression, etc.
What you need to do is clarify who you are in terms of your expectations.
Do you want
1. -fun and easy lessons to support your high school musical or choir experience?
2. -serious expert training to gain professional-level results?
The two are not mutually exclusive but you will need to look at your level of commitment to pursue the second option. Bel Canto training is fun and satisfying some parts are easy but everyone has to work at it. My student roster includes professional and amateur opera singers, numerous current and recent college and conservatory voice students, and high school students just beginning to explore Bel Canto singing. Most learned to read music in the choir, and I encourage them to continue if their daily singing routine includes their classical technique and repertoire studies. The adjunct teachers provided in most high schools are well-versed in the current choir repertoire and they adequately ‘coach up’ individual choir members in short one-to-one sessions. For singers who want to compete in Regional or All-State choirs, I recommend the summer choir camps which are also economical and prepare students well while reinforcing the ‘team spirit’ so vital to any choir. There are social and musical benefits to belonging to any ensemble and I encourage my singers to participate in choirs if they are comfortable there.
Why Study Bel Canto?
Bel Canto is to the vocal arts, what Ballet is to dance. You can sing or dance without it, but the foundational training makes all your work better and will extend your flexibility and the longevity of your instrument/body. Bel Canto is Training. It is not just learning songs or undisciplined ‘Free Expression” There is only one comprehensive method of singing. That is the Italian School of the Second Bel-Canto. This is the synthetic term it’s not a noun in Italian, but it refers to the style of singing that grew out of baroque opera into the common style of singing in opera today. When you hear Luciano Pavarotti or Rene Fleming, you hear the Bel Canto technique. Characterized by; a beautiful tone, duh, penetrating focus, equalized registers, and the art of effortless mastery Italians call Sprezzatura. Opera stars Pavarotti and Fleming used the same basic technique to sing Jazz and Popular music. Tony Bennet, Judy Garland, Mahalia Jackson, and Whitney Houston arguably applied Bel Canto with sprezzatura, in their glory years.
How can you compare voice teachers?
To comprehensively read a voice teacher’s resume it helps to know a little about the singing profession. Classical singers in The United States attend Universities or Conservatories where they take voice and diction lessons for four or six years and might be conferred a Master of Voice in Singing. If they have done all the extracurricular study necessary to be engaged in operas, they will sing one to five roles in opera houses and consider themselves professional singers. Typically, they hit their career ceilings at regional companies or manage to get a role or two at the Metropolitan Opera, where they are considered stars and can use that experience for decades to generate further income in academia. When I studied a Juilliard, I couldn’t get as much as an audition for an agent despite winning international contests and singing leads in AOC- the American Opera Center, then, Juilliard's top opera -talent showcase. It’s now JOC- The Juilliard Opera Center.
My resume includes top schools but more importantly European/ German repertory experience.
I lived as an opera singer for 25 years in Europe, rehearsing every day and performing every night with professional singers, and orchestras. I highly encourage opera singers to go to Germany to learn their profession. Half the opera world is in Germany, the rest is distributed across the globe. German has a national-scale, professional theater system where you can enjoy repertory contracts and grow through city regional, state, and national theaters. You can hear great singers in Detroit and Dallas, but American ‘instant opera’ does not qualitatively compare to Germany. There is no substitute for seven weeks of rehearsal before a premiere. Even the Metropolitan Opera cannot afford that luxury. Great production values are small compensation for stars' unmotivated wanderings over vast scenes, ignoring their colleagues onstage, and giving their stock musical interpretations. If I see on a resume that a singer has absolved years in a German house, I know they’ve survived the grueling work of singing not two times the roles listed but likely fifteen to thirty performances while at the same time preparing up to sixteen operas a year. opera production and the mental toughness needed in the profession.
It's easy to fact-check for example here’s a remnant from my work in Germany. Sites like Operabase offer some up-to-date information on recent singers and their work. A quick search using my stage name, Theodor Carlson found this fragmentary snapshot of the years 2004-2009 in my career.
Since I went professional in 1988 it’s more difficult to find earlier evidence, but I offer anyone who’s interested documentary reviews and photos, and so should other prospective teachers.
Some American Professors cite pay-to-play experience on their resume as ‘performed X role in X city.’ Watch out for that listed on a ‘professional resume.’ There are pay-to-sing opera houses in the US and Italy that give students valuable experience in complete roles, and sometimes good classes. A pay-to-sing is the opera version of choir camp. go to Austria, Germany, or Italy, spend a few weeks with like-minded Americans touring and hanging out, and put that This obliterates the cultural and language benefit and often you can google the town only to find there is no opera house or professional company in that community. A pay-to-play is fun if, you can afford it but, not on the radar of opera professionals. Universities are another kind of P-T-P opera singing but, having taught Opera Theater at a ‘flagship state university’ comparing my Juilliard and Michigan experience, the gap between elite schools and typical schools is huge.
Producing academic opera requires a total commitment from university choirs, orchestras, and voice faculty. Any school incapable of presenting La Boheme or Magic Flute without a full choir and orchestra shouldn’t claim to train opera singers. And as such it will not attract or serve first-class singers.
So, my bias is for teachers who are complete artists, with verifiable professional experience.
Read carefully through the hyperbole, then consider a trial lesson.
What to Expect in the First Lesson
What should you expect in a trial lesson? When I was thirteen my voice changed overnight from alto to deep bass. I was continuously singing in Choirs and Musicals so my mother concerned that I might overtax my voice looked for a teacher. I knew of one who coached most of the local Broadway-style singers. As fate would have it, she was too busy and wouldn’t take a freshman boy. (Girls can get results faster as teens) I remember my mom’s embarrassed attempt to interview my eventual teacher. She was answering more questions than she was asking. Sitting by my mom and I was already learning from this phone conversation.
The teacher asked, when did the voice change? Was it stable, did it crack under stress? Did I read novels, Poetry? Would I like to sing Italian songs? And this I’ll never forget mom turned to me and asked me to stick out my tongue and roll it lengthwise. When she was asked if I spoke any foreign languages I almost broke in desperately to say I watched “Hogan’s Heros”. Finally, Mom hung up and announced that I had a trial lesson scheduled for the next week.
I don’t remember that first lesson with Mrs. Hilbish, I was too nervous. It was the beginning of an intense four-year relationship that determined my life’s direction. I loved my teacher who seemed to come from another world. In her studio, I learned Italian songs chosen to progressively develop both technique and musicianship. German songs (Lieder) that connect my voice to my deepest emotions and a few English Songs to learn to apply my Italian technique to my native language.
Every first lesson should include an interview. You have to establish trust and a safe environment for any singer, especially the young ones. I want to know the singer's entire singing and acting resume, academic level, and level of athleticism. I talk about my own experience and the values I observe in art and life to gauge their dedication to art and music.
I like to demonstrate singing Jazz and Broadway music with the Bel Canto technique. This instantly vanquishes any prejudice against the ‘operatic’ tone. There is only time for a short overview of my method so I demonstrate a breathing exercise as a ‘freebie’ that they can use whether or not they continue lessons.
Then I teach a first vocalization to assess the student's voice and learning potential and establish a common vocabulary to build on later. I require that a parent be present and involved in the lesson.
‘Dress me slowly, I’m in a hurry’ – Napoleon Bonaparte
I finish the first lesson with studio rules sometimes a written contract to take and read. I never push for a commitment. My lessons are not cheap; I want prospective students to shop around and decide how they value my work in the marketplace. I usually get a commitment immediately, but I still encourage comparison, because I require a serious attitude and time commitment.
When it’s done, I almost always hope to see the family again. I bond quickly with people and I’m instinctively drawn to kids who show interest in what I love. They feel my passion for singing. If I have communicated my expertise, joy, and teaching skill I remember Napoleon and appreciate the deliberation of adults and smart kids.
Like my first teacher I ask everyone to stick out their tongue and roll it lengthwise. Why?
Come for a trial lesson and find out!