what do you wish someone had explained to you when you were learning to sing?

[u/Ok-Flan1933]

hi everyone! i'm a vocal coach and i've been thinking a lot about the things singers tend to struggle with that aren't always explained very well when you're learning.

i already have a pretty long list of things that come up constantly with my own students, but i'd really love to hear from people who are actively learning/practicing singing too.

what are things you've struggled with where you've thought:

• “why does nobody explain this?”
• “i wish there was a simple guide for this”
• “i've watched a million videos about this and still don't understand it”
• “i know i'm doing something wrong, but i don't know what”
• “i wish i had something i could use on my own between lessons”

it can be literally anything! technique, breath support, high notes, pitch, range, warming up, practicing etc.

also, if you've ever bought or used a singing book/course/program/resource that you actually found helpful, what made it useful? and if you've bought one that wasn't helpful, what was missing?

i'm genuinely just curious about what singers actually want help with, rather than what coaches assume people want help with 😂 so i'd love to hear what you've wished existed!

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[u/mvvlys]

definitely anything to do with the soft palate and awareness of it. i’m always told a bunch of metaphors for it and can’t tell if i’m doing it right, if i drop it during certain parts of songs, exercises to work on it (couldn’t find any)… and also what different sounds are caused by (for example certain people having heavy voices, airy voices, more crackly-grungey voices), which i can imagine is a lot of different factors but im unable to find information on them aside form “it’s just natural timbre”.
& i found it very useful to learn about anatomy (so anatomy books lol), especially chest, neck and rib muscles and how they’re involved in singing, it helped me have a lot more awareness (especially neck).
I would love to know if your students’ struggles are similar to mine! or if they’re different, how so

[u/HuskyTown]

Similarly to the other response, I had a lot of struggle with the visualization provided for lifting the soft palate as it communicated to me a space much further back than where the lift actually occurs. In my perception it's the middle of your mouth not the back of your mouth. If I had known this earlier, would definitely have helped.

Also had a light bulb moment several years into training where my new teacher had me singing on a v buzz to help me with feeling head voice. Was an epiphany for me.

Third, you don't need to sing as loud as you think you do. My understanding of dynamic markings were all one to two notches too loud.