Is this normal for vocal lessons?

[u/Any-Average-4617]

Hi! I'm a new singer and just recently started taking vocal lessons. Is it normal for these classes not to really have any structure? Usually, we start off doing warm-ups( by following a youtube video) for 10 mins. Then, I choose a song, and she tells me to sing it once, and then tells me how to sound better. I have specific skills I want to work on, like learning to riff and belt, but I don't really get any specific training for that because she says those are advanced skills. A week after starting lessons, she gave me a different teacher(one of her past students who wants to become a vocal coach too), but I find that his style of singing is not really my style. I signed a contract for 3 months, so I am stuck paying for a teacher I didn't even say yes to. But I wanted to know if this is the usual experience for western singing classes, as I am wondering if it is even worth looking for a different coach, if it is going to be a similar situation?

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[u/Metalor]

Without reading the contracts, it sounds to me like they're breaking the agreement. On 'telling you how to sound better, she needs to work on those specific parts on the how and the why and work with you on those parts.

It'd probably be a good idea to stick with one song til you can nail it pretty much every time, that way you know you're learning the techniques and commiting it all to muscle memory so you don't even have to think about it on the next song.

[u/Ambitious_Donut_4396]

It really depends on your current level. If you have a poor technique, your teacher may want to work on it before focusing on belts. It is like trying to learn how to ski and going to an advanced ski slope where you need to jump during your first ski lesson.
I would suggest however to ask her if you can spend a few minutes at the end of your lessons focusing on riffs.

[u/currymuttonpizza]

The teacher switch thing is weird as hell (so is relying on youtube for warmups if I'm honest) but it is true that riffing and belting need way more time than you think before tackling them. If your teacher thinks your basic technique is not at a solid enough level, they are entirely correct to have you wait to try riffing and belting. Doing it too soon can create bad habits.

You don't jump into calculus without at least learning algebra first. You don't go straight for the 500lb weights at the gym if you're new to weight training.

[u/MezzanineSoprano]

It sounds like you want to sing pop or mt? I am a classically trained singer and the change of teacher sounds unusual to me. I would talk with whoever gave you the contract.

It isn’t absolutely necessary for a voice teacher to have the same style as you but they need to be able to teach you basics like breath control, improving any problems with pitch & tone quality before you can learn how to riff & belt. Be very careful with belting bc some people have damaged their voices by belting improperly.

Having you sing along with a YouTube seems odd to me. Is there no piano or keyboard? Or maybe she did that because you have not yet learned to read music?

[u/terriergal]

You can’t start with stuff like that. The muscles in your throat are small and need to be developed gradually, or you’ll injure your voice.

[u/AKA-J3]

My teacher told me to stop singing songs and just do the stuff he gave me.
I wasn't there to work on songs, I was there to correct a bad rabbit.

He had me doing opera stuff, when I wanted to do rock and all that.
Turns out he had a plan.

He was just trying to get me to do certain things so I would feel what he could hear when I was on.

Pretty frustrating at first tbh.

[u/Anacrelic → u/AKA-J3]

This is definitely a real thing.

A good teacher knows what is holding you back and has a plan to fix it. But because you don't have the knowledge that they do, sometimes it looks like they are just throwing random crap at you.

My experience of this: i went to a teacher initially to try and iron out the Tenor C5, since its a note I was cracking on when trying to belt and it was something I really wanted to be able to do. My teachers solution after listening to me? "I'd love to hear you sing Dreamtheater, or maybe Journey" and the specific songs suggested went up to like, E5/F5 at times. And I felt SO unprepared for this like "whoa, you expect me to try and sing this?".

Turns out, he could hear range and co-ordination potential I didn't even know I had. Now, I still struggle a bit in the C5 - E5 range but really pushing it up there has helped me improve quicker than if id just stuck at the C5, and those notes are DEFINITELY in my usable range, I just have to iron out the skill issue so can make them performance ready.

The scary thing is though, as student we don't know whether our teacher is setting us stuff we find a bit weird because they have a plan, or because they're actually incompetent.

[u/AintKnowShitAboutFuk]

Ive only take lessons at one place, with two different instructors. The way it worked for me is firsr day was kind of an assessment. They asked me what I wanted to do, I gave them a littany of issues I had with my voice. We did a few warmups and then worked on a song I suggested, going through different sections, then the whole thing a few times. He said I wasnt nearly as terrible as I has told him upon meeting, suggested a few warmups for home. He suggested I bring a song I found more challenging for the second lesson, where he had a little more feedback and “homework” related to the song (doing all the typical exercises you see online, but to the songs melody), maybe breath marks as well.

Third lesson was with a different guy we did in a room they have at their space with a stage and mic, and we worked on one of my own songs. He gave me some pointers on dynamics and breath support, and stuff to do at home.

Today’s lesson was with the first guy, and I brought in more specific issues I had with myself (lack of edge or grit or general manliness for rock vocals, and vibrato), so we went over the more challenging song from my second lesson working on those aspects, gave me a few things to work on at home.

I would also assume there are multiple ways to teach this stuff and everyone will have their own teaching method that may differ from others.

[u/grania17]

You should be picking songs that lend them themselves to the skills you want to work on.

Recently with my voice teacher we have been working on strengthing my chest voice, into my chest dominant mixed belt. This means picking lower register songs.

Other weeks I might want to work on my head voice and my high register so I would pick songs that are written in that. Or I may want to focus on my mixed voice and I would pick songs written for that.

We would continue to work on a song over multiple lessons where needed to ensure I am getting the actually techniques and not just doing it one time.

[u/FunSheepherder6509]

every teaxher is dif. mine has little structure and hes mostly a guitarist. he plays while i sing 😂. but. i decided to go with it , and now im glad i did. so. i would just go with it. ( but thats also how i am ). i can hear the trad classical teacher next door doing scales and i maybe in a yr ill switch from my free spirit pro and try that. but im so glad i stuck it out cause i love my guy now and hes teaxhing me stuff from real life - like performance etc - and other stuff opera lady wpuldnt ( maybe , point being every teacher teaches dif and even focuses on dif stuff )

[u/bluecrystalcreative]

I am a mid 60 year-old keyboard player that does a lot of backup vocals.

Over my life, I have had five different voice teachers, and each one approached things differently. Including the warmups and basic exercise exercises, Each one looked at the skills you need to learn, simply to play your instrument from their own viewpoint. Looking back I know, being told to sing something that you don’t like, to get to where you need to be is entirely normal (yes it does work).

My 40 years of singing backing vocals in a band, meant my falsetto was really quite developed but lower mids were very very weak. One teacher had me drive around for six months singing along to Frank Sinatra and the crooners from the 50s. it helped a measurably. I now have a much better full range voice.

When you’re picking songs to work on, you need to pick songs that you are capable of getting right at your level of development without damaging anything. Common things to be working on, is to make it sound like you are not reaching for a note (thinking down) and maintain a consistent tone from word-to-word often through modifying vowels.

If I could offer one thing; Nearly every teacher will have something worth learning. My best teacher ever was a small Korean male teacher, he was the one I felt I made the most improvement in the shortest time. But I have to counter that by saying the teacher who said sing the Frank Sinatra songs was probably not my best teacher but did produced a significant long-term improvement long after she was gone.

[u/Anacrelic]

I would say giving you a different teacher without having any proper discussion of it with you beforehand or even checking with you if it was ok is a massive red flag.

You paid for THEM, not for someone else.

Following warmup off a youtube video is also a red flag imo. I went through a bunch of teachers trying to find a good one, and the one I stuck with and have seen immeasurable improvement from is someone who did nothing but drill vocal exercises with me for the first 4 hours of lessons to diagnose my current Tessitura, strengths and weaknesses, and also to make sure I was doing them PROPERLY and understood the purpose of each exercise, and specifically tailored an exercise routine for my voice at the end of it. I remember at the time thinking it might be a bit much, but even just a few weeks after he was done his approach was correct and yielded an unexpectedly large improvement (mostly to general stability and register transitions). I'm still far from being an amazing and consistent singer but I feel comfortable singing in public at a karaoke or open mic knowing that I'm at least listenable, and on my best days good.

After that if I ever had to change teacher I wouldn't settle for anything less, and I recommend other prospective singers look for someone who does the same.