Voice teacher

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A voice teacher is a professional who gives instruction in the art of singing. This generally involves training in breath control and support, proper tone production, pitch control and musical intonation, proper formation of vowels and consonants as well as clarity of words, attentiveness to musical notation and phrasing, and the learning of songs. The voice teacher might operate in a private studio or be affiliated with a college or university faculty.

Students usually start vocal instruction after their voices have settled in later teen years. However, more mature and experienced individuals can usually benefit from vocal instruction. At this point it is often referred to as coaching. Here repertoire or musical literature takes on greater importance and the voice teacher coaches the student through the challenges that particular compositions offer, often in different languages.

A voice teacher is skilled in helping the student sing with a full, open voice unaided by a microphone, but is familiar with the proper use of public address equipment for singing (technology available since the 1920s). Likewise the voice teacher knows well the difference between classical bel canto singing versus the styles of popular music singing.

Part of the job of any voice teacher is to know a student’s vocal characteristics sufficiently well to classify the individual as a soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. There are different situations encountered by the voice teacher, for example, an alto that really is a soprano; a tenor that is more correctly a baritone; a woman who sings tenor but is more properly an alto, etc.

The voice teacher often is an accomplished piano player and takes the student through a variety of vocal exercises to perfect a particular feature of the student’s voice. Often the teacher resorts to different kinds of imagery to help the student accomplish a particular goal.

Voice teachers may be qualified in various ways. Often they are graduates of college or university music departments at the bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral levels. They may have had solo stage experience, perhaps in radio and television, in recitals, oratorios, operas, operettas, or musical theater. Sometimes a voice teacher is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing or NATS.