When you start singing lessons, it can be difficult to figure out which song you want to sing first, especially if you aren’t aware of your voice type, or what style you’d prefer to practice. These are choices that are solidified as you progress in your lessons, but at first, it can be difficult to pinpoint.
Picture it. You’re in the car for a long road trip, or you have to entertain your children for hours on end until you reach your destination. One of the best options for making time pass is to sing along to some well-known songs and put on your own in-car concert.
The most important part of learning to sing is learning how to properly warm up your voice. For children, warm-ups can seem and be a really boring part of their voice lesson. As a voice teacher, it can be beneficial to make the vocal exercises fun and engaging for kids so that they are more likely to participate actively.
If you have been studying voice, or spent time around other vocalists, you may have heard them refer to their “book”. This book refers to a singer’s repertoire. What a singer chooses to study and perform is hugely important. It frames your identity as an artist and the way you are presented to your audiences.
Ready for your next audition? Going on your first audition? Losing sleep over said audition? Here are some tips from Alexia, one of NYC’s top voice teachers to help you out!
I can’t count the number of times a student has told me, “I can’t sing with vibrato, I’m a pop singer;” or “I can’t sing an aria, I’m a musical theatre singer.”
Admittedly, I was once a victim of this kind of thinking. I would say, “I can’t belt, I’m a legit singer.”
How Adjusting Your Voice Can Completely Change It’s Quality and Sound
Most seasoned singers know that warming up is one of the most important tools to keep a voice healthy and maintain your tone. Vocal Timbre, or as it is described as the quality of that tone utilizing complex overtones, or sound waves, is that unique “something” that gives color and personality to your voice, and how it is recognized.
Think you can’t sing? I disagree.
If you struggle to carry a tune, chances are you aren’t tone deaf, but that some part of your voice is just a bit out of whack. Your voice is an incredibly complex system that requires all its parts to be in balance to function smoothly.
While there are many reasons to start voice lessons, a stronger instrument isn’t the only thing you’ll leave the room with every week. At any age, the added benefits of developing your singing instrument are numerous, but I’ll start you with 5 things you will also be learning while attending your voice lessons.
Kiyan T.
Music to Your Home is proud to work with the best, brightest and coolest musicians in NYC so we’ve been picking their brains about music lessons. The latest interview was with Kiyan T., who took the time out of his busy schedule consisting of teaching, recording and performing to answer these 10 important questions every parent considering singing lessons for their child should know.
1) What advice would you give to parents who are considering getting vocal lessons for their children?
Kiyan: Make sure to speak with the child beforehand to see what they’re into as far as genre, or what they see for themselves musically, in conjunction with your own opinion. This way, you can know what you’re looking for in a teacher.
2) Why do you think vocal lessons have become so popular over the past few years?
Kiyan: Thats a large question! I think there’s a large correlation to singing and the high-glam pop star image that technology permeates into media. Its important to remember that singing is art, technical, and requires an instrument (the human body) to be understood and mastered, with plenty of love and passion!
3) What is the right age for a child to start singing lessons?
Kiyan: I would say no younger than 7. Maybe an unusually intuitive 6 year old?
4) How much daily practice time does it take to become a great singer?
Kiyan: I don’t think a “daily” regiment is the answer. You need to love singing, and feel that natural inclination to express through this medium, in order to have the desire to practice enough to become “great”, however many hours that takes.
5) Are vocal warmups important? If so what are you favorite to do?
Kiyan: Honestly, I talk so much that by the time I have to sing, the voice is already warm. I enjoy warm ups in minor keys that feel like musical lines. This gets the ear going, as well as a sense of carving out a phrase.
6) Do you think having a piano at a vocal lesson is important?
Kiyan: It makes it much easier, yes, but I have done Skype lessons without a piano for many years without a hitch.
7) What do you love about teaching voice lessons?
Kiyan: I love that, in my self-centric life as a recording artist, I get to take all of my musical faculties and apply them to another person. Its a rewarding balance of ego for me in the sense that while on my time, I will ask you to think of music the same way I do (visually, kinesthetically, emotionally), which leads to so much growth. I often find my approach just catches people off guard in how absolutely simple it is.
8) What was your most memorable teaching experience?
Kiyan: I was in college, and I had a student come to me completely unable to match pitch. I’m talking: I play middle C, and he sings the F# two octaves below. After two or three months, I said “listen, I don’t know if this is going to work. I’m starting to feel bad taking money from you when I can’t even get a single note out of you.” He wouldn’t have it, and insisted that we continue. It was only after research on overtones from the piano as opposed to the human voice did I realize that all I had to do was use my voice as reference. I had him doing a major scale, in solfege, up and down, and unaccompanied in two weeks. What a huge triumph this was!
9) When and where was your most memorable performance?
Kiyan: My first solo show in New York was a highlight for me.
10) Who are the singers that have inspired you?
Kiyan: Too many to list, but: Patti LaBelle, Beyoncé, and Edita Gruberova.
Kiyan T. is available in NYC for voice & piano lessons. Contact us today to schedule yours!
