I would love to be able to teaching singing in the future but I am looking for advice on the best way to get the background to do this. I am doing grade 7 piano, hopefully grade 8 next year, I have grade 6 theory and am currently doing a Diploma in music. I have about 25+ years experience of singing in choirs and after a long gap have taken up singing lessons again. I hope to take grade exams next year.

Is there a course out there that would be especially helpful in teaching me how to teach voice? Or at 40+ am I too old to start changing careers into singing?

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks

Elizabeth

Firstly; You are never too old!!

Secondly, I believe you are already 'qualified'. These are just my opinions but there is a wide scale of different vocal and singing coaches out there. Many of whom have not studied voice or singing. One teacher I know of is a pianist but has had years of experience singing her self (something which you can't be taught from letures and diagrams) she has a natural ability and loves singing with a passion. She is a Bmus grad. Another lady who is equally as brilliant actually studied voice - not just singing - scientifically and has written many well published books. But apart from teaching many a 'famous' person (and being able to charge more!) I felt no difference in my lessons technically.
I do not know my self of any specific 'Singing teacher' qualifications - other than taking Dip. ABRSM teaching (voice) or one of the higher Dip's. But no doubt someone on here will. Yes, a complete novice can actually damage the voice but you are a musician with well rounded experience so if you are confident you have your techniques and teaching plan in place then go for it! Start off small and see how you feel. Your confidence will soon build I'm sure.
Good luck!

First of all I want to say that you are not too old for a career change. I wish you the best of luck.
I think that your best solution would be to take on three pupils, not absolute beginners, under the watchful eye of your own singing teacher at first. The reason for this will become clear when you read the diploms syllabus. There is a huge amount to learn about the voice apart from how to sing songs well as I expect you know. I don't know what your standard of singing is of course, but I would advise trying for a dipL.CM first. You need a grade five theory to be able to do this but you have that already. Although this is the AB forum they seem perfectly happy for us to recommend other boards, bless them. Then you can work towards the ALCM in teaching (classical singing) and then the LLCM teaching dip. That would give you a very good grounding in many things to do with teaching. You would need to prepare recitals for these exams, analyse pieces, write essays about teaching methods etc, give presentations, pass viva exams etc and then you will have a very good idea of what it takes to teach voice. Choral singing is very useful but solo singing and a couple of diploma exams in teaching will be your best bet I think. There are others here who will tell you that diplomas do not people into make better teachers but I don't agree. I think that they show that you possess the skills necessary to do a decent job. Your piano skills will stand you in good stead also. It is not essential to be competent at the piano but it is very useful and if you are able to play during lessons and it will save you the trouble of having to find accompanists for grade exams in the future.
Your other alternative would be to enroll as a full time music college student. Again you are not too old for this and it would give you a really good all-round musical education. I DO believe that experience is not everything and that there is a huge amount that you can be taught by lectures and diagrams! Sorry Jay77
You don't say what diploma you are taking. I may have suggested one that you have plans to take already.

Hiya

I'm a career changer: I used to be a Chartered Accountant but I couldn't handle the excitement any longer so I quit and became a musician

The first thing you need to do is to get cracking on your own singing lessons. You need to start understanding how your voice works before you can start helping someone else understand this.

I'd also suggest starting to read round the subject - books on teaching such as Paul Harris's "Improve your teaching", books on vocal technique - I found Louis Bachner's "Dynamic Singing" and Gillyanne Kayes's "Singing and the Actor" useful, maybe some related stuff on Alexander Technique or suchlike. And start trying out as many different songs in as wide a range of genres as you can, because the wider your knowledge of repertoire is, the more material you'll have to offer to your future pupils.

When I started teaching, I had my grade 8 and ATCL diploma in singing, and was about to take my LTCL. I had the backing of my own singing teacher, who has always allowed me to consult on any issues I worry about in my own teaching. His support is probably the most important aspect of my whole development.

I would recommend doing an initial teaching diploma. I did the DipABRSM, and found it beneficial not only in terms of developing my teaching ideas and skills, but also in helping me address my own technique and understanding of singing. Perhaps paradoxically, I am a better performer because of my teaching diploma.

Best of luck with your future plans. Enjoy your own singing and enjoy teaching when the time comes.

I only believed I was qualified to teach singing when I had my BA in music and had studied music performance as a subsid. to musicology, taken a course in Vocal Physiology and basic linguistics, and studied Languages for Singers too.

However I teach Piano and Oboe based on the fact that they were instruments I took as second studies, and also had the benefit of attending masterclasses, and performance workshops where my contempoararies were playing which is another method of gaining a trememdous amount of experience. One of the best "piano lessons" I ever received was as a page-turner in a masterclass, because I was so close to the Pianist taking the class, I could absorb what he was teaching my friend.

I am now trying to broaden my portfolio to the Recorder, but until I have my Grade 8, which I hope I will get in the next year I won't.

However like you I have gained a lot of musical experience, and that counts for a lot.

Get your first level diploma and you will be amply qualified, then continue to have lessons yourself with a teacher in your area who can teach diploma level pupils.

Not at all! I was only going by my own experience of receiving lessons, and like wise I agree you can learn a heck of a lot obviously, I just meant experience counts too

I just wouldn't feel comfortable teaching without some kind of formal diploma and teaching training. I'm planning to take G8 and then DipABRSM before seriously setting myself up to teach. Obviously, I may take on one or two pupils as part of my training.

Since you've not taken any grades in singing at all, I'd probably suggest you get through your G8 at least just to make sure you're really competant before you make a final decision on the teaching. If it's still what you want to do, discuss it with your teacher. S/he'll know your voice and your abilities as a potential teacher better than any of us do, and will be able to recommend the best way forward.

As a student, I have to say the letters after a teacher's name is definitely something I look for before booking a trial lesson, just like I'd go to a qualified driving instructor or counsellor. It's reassurance that the teacher knows what they're doing. Even if it doesn't mean much in improving your skills, taking a diploma might well have an effect on the level of work you attract, and how much you can charge! After all, getting paid decently is important

Great advice from everyone on here.

I did the change last year from University Professor to full time musician and singing teacher, so I know what you're planning - it's hard work, but so rewarding.

I agree that working under your own teacher for a while is a great idea and avoid beginners for a while.

I would add that not enough singing teachers are properly versed in vocal anatomy and therefore end up using daft imagery like 'imagine you have a hot potato in the back of your throat' which tells the student precisely nothing - a good knowledge of vocal anatomy, what's in there, what impact it has on sound, how to control it voluntarily, will change the way you think about singing and make you a better teacher for it. It's fascinating stuff, too!

One last bit of advice, you obviously must be able to sing well (students may well ask you to sing for them before deciding if they want to be your student), you must be able to teach well (not at all the same skill) and most importantly if you want to make a living, you must know how to market yourself - how are you going to set yourself apart from the competition and make students come to you, for example.

Good luck with the career change, enjoy !

Allan

Thanks for your replies - there is some really sound advice here. In response to your replies:

I have already started to read Gillyanne Kaye's book but will certainly follow up on the others mentioned. My Diploma is the OU one and I am looking towards doing a practice based one too, when the time comes. I am already a University Lecturer so I do have a teaching qualification plus 14 years experience of teaching, plus I do quite a bit of voluntary work with children so I am comfortable interacting with different age groups, but I do not have a teaching qualification that that focuses on music so i will look at that too. There seem to be several options and I know that some of these are offered in my area.

It would sound then as if I am on the right track, I just need to keep going with what I am doing, especially the singing grades - I hope to do Grade 6 soon so I am aware that I have a bit to go before I am ready to teach but it's always good to ask around to see what paths others have taken and what they themselves recommend ....... Thanks again!

Elizabeth

If I were a parent or an adult looking for a teacher I would want someone with paper qualifications in that subject. I know that there are those who say that they know great teachers who do not have a single diploma to their name and that may well be so but I would like to see some proof that the teacher is a competent performer and well versed in teaching skills rather than rely on anything else. If you want to teach go get the highest qualifications that you can and then you really can tell prospective students that you know what you are doing. It really isn't good to say that you have passed such and such a grade (!) but are far better than that now of course! Get a second opinion on your own abilities in the form of a teaching dip in your chosen subject(s) first.
This isn't directed at the original poster but at anybody who plans to teach, especially singing.

... although sometimes it is good to be able to use both imagery and anatomy

Some students respond well to all sorts of imagery while they just look at you in complete disbelief if you talk about a tilted larynx or the function of the cricothyroid muscle.

Although I completely agree that the teacher should know about vocal anatomy - but if they necessarily talk about it to the student is a completely different matter, because it might actually cause confusion.
In many cases, the hot potato-image might even work better than saying "raise your soft palate", because the latter doesn't say HOW, while a strong image usually evokes a physical reaction. But it really very much depends on the student and the type of learner they are.

To the OP: You are never too old. What you really need is a sound knowledge of what you plan to do, a good vocal technique and an absolute love for teaching. It is not a second best solution for people who did not make it as singers themselves (sometimes you hear the nasty sentence "The ones who can't do it teach"), but a real vocation. It is mentally and physically exhausting, but so rewarding, and I wouldn't want to do anything else. But you have to come a long way.
Although I have paper qualifications myself, I still say that they are not the most important thing (although a teaching course will probably be very helpful). But I would start off under supervision of a good teacher ...

Oh I agree totally Mezzo - I was gunning at the teachers who ONLY use imagery because they don't know about vocal anatomy. There's no problem with imagery if you know what said imagery is meant to do inside the person's body - for example, when I teach the beginnings of the thyroid tilt, I often tell the student to imagine they are whining or crying whilst they sing the scale - a quick check with the fingers (and the ears, of course) tells me that they're crying correctly and that the cartilage has tilted forward correctly.

My problem is with those teachers who do this kind of thing without knowing that it's meant to move something, therefore they don't know if the student is doing it wrong and so they assume that if they're crying they're doing it right, but there are many ways to cry and only one of them moves the right cartiglage.

Imagery plus vocal anatomy knowledge is a great approach!

Yes, I agree. I know there are good and bad teachers out there with and without diplomas. But none of my post grade 8 students would know enough about TEACHING singing to be able to start up themselves. OK they can sing to grade 8 standard, but they wouldn't have a clue how to help others with problems they themselves have never encountered, or how to deal with different voice types, young or changing voices. Very often we teachers have to think on our feet. I frequently come across a challenge I've never met before, or which doesn't respond to my normal method.
So I say, start teaching with the help of your own teacher as a mentor, and take some lessons from him/her about teaching - why we do certain exercises, how to help someone with a nasally tone, for example. And ask to sit in on his/her lessons, with the student's permission, of course. You can discuss afterwards what problems there were and how to get around them, why certain things were a priority, etc.

It's the ability to think on your feet and find other ways of explaining things that is vital. I've been teaching small groups of E2L students as part of a summer school for the last few weeks, the last group were all Russians, so my metaphor for opening mouths changed from London to Edinburgh to The Black Sea to Murmansk. Their fragile object was a faberge egg. When trying to get them to relate to favourite things, the things that came out were Borscht and Blinis. Being aware of the culture (having visited Russia) was very useful. It was those little things that made a huge difference.

Some of my pupils want the physiology lesson, others just want the imagery. As I start lessons with a physical warm up based on Yoga and Pilates to free up the neck and get people to engage their lateral abdomina muscles and breathe properly, I explained everything. I also use this warm up before going into technical exercises.

I also needed the ability to identify each voice so I could praise the correct student. When one was having problems, I made sure I did not humilate them in front of the group, as they all had a good ear and knew whn it was them.

In individual lessons there cannot be one method. How your pupil is feeling, their age, background, personality type and alsorts of other factors influence how they learn.

To be a good teacher you need to be able to tune in to that as well as know your subject inside out.

Absolutely, Jod - but I'm sure that you'd agree that when you use imagery, you do so knowing full well what the imagery is meant to produce physically - even if you don't tell the student what's happening, you know yourself what it's meant to do.

I'm the same, I've studied vocal anatomy in depth in both of my careers up to now, when I teach I rarely talk about it, but I know what I'm making happen inside the student and therefore can identify whether it's actually happened or not.

Some teachers use imagery with no idea of what's meant to be happening and this can be potentially harmful - at best it can stop progress (which is probably why many teachers have students that get nowhere - frequently they blame the lack of talent or ability in these students of course) and at worst damage the voice.


Even if we don't talk about it, to be a good voice teacher, you need to know it. Then you adapt how you go about making it happen to the individual learning style, but imagery alone is obviously a very bad way to teach singing.

You'd be astonished how many teachers here in France do not know what the cricoid cartilage is or how it can be used in formant production - it's worrying!

Firstly I wish you good luck in your path and no you are not too old

Qualifications - get as many RELEVANT ones as you can

My only caveat which is not personal but based on what you have posted is that you seem to have very little solo singing or professional experience.

When I selected my singing teachers it was based on word of mouth as much as qualifications of the 8 teachers I have worked with in a 44 year experience of singing all but 1 had professional singing or performing experience Two were internationally known singers The late William MaCalpine and Alberto Remedios I also had brief sessions with Derek Hammond Stroud and Laura Sarti

This lack of a performing CV may be a barrier for some pupils - it is also important that your voice has credibility to demonstrate the techniques you are teaching. Your success will also depend on your contacts and the area you are teaching The dreadful creature that is the X Factor haunts this part of NE London

Hi

Yes I take your point about not having a lot of solo / professional experience - unfortunately that was more out of choice than opportunity. As a younger singer in my late teens and twenties I suffered dreadfully badly from nerves (to the point where I could nearly pass out!) and therefore chose to avoid the concerts and weddings (that I did do a few of) to do most of my singing in duets / quartets / choirs. There were few singing teachers around here at that time (still are very few) plus my work as a nurse on shifts meant the two teachers who taught in my area in the 1980s did not want to commit to someone who could not come on the same day each week. So my singing lessons stopped but my choral career continued into my thirities, then I started my family and, quite rightly, they came first.

I say all this because it is only now this year that I am beginning to take up my own personal activities and have time for myself again. I doubt whether I will ever have (or, realistically, want) a huge amount of solo experience - but there is probably opportunity in my area if I decided I wanted it. I just wondered whether it was possible to teach at some point in the future and what I needed to do to get there - and there is plenty of good advice given here for me to think about.

On reflection, I don't think that pupils /parents in my area would be looking for someone with performing experience - they would be looking for someone who is yes, definitely credible and a good teacher, may well have a Diploma (I think would be a definite bonus for me personally to have but would not be absolute necessity given the shortage of teachers around here), but who is good at what they do and brings fun and development to their child's musical life.

And I will most definitely NOT be auditioning for the XFactor, no matter how much my children beg me!!!

Elizabeth

In that case, go for it! More teachers are always good.

I would just stress the point about learning deeply about vocal anatomy and the function of the vocal apparatus in singing - too much teaching is done using techniques based on myth, image and 17th century approaches, which is all well and good, but we've come a long way since then in understanding of the voice and how it works, so it makes sense to use that knowledge - it will make you a better and more efficient teacher and your students will thank you hugely for it!

I'm so glad I took this road for teaching - when I see students who've been struggling to make the sound they want and trying to 'sing through your cheekbones dear' or 'more support (without an explanation of what that means' or worse 'imagine an egg in your throat' - and I can guide them anatomically to move the things that need to move, recognise the feeling of what moved and what it did, and then reproduce it whenever they want - it's a great feeling (I have had a couple of people cry, saying that they were about to give it all up thinking they just didn't have a talent for it).

Continual development, that's the way!

Enjoy yourself.

Allan

Thanks Allan

I wouldn't dream of starting to teach until I had the right knowledge.

I did actually ask my own teacher about the anatomy. Interestingly he said I would probably know more than him given my nursing background - and in discussion with him I actually do know more than him (which maybe tells me I need to think about getting a new teacher, but I do like him so)

...... but I don't know how it all works to make you sing correctly, so I am going to work at it until I do!

Elizabeth

That kind of medical knowledge, added up to a determination to get it right and the fact that you've been through the learning process yourself will most likely make you an excellent teacher!

As a starting point, I'd highly recommend 'Geography of the voice - anatomy of an adam's apple' by Kerrie Obert and Steven Chicurel - it's part of the Think Voice series and is truly wonderful in understanding which parts of the larynx and respiratory system can affect sound quality and vocal health. It was one of the turning points in my reading and I still refer to it and give copies to all my students.

Enjoy and if you want to compare notes with another new teacher (only been teaching since the beginning of the year), feel free to contact me!

Book ordered ................. awaiting postman!!!

Thanks

Elizabeth