How Virtual Voice Lessons Can Work For You
Fact: Everyone can learn to sing – it’s true! Certainly, like most talents, there are some who are just naturally gifted. But even the most talented and accomplished professionals have to learn to refine their gifts into a voice that is reliable and consistent. With the popularity of TikTok, more people want to learn how to refine their unique voice than ever before. And with video meeting platforms like Zoom drastically improving their video and audio capabilities, virtual singing lessons are as popular as ever. (A certain pandemic may have had a large part to play in these advancements, but virtual music lessons have been popular for over a decade). Virtual singing lessons are no longer a novelty, nor are disruptive and frustrating like they were in the dark ages of video calling. These days, virtual lessons are reliable, convenient, and, like all music lessons, fun, not to mention all of the other benefits associated with music making.
Keep scrolling to learn more about how virtual singing lessons can work best for you!
Why You Shouldn’t Take Virtual Lessons
Let’s start with a common complaint: You might think virtual lessons aren’t as good as in-person lessons. You might think the sound quality of a video call diminishes the audio experience, or that spotty wi-fi can make your lesson a 30-minute glitch fest. The truth is this: with a few optimized settings and a tech check before kicking off singing lessons, the audio and video quality of has virtually no impact on the quality of the lesson.
There are, however, two particular instances where in-person lessons would be recommended over virtual ones. The first is if you need a teacher in the room to physically guide you in your training. There are methods such as the Alexander Technique in which hands-on body work is essential, but that kind of work is usually done with a separate, specialized practitioner. The second is if you are hearing impaired – I’ve had several students who have tried to do virtual lessons with Bluetooth hearing aids, but it was exceptionally challenging for them to hear.
Unless you fall into either of those two categories, virtual lessons are virtually no different from in-person ones. Let’s take a look at how virtual lessons can work for you!
You’ll Save Time
Everyone is busy nowadays. Between building a career, or taking classes, or finding time to have personal relationships with other people, the days fly by before we can even blink. And all of that gets even more complicated when you get stuck in a traffic jam, or have to take your kids to after school activities on the opposite sides of town, or when a snow storm dumps three feet of snow on the road and you can’t open your front door - let alone drive to singing lessons! There are so many things that can make our busy lives even more stressful, and it’s time that we found ways to take a step back, simplify our lifestyle, and make our lives work for us.
Virtual singing lessons offer the same quality as in-person lessons without the added stress of traveling or commuting or worrying about bad weather etc. All you need is a strong wi-fi connection, your video app of choice with sound settings optimized for music lessons, and you can be singing from the comfort of your home. No need to throw on a heavy coat to go outside – now you can learn to sing in your pajamas!
You’re also not limited to just being at home or in one location. Visiting your parents for a weekend but you also want to keep up with your vocal progress? Guess what – you can still have a lesson (and moms LOVE to hear you sing)! Live in a different city, state, or even country from a teacher you really want to work with and can’t find a way to get to their private in-person studio every week? Make that studio come to your living room with virtual lessons. The possibilities are endless!
You’ll Save Money (Sometimes)
Like any business, vocal teachers usually have a lot of costs that they have to cover in order to run their business. Who ends of paying for that in the price of their lessons? That’s right – YOU. Even if you just go to a teacher’s house for lessons, they’re still responsible for keeping up the space, paying for electricity, liability insurance in case you have an injury in their house and so on. These are all completely normal and reasonable expenses for an in-person voice teacher, AND the teacher has to charge enough to pay for their mortgage/rent, food, and anything else they want to do as a human being.
With virtual lessons, that overhead cost is gone – and often so is the extra cost for you! What you’re left with is the true value of voice lessons: a teacher’s knowledge and expertise in the field they’re experienced in.
Now, that isn’t to say virtual voice lessons are always cheap – you’ll still be paying for that level of expertise. If you want to train with teachers whose clients include a laundry list of Broadway stars, you should still expect to pay $100-200 per hour-long lesson for their expertise and guidance. However, there are a lot of really great voice teachers out there with the right experience and education that can help you achieve your goals for $50-70 per hour-long lesson – and they often have a lot more availability than big Broadway teachers.
Virtual singing lessons offer flexibility both in the actual cost of lessons and your budget – you can shop around for teachers that align what you can afford with the quality you want out of your lessons without having to worry about their physical location!
You’ll Help Your Body
Singing involves your entire body – not just your throat and mouth. Go watch a video of your favorite singer performing and notice how much of their body moves. It’s truly a head-to-toe activity, and because it involves so much of your body there are a TON of health benefits to singing!
Perhaps the most obvious is what it can do for your breathing. In order to sing, you have to develop a deep awareness and control of your breath in different situations. There is some evidence that this can help cope with all kinds of disease, including asthma, COPD, and more.
Singing also helps reduce stress. There’s a bunch of reasons this is true: It’s a physical activity, so like exercise, there can be an endorphin rush whenever you sing for an extended period of time. It can be relaxing to use your voice (in a stress-free environment) and actually feel the physical vibrations in your body. And, of course, singing is FUN!
An added benefit of the release of endorphins is that singing can actually increase your pain threshold. This doesn’t just apply to your voice and throat – singing can release hormones that increase your tolerance to pain that you don’t get just from listening to music, and making music with a group can increase it even more!
You’ll Strengthen Your Mind
There are a TON of studies that show how music can have a positive impact on the brain throughout or lives. This isn’t just Baby Mozart in the womb – singing and making music can make your brain stronger as you age. Keeping up your motor skills as you age is a great way to stave off diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Finding your voice can also make you feel more confident. Confidence is one of the strongest influences over our successes in life, and there’s so much in the world that tries to eat away at any confidence we have. People want to silence our voices, and learning to sing will not only make your voice physically stronger, but it will give you the confidence to go about the world and show it what you’ve got!
You’ll Learn Something and You’ll Have Fun
Most people are first drawn to singing for one reason: because it is fun! Learning to sing is an incredibly personal and rewarding journey, and it enables you to enjoy making music and share your voice with the people around you.
If you want to take the first steps on this journey, visit www.alextaylorvoice.com/lessons and get started with voice lessons for free! I teach a science based, functional vocal technique that enables you to use your unique voice to express yourself in whatever way you wish. Contact alex@alextaylorvoice.com to set your virtual voice lessons up today!
