Teaching Philosophy

Finding freedom in the ability to truthfully express one’s inner voice is not only artistically gratifying, but completely invaluable. As a voice teacher, my goal is to help singers find their true, authentic voice in terms of who they are as an artist and how their voice can help them achieve what they have to say. Being able to sing with ease greatly increases an artist’s ability to communicate. Addressing the technical elements and applications of how the human voice functions can aid the singer in expanding their ability to manipulate their voice to serve the artistry. Technique and artistry go hand in hand, and you cannot have one without the other. Every singer is different, both vocally and personally, and each individual voice is like a puzzle. Finding the keys and tools to unlock the innate potential of each voice is a journey for both teacher and student. A journey that I find incredibly curious and fascinating.

Teaching voice is unique in terms of education. A musical education is imperative to emotional, artistic, and mental growth. Education does not serve a single purpose and is multi-faceted. It helps students to become critical thinkers, cultivates cultural & societal awareness and teaches students lifelong values, discipline, and the ability to explore new ideas and think independently. Vocal education specifically provides students and singers with the opportunity to explore their own potential, unlock their physical and artistic voices and allow them a space in which they can expand upon their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Voice lessons are as much about vocal technique as they are about learning what the human psyche standing in front of you needs to say and how to help them say it. It is uniquely important because one’s inner voice isn’t always valued in public education settings and yet is supremely important for human development.

In arts education the teacher’s role is to aid in the development of the student’s artistic expression, guide them through their discoveries, and educate them about other cultures, musical styles, genres, and expressions. In addition to this, it is also important for the teacher to explain how music, especially vocal music, came to be such a prominent form of expression in today’s society and the different ways that music has been used to communicate. It is imperative that the teacher help the student with their own artistic expression by guiding them and exposing them to information, but not by holding their hand or imposing their own thoughts and ideas onto the student. Singers should be encouraged to develop their own independent thoughts and ideas when it comes to interpretation and presentation. By being exposed to the wide range of possibilities available to them, the singer can then begin to form their own artistic voice.

Every singer, and every person learns in a different way and there are a variety of different learning styles. In my experience singers learn by experiencing. Experiencing what a free voice feels like to produce, experiencing what efficient versus inefficient technique sounds and feels like, and experiencing what it feels like to give yourself fully to the artistry and to the music. Some students learn best through words, or learning about the physiology, or more expressly related to the text or interpretation of the music that they are singing. It is the teachers job to learn how the singer learns best and implement that in lessons and tailor fit each lesson to the individual standing in front of them. For voice lessons to be effective and efficient, mutual trust, respect and understanding between both teacher and student must be in place. It is imperative that the teacher respect the student and the student respect the teacher. Training the voice is a very vulnerable and exposing undertaking. There must be a professional relationship and attitude, but it is important to create a space in which the student feels comfortable to try new things vocally and emotionally as well as be willing to put themselves out there.

My goals as a voice teacher are different for each individual but also to find each singer’s true, authentic voice and help the student produce sound with ease and flexibility. Technically, the goals of each voice lesson and the process are to align resonance, airflow, valving, and embouchure to create functional unity in the instrument. From a less physiological perspective the goal is to increase the voices’ potential of expression and help the student find a way of phonation that is easy and organic. Voice teachers should not look away or neglect to address issues that they don’t know how to approach, but if there is something that seems to be out of their depth, colleagues, mentors, and other singing professionals are great resources. With these goals in mind, the student will consistently improve, and their default sound production will be adjusting as well. The student will have more elasticity to their voice and more ease in tone production, agility, and manipulation of their instruments in order to serve the artistry. Another sign that the goals are in process or being met is that the student is beginning to and/or succeeding at making self-corrections and adjustments without the intervention of the teacher.

The first step of working with a new student is to determine how the student learns best. Once that is done and I can tailor the lessons to the individual, strategies that I use are based on mutual trust, respect and understanding between teacher and student and should be based on what the student is ready for. Some strategies involve analogies, metaphors, or words; a variety of ‘tools’ to help the instrument function in harmony; words of encouragement, positive feedback, and constructive criticism; using audible and visual feedback and cues to determine if adjustments are working as well as inviting the student to be a part of the narrative about what is working and what isn’t. Since I as the teacher do not share a nervous system with the singers, getting their feedback as to what it feels like is imperative. Teaching voice is a process and there will never be a finished ‘product’. Being a process-based teacher means that I am focused on what is going to help each singer long term rather than ‘band-aid fixes’ that might make the difference in sound the singer wants immediately, but ultimately is not beneficial to their functioning voice. We only get one voice. The voice isn’t like a violin, clarinet, or trumpet in that if it is damaged or misused, we can’t go out and get on other one. One of my goals as a teacher is to promote vocal health while teaching to make sure that the instrument and the human are working in tandem and will be able to sustain singing for the entirety of their lifetime. The voice and the human soul are always in process and the pressure to produce or present a polished final product is unrealistic.

Teachers and their colleagues should have a relationship where they are eager to help each other as well as learn from each other and consistently have conversations about the field, their views and knowledge. I believe that it is important for teachers to continually seek new information and expose themselves to different ways of teaching and approaches to training the voice. This involves attending conferences, keeping an open dialogue with others in the field, as well as reading new relevant literature. A knowledge of the physiological nature of the voice is necessary for a teacher to train the voice effectively and efficiently. Dr. Barbara Doscher said that just because you can drive a car, doesn’t mean you can be a mechanic; likewise, just because you can sing doesn’t mean you can teach. She was addressing the idea that in order to teach voice you must know the parts of the instrument and how it functions. Having a knowledge about how the voice functions influences how adjustments are made in lessons and increases productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness. The teacher can make more of a substantial difference in less time than without any physiological knowledge. With this said, it is not solely an instrument standing in front of you, but it is also a human being whose soul and psyche will effect their voice production and development. Along with this, every voice, physically is different and you cannot teach two voices or two people the exact same way. There is no copying and pasting in voice training. While the basic, nomothetic physical and acoustical laws remain the same singer to singer, there are no two identical voices and thus, each lesson on each day with each singer must be different.