Creative Skill

 

My top 10 tips to finding the right teacher for the creative skill you want to develop

A question I’m often asked is how to find the right teacher for training and expanding the creative skill of your choice. The relationship between a student and teacher is a sensitive one and you should spend a little time on finding the right teacher for you. I‘ve put together a list of my top 10 tips to finding the right teacher, so lets dive right into it:

1. Recommendation: the „easiest way“ to get a name. Ask those who recommend the teacher why they love working with that teacher.

2. What kind of education does the teacher have? Do they have any formal training as a teacher? Could they have developed their teaching skills over time as a result of their experience as an artist? Do they keep learning and expanding their skill set?

3. What kind of experience does the teacher have in the art form you want to learn and of course in teaching it? Of course the more years they have been working in either area the more they have seen and learned and this should feed into their teaching. This is no guarantee, but experience helps. However, young and ambitious teachers who are very keen to be the best teacher they can be at the time can also be really good teachers! They can really be worth giving them a chance! And what I‘ve learned: someone who is a brilliant artist doesn‘t necessarily have to be a great teacher. They can be, but that is not a given one. That‘s why there are all the other factors that you have to look into when looking for the right teacher for you.

4. Are they specifically trained and/or experienced in the area you want learn from them? E.g. If you want to learn classical singing it won‘t make too much sense if you go to a teacher who has only experience in popular music. If you want to become a screen actor you need to find an acting coach who really knows what kind of skills you need for acting in front of the camera and how to teach them to you.

5. Are they flexible in regards to the methods they are teaching? Are they open to other approaches? Are they continuing to learn about the newest (scientific) findings in their area of expertise? Are they continuing to take further training to become even better?

6. You and the teacher have to be on the same page about your goals. You should have a clear idea about what you want to achieve and discuss that with the teacher. Listen to their opinion and ask questions to see if their answers are realistic. 

7. You and your teacher need to have a good chemistry. The best teacher in the world will not be the right one for you, if you don‘t click. You can‘t force what isn‘t meant to be, but when it works you can look forward to a great journey ahead!

8. Is the teacher‘s studio conveniently reachable enough for your so that you are not going to use the distance as an excuse to not go there whenever you have a „lazy day“ or the weather isn‘t nice enough ;) ? OR:

9. Does the teacher offer online teaching via Skype, Zoom, Facetime, Hangout or whatever? If so this might give you the opportunity to more options in the choice of your teacher. Maybe from much farther away. 
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10. What types of classed does the teacher offer? One-on-one, small groups, bigger groups?

 

how to be a versatile singer, notes from a pro

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.”

Lies! I’m here to tell you that this kind of thinking is wrong. A singer with the right training can safely sing whatever style he/she wants to sing. How? Easy – technique. Every good singer should have a bag of tricks they can tap into to adapt to any genre of music.

technique

Technique is technique, regardless of style. Once a singer has learned the technique they can branch into any genre. When I say technique, I do mean the meaty, gritty boring stuff that makes a good singer an exceptional singer. Soft palate, tongue placement, diaphragm, support, placement of the sound, vibrato, ironing out the different registers, vowel sounds, consonants, breathing and obviously having a trained ear to sing on pitch. This is tough, and sometimes boring work. But it yields the results, because every single style of music uses this same technique. There are only minor differences.

• Jazz singing has a brighter sound, with minimal vibrato. Singers like Etta James, Billie Holiday and Tony Bennett use small amounts of vibrato in their performances but maintain a beautifully bright tone.
• Pop music has a shallower sound, again with minimal vibrato.  Artists like Pink, Taylor Swift and Rita Ora rarely overuse vibrato but maintain excellent tone and pitch.
• Musical theatre (depending on the song, but generally) has more vibrato and a taller sound, plus you have to act. If you listen to a song like “On My Own” from Les Miserables you can hear the singer using a lot of vibrato. This technique is used to help the listener feel the emotion and depth of the story the singer is telling.
• Classical singing has a lot of vibrato and a much taller sound. “Sull,aria” from The Marriage of Figaro by W.A Mozart is a fantastic example of Classical technique and the use of vibrato. But if you don’t know how to engage your soft palate, place your sound, or control your vibrato, you limit yourself. And why be stuck doing only one thing when you have the potential and ability to do anything?

who is a versatile singer?

Being a Versatile singer refers to the ability of a singer to perform several genres of music and perform them well. Some of the most well know versatile singers are Lady Gaga, Freddie Mercury, Billy Joel, Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. These artists were able to cross over to other genres of music successfully by incorporating their deep understanding of vocal technique and their overall control of their natural instruments.

can i do it?

It’s a very realistic goal to become a versatile singer if you have a solid control of  your voice and have an understanding of what different styles should sound like. So now the question remains, can you learn how to do this? Yes!  Just find a good vocal coach. Someone who will work on building your voice with you. Again, it’s tough work, so you will need to find someone who you can trust and study with for a long period of time.  Your vocal coach should be someone who is open to exploring many styles of music & songs and be comfortable teaching the different techniques needed to perform them.

Learning to sing is an ongoing process that takes years to perfect just like any other instrument, but if you’re passionate about being a versatile vocalist you will grow and be able to perform many styles.

“I’m an artist” doesn’t seem to roll off the tongue easily for some people. And yet it’s critical to be able to say those words with confidence.

This is a topic I never could have dreamed up while I was working in art museums. It wouldn’t have occurred to me that artists would have a hard time introducing themselves. After all, what you do is so cool. So creative. So magical. It seems like all you have to do is say, “I’m an artist” and the conversation opens wide.