We're More Than Music
We start singing lessons with students as young as 9 years old, usually in 4th grade.
There are varying opinions on when a student should start formal vocal training – from late childhood to the teen years, to the beginning of college. That’s because the human voice isn’t fully mature until your 30s, and it is easy to do damage to an immature voice.
In an ideal world, children would be using their voices correctly in their day to day activities, so they would only need to start formal training when the instrument is ready for more strenuous training. However, we do not live in an ideal world, and there are too many bad vocal role models for children these days – the most recent being Disney’s “Frozen.” Children are imitating adult singers who are doing damage to their voices.
In my opinion, it’s important to start voice lessons early enough to stop bad habits that might lead to permanent vocal damage. Although I will start children as young as 9 years old in private lessons, I find that by the age of 12, they have enough mental and physical maturity to begin to understand the basics of good vocal technique. Before the age of 12, lessons would focus on preventing bad vocal habits from forming, and teaching basic musicianship skills. – Miss Dana, voice teacher since 2003
It’s never too late to enjoy singing. My oldest student is in her mid 80s, and has been taking lessons for the last 10 years.
A piano or keyboard is a useful tool for a singer, but if you don’t know how to play, it won’t do much good. We supply a download of vocal exercises, and every vocal book you purchase will come with a download of the accompaniment tracks for you to use in practice and performance.
We purposefully do not use songs you listen to on the radio for teaching. That is because the temptation to imitate is very strong when you’ve listened to one singer repeatedly. Instead, we use a variety of songs from
to help you to discover your own unique voice.
A student should sing at home no more than 15-20 minutes at a time, but may practice multiple times per day. That should include 5-10 minutes of warm-ups and about 10 minutes of studying the assigned repertoire. You may have assignments that do not require singing. This can be considered practice time in addition to the 15-20 minutes of singing.
One 30-minute lessons costs $25. You will receive one lesson every week. Lessons are billed monthly and pre-paid by the first of every month.