Singing For Dummies
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Feeling good about your singing lesson is a two-way road. The purpose of a lesson is to gain more information about singing, so you want your teacher to focus on the work. However, you need to able to shoulder criticism well.

During a voice lesson, you’re doing plenty of singing, and your teacher needs to give you feedback on the sounds you’re making and offer suggestions on ways to improve those sounds.

Constructive criticism is about your singing technique and isn’t directed at you personally. If you feel that your teacher isn’t giving you positive feedback, ask for it.

Focusing on the work helps you see the teacher’s constructive criticism as a means to get you to the next level. If you expect your teacher to do nothing more than gush over your talents, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Any teacher worth his salt isn’t going to shy away from telling you what you’re doing wrong (or right).

If you find a teacher who does nothing but praise you, you’re wasting your time, because that type of lesson doesn’t help you improve.

To feel confident at each lesson, you need to know what to practice. During your lesson, your teacher needs to suggest exercises for you to practice to help you improve your technique. He then needs to help you apply those concepts to songs that you’re singing. If you aren’t sure about what to practice, you can ask your teacher to clarify which exercises to focus on for the next lesson.

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Pamelia S. Phillips is a professional singer with over 35 years of teaching experience. She has designed curriculum for high school students, college BFA programs, and professional training programs, helping thousands of singers refine their singing technique.

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