You are there, and I am here. There’s no way that we can have a real voice lesson, right? I mean, there’s no piano, and it just seems unconventional and weird. Well, we are living in unconventional and weird times. And suddenly, learning online has become conventional and normal. That means you can easily learn to sing online. How? Read on…
Just How Can You Learn to Sing Online?
Learning to sing online has some major benefits. You don’t need fancy equipment, you don’t need to leave your house, and, you can actually access more educational opportunities without having to attend an in-person singing lesson.
Let’s take a look at how and why learning to sing online is within your power today.
- The instructor has the ability to explain theoretical concepts to you. If I explain to you that appoggio is a technique where you hold your sternum in an elevated position, much like you’re at a high tea party with her Royal Majesty, I do believe your sternum would be exactly where it needs to be for singing. Does it matter that we’re not in the same room? No. Will you understand that doing the exercise can increase lung capacity, breath efficiency, and overall support? Yes! Is your sternum high right now? Probably. What if I asked you to cup your ear and sing a note. Do you need to be in my studio? No. Would you be able to do the exercise? Yes!
- The burden of forgetting your water, music, and a pencil all but disappear. You can’t exactly tell your instructor that your house forgot its sink today, or that the proverbial dog ate your music. It takes the small burden of remembering away. When you learn to sing online from home, you have everything you need. You have a ritual of getting your music together, your tracks, your water, music stand, and pencil. You become more responsible for your own development, and you don’t have to worry about traffic making you late. (Life note: Always be on time)!
- You can learn online in a group. Now group learning is an article all to itself, but if you are with a group, you can cover so many of the basics at the same time. If you are brave and vulnerable enough to sing for the group, the feedback you receive is invaluable. Not only that, but you have the advantage of learning from the successes and challenges of your peers. You build a camaraderie among your classmates and develop a network of developing singers and friends. To hear them, it’s like peeking in and eavesdropping on their lessons. Only this time, it is allowed and you learn from each other. This is also a great networking opportunity.
Wait… Isn’t a Piano Required?
We come now to the white elephant in the room: the piano and its latency. Well, here are four reasons the piano (or keyboard) does not matter for you, the student.
4 Reasons You Don’t Need a Piano…
- Vocal exercises can and should be learned a capella. This can be done through modeling by your instructor. What is that? They sing a phrase or a pattern and then you singing it back, with your instructor making any necessary adjustments as you move up and down the scale. This way, you can improve upon your range, agility, and breath control without ever having to put your shoes on. This will all be a much more effective way to learn the da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da CHORD, CHORD! Your instructor is much freer to listen to YOU!
- Accompaniment. How can your instructor play along with you? Isn’t it always going to be behind or ahead? Well there are several sites that offer karaoke tracks that you can download for free like karaoke version or buy karaoke downloads, depending on what repertoire you need. Some might charge a slight fee. Or, your instructor can play the accompaniment and record it simply and send it to you electronically. There is no latency issue if YOU are the one that has the accompaniment (or the vocal exercise). Teachers, this also means you can depend even less on your keyboard. Truly a win-win.
- Your instructor can hear how you sound and give you real time feedback. All without needing to be physically be in the room. As you begin to develop, your instructor will not need a piano to see how you are controlling breath and forming vowels. And they won’t need worry about playing the accompaniment. In fact, you instructor will be able to give you even more customized feedback. This all helps your vocal journey.
- Confidence builds more quickly without a piano constantly underneath you. If you can do vocalises (vocal exercises) and sing without accompaniment, you begin to hear and feel your singing more accurately. And your instructor can help build your voice all the more quickly. If you can swallow a bit of pride in the beginning just long enough to get to this point, the piano will become a moot point.
Yes, You Can Learn to Sing Online Today!
So, you CAN learn to sing online. And as you can see, there are benefits to studying music online. I haven’t even touched on screen sharing, posting assignments, and other advantages zoom and other platforms are developing.
I also left out that you can learn in sweatpants and a tee shirt, but some things are just givens.
Aria Thome