Voice Lessons in Portland, OR

Instruments: Voice

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
My favorite genre of music to play is heavy metal. I enjoy this genre because it combines the showmanship and virtuosity of classical music with the modern instrumentation of many styles of music. Metal has the characteristic ability to absorb elements and stylistic choices of other genres to create new sub-genres, while still remaining heavy metal. Name another genre of music, and there is probably a form of heavy metal that has made use of it! There's viking metal, pirate metal, thrash, classical metal, progressive metal, black metal, death metal, the list goes on! There is a lot of fun to be had when a genre of music can have so many other things added to it, yet still clearly be that same genre!

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
A normal practice session to me lasts for about 20 minutes. I have three different structures that I use for setting up a lesson. First, 20 minutes of stretching/flexibility work with various types of shouting to create vocal freedom. Second, 20 minutes of vocal exercises to work on a specific vocal hurdle; this allows the weak point to be addressed without the added pressures of learning a song. Third, 20 minutes divided into 10 minutes of voice exercises and or stretching, followed by 10 minutes of working on music. Students can also work on learning the rhythms/words to songs independent of any singing/musical work; learning the elements of a song separately will assure greater memorization and confidence.

When will I start to see results?
Beginning lessons are much like beginning a workout routine; every individual progresses differently, and this can be dependent on a variety of factors: age of the student, previous musical experience(s), level of motivation, frequency of lessons, and level of consistency in practice. Results will likely happen quickly at first, and slow down as a student becomes more advanced. Should the teacher be okay with this, students may wish to record their lessons as a means to gauge their progress over time; this will also give them a way to remember and re-explore discoveries that happened during lesson. Additionally, making a performance recording (i.e. sing/play the whole way through a song without stopping) every 1-3 months can be an excellent way to measure results.

What advice do you have about practicing effectively?
Every student is different, and which instrument a student is learning will affect the amount of time they can practice in one sitting and in a day. For singing, I find that the most frequently successful method is to practice daily, multiple times a day, for 15-20 minutes each practice session. This balances practicing for long enough to accomplish goals, while being short enough to avoid vocal fatigue and diminishing returns. Practicing should be planned as a part of the daily routine, ideally written into a student's daily planner for specific time blocks. The student should have specific things to work on for each practice session (e.g. a specific set of vocal exercises, or a specific song/part of a song), but should be willing to change the practice routine if things are not working. Discussing how to set up practice sessions with the teacher will also be very helpful, as they are better able to guide the student with specifics.

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