Online voice lessons are a great way to build your repertoire and skills from the comfort of your own home. However, it can be easy to forget that you must prepare yourself for the lesson just as you would in a studio.
To get the most out of your lesson, use these tips:
Reliable Internet Connection
Virtual voice lessons require an internet connection that can be depended upon. Unreliable connections lead to bad video quality and choppy audio that makes it difficult for your teacher to give you a quality lesson. Investing in a better router or Wi-Fi extender will help you have a more reliable and stable internet connection during your lessons.
While it’s not a necessity, many singers find it helpful to bring along a second device that they can use to play recorded accompaniment tracks during their lessons. This can eliminate some of the lag time between the student and the teacher that would otherwise be caused by using standard videoconferencing software.
In-person lessons allow teachers to see their students’ posture and interpret the impact that things like neck and jaw tension can have on a student’s sound. While this isn’t a problem for most virtual lessons, it’s worth checking with your teacher to see what their expectations are in this regard.
Mindset
To make online voice lessons offered by companies like Forbes Music Company effective and safe, a high level of trust is required. Therefore, the student needs to adopt a positive mindset. A clear understanding of the relevance and purpose of the lesson in the student’s everyday life can help with this. It will also help them believe what they are learning is valuable and deserving of their time.
Students often use online sessions to work on their vocal technique outside of their usual singing/practicing environment. This can include a hotel room, stairwell at work, backstage before a show, or even their own bedroom!
It is recommended that students find a private space to work during their lessons to minimize distraction and self-consciousness. This may be difficult for some, but it is worth overcoming the challenge in order to gain the most from your lesson. Having access to piano tracks or vocal exercise audio files to sing along with can help to alleviate some of these concerns.
Camera/Device
Virtual lessons can be more challenging for students and teachers because of the lack of a personal connection that develops naturally in a face-to-face lesson. For this reason, it’s important to communicate clearly with your teacher about what you want to get out of your lessons and set realistic expectations.
If you haven’t tried virtual lessons before, we highly recommend researching beforehand to find a coach and voice lesson app that resonates with you. You’ll also want to consider the type of instrument you play and how it will affect your virtual experience. For example, playing a musical instrument can create extra noise that can interfere with the quality of your audio recording during a virtual lesson.
While there are a few free online voice training apps available, they’re not as reliable as a face-to-face lesson with a professional voice coach. In addition, they can be difficult to use for beginners because of their lack of video capability.
Good Microphone
If you want to get the most out of your Virtual Voice Lessons, the audio quality must be as good as possible. This is where having a high-quality USB microphone with a pop filter can make all the difference.
The built-in microphones on some laptops or computers are adequate for normal talking but may sound distorted when used for singing. Getting a USB mic with a pop filter can eliminate this problem and will provide your voice coach with the best opportunity to hear the intricacies of your vocal range and dynamics.
When using Zoom, Jitsi, or Skype, set the ‘Original Sound’ option (available from the drop-down menu under ‘Audio Settings’). This will disable the audio codecs that typically enhance speech and suppress ambient sounds, which can interfere with the clarity of the singer’s voice. This setting will also enable the voice teacher to see the singer’s body language, a key storytelling element.
