How Are Singing Lessons Different Than Instrument Lessons?

As a teacher who has taught voice, violin, piano, guitar, and several other instruments I'd like to explain the difference between learning an instrument and learning to sing. Many people mistakenly assume that the process is relatively similar since both are musical. There are quite a few differences though.

1. The focus is on technique instead of proficiency. When learning an instrument technique is still a big deal, but most of it comes down to the grind of improvement. In voice, the primary thing to improve on is technique as there is no instrument to master. I don't think that example was super clear so here's a metaphor. Singing is running and instruments are weightlifting. Both work on technique, but given enough time any ability runner can finish a marathon. Not any weightlifter can bench 300 pounds without training. The runner's coach will teach them how to run with better form to improve their completion speed, the weightlifter's coach will teach them how to progress towards heavier weights safely and quickly. The runner is perfecting something they can already do (no matter how badly) and the weightlifter is pushing towards something they could never have done before. This brings up the next point:

2. Everyone can already sing, rarely can someone already play as instrument. If you go to a piano lesson the first things they'll talk about will be familiarizing you with the instrument and getting you to start on the most basic of songs. With voice, range is the primary factor preventing someone from just singing any song right away. Because of this there are often books that instrument teachers use that have a steady increase in difficulty while simply selecting increasingly difficult songs is far less helpful for voice. The focus needs to be on HOW they sing not WHAT they sing.

3. Everybody's body is different, every guitar is the same. A standard book detailing exactly what to do and when does not work for a singer. When learning piano, nearly every student works on the same things at the same point. Teaching voice, there are concepts I never bring up with some students that I will focus on for months with another. There are few if any successful vocal training books because no two students need the same help for voice.

   
   
   
   

   Overall, if you are used to instrument lessons and looking to take voice (or vice versa), don't expect the same process. Instruments tend to be much more of an exact process while voice will be different for each student and much harder to give a standardized process to. If you are interested in trying voice lessons, sign up for a free consultation here!