Online or In-Person Singing Lessons - What's Best for You?
Singing lessons can be expensive. While I could write an entire post just about that, I'll save that for another time. With lessons being expensive and time being an increasingly valuable commodity, we want to make sure we are making the right decisions with how we spend our time and money. So if I was signing up for singing lessons would I pick online lessons or in-person lessons?
Online singing lessons are usually cheaper because the teacher doesn't need to pay any rent for space, which in the Milwaukee area can account for a third of the cost of a lesson. If money is the deciding factor, I'd recommend online lessons for you. Online lessons are more convenient and many things can be worked on with no draw backs. There are some limitations, however, so here's a short list of the downsides of online singing lessons.
Working on resonance can be difficult. Resonance is effected by the space you practice in and without being in the room with the singer it is difficult to instruct with total accuracy. IF you microphone is good enough though, this isn't as big of a deal. If you're working on classical music, which is extremely resonant heavy, I would never recommend online lessons.
Live accompaniment doesn't work. There is a slight delay called "latency" with online meetings which makes playing piano with a student nearly impossible. This is primarily an issue for classical and theater students or anyone working with music that isn't popular enough to have online karaoke tracks. If you're cool with using karaoke tracks or singing without accompaniment, this won't be an issues for you.
Tech issues. An in-person lesson will never cut out because of an internet outage. Additionally, an in-person lesson won't ever have a cord not plugged in right or the settings clicked slightly wrong resulting in 15 minutes of figuring out why someone is muted. If you aren't tech savvy, it may be best to stick with in-person lessons
Online lessons don't always lose to in-person lessons though, there are also reasons that online lessons are or can be better.
If you're primarily a singer of pop music or more of a recording artist than a live singer, the sound coming through the microphone may be more important to you than your live sound. If this is the case, online lessons will actually be more helpful than in-person lessons.
Online lessons are better if you live in a remote area. Finding a good teacher can be hard as many teachers will move to areas with more students. With online lessons you can save time by not dealing with the drive. Even if you live in a city, you can save time by avoiding heavy traffic.
As mentioned earlier, online lessons are often cheaper since the teacher is able to avoid paying for a room, a studio, or a building. Working from home is cheaper and easier for teachers, so many are able to charge less than they do in person. Take a look at my own pricing plans to see what I mean.
Whether you decide on in-person or online singing lessons, most of what you learn will be the same. Some strategies are different, but a good teacher is a good teacher in either case. Want to try an online lesson to see if it fits your goals? I offer a free trial lesson before you sign up for a monthly plan. Feel free to sign up for an online lesson and switch if its not for you. You can even alternate months based on schedule. Just go to the "book now" page to sign up.
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