Can't afford private voice lessons...

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>Long story short: not in a musical theater program but want to pursue it, either as college or independently. </p>

<p>But problem: I can't afford voice lessons! I'm in college and don't really have time for a job, and the parents won't pay for all my "hobbies" anymore - they don't seem to see the value in it or in my interest in MT. Is there a solution other than "just buckle down and pay it"? I definitely think private voice lessons are necessary for me to make sure I'm not hurting my voice when I belt, but don't know what to do about it...</p>

2

<p>If your parents will not pay for private voice, then either get a summer job and save up for lessons or find a six hour a week job (you should be able to fit something like that into your week) to pay for it (offer a service to others in some fashion for a fee), and also look into grad voice students and see if they offer a cheaper rate for lessons to start.</p>

<p>Example of a job you could offer…I believe you play sax, right? Advertise in the local community to give private sax lessons to children. I bet you could give two lessons per week and earn enough to pay for voice lessons. It would not use up that much of your time and honestly many college students do work study and work more hours than that and manage.</p>

<p>Other ideas…babysitting service…maybe let faculty know you are available to sit for their children. Or waitress one night per week and likely earn enough to pay for a lesson per week.</p>

3

<p>Great suggestion already! Yes, I do play saxophone, giving lessons is a great idea, and there’s a school district that’s very close to college. So I imagine there would be kids from there I could teach, and I could probably reserve a room in music buildings for teaching lessons. The graduate voice students are definitely cheaper, and that would be the route I’d be going.</p>

4

<p>If a voice teacher you like has children of an age to need babysitting, maybe you could work out a barter system.</p>

5

<p>I was going to suggest advertising that you will babysit as it can be very flexible when you are in college and generally pays well.</p>

6

<p>Yep, I might go the babysitting route, especially once I get my car up here. Wasn’t much into it when I was younger, but it seems like the best choice so far…</p>

7

<p>Some of the professors of the music program or in the musical theatre program may be willing to give you an incredible deal on lessons if you ask around. Or, you could even ask some of the graduate or senior vocal performance students to help you out. Many that want to teach as a career would be psyched for the opportunity to give out knowledge.</p>