I'm an older student... :(

College Majors Music Major
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<p>Hello. I am a 23 years old non-traditional student working full time, and going to community college, hoping to get into a music program in about two years. </p>

<p>This is my musical background:
Classical piano from age 3 to 15, pop singing. </p>

<p>I would like to major in vocal performance. Yes, the classical kind.
The problem, is, I've only started taking lessons in classical this January. </p>

<p>Am I out of my mind?
I must be. I am still working on basic skills (voice placement, breathing, posture, not pushing, not squeezing, relaxing tongue) after 9 months, and I honestly have not improved much since I first started. I'm trying. I'm listening to my teacher, and practicing, but it's just not happening.
A lot of the problem lies, I think, in the fact that I'd been singing pop all my life, and re-training those muscles and reflexes to do the "right" thing has been a frustrating nightmare that doesn't seem to end. </p>

<p>Also, I was just in the first recital with this teacher, and I found myself a bit uneasy to see/hear that not one of her students were very good. Doesn't mean the teacher's bad - maybe the pool of students is bad, and they don't practice. I don't know. I want to blame my teacher, since she doesn't have a music degree (but is knowledgeable about vocal pedagogy and physiology), but no, I know deep inside that it's me.</p>

<p>I feel like I'm in a desert with this lofty goal I don't know I can reach.
Sure, if I keep training, I could be good enough in 10 years, but not two.
Not to mention the competition I'd be up against - the kids who have been training for years, and the high number of sopranos to begin with. Ahh. </p>

<p>But I want this so much, I just can't give up yet.
But I also feel like I'm starting to lose perspective of the size of the desert that I'm in. And my goals.
So if anyone has a perspective as to what my approach could be, that would be amazing.</p>

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<p>Maybe I should major in something else music related, and keep training, and try for an MM in vocal performance? Does stuff like that work? Or am I just too late? :(</p>

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<p>You do not sound as if you trust yourself or your teacher. I think you need to go to a professional teacher with good credentials who can give you an honest evaluation. Even for someone who starts young, it’s a long long haul. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Perhaps sharing this may be useful. S attended a flute week at Oberlin this summer. The oldest undergraduate student was a sophomore in a college somewhere in the southeast and 27 years of age. I spoke with him briefly (assuming at first he was a grad student that wanted a week of lessons with the professor there before he retired) and learned that he started lessons much later than most do. He was glad he waited longer to start the “journey” and his solo performance was superb. Note that voices tend to mature later and you may be surprised as to how quickly you can progress with the right teacher, practice routines and experiences! Perhaps getting some music theory under your belt with books or online tools may help put you in a good position sooner as well. Good Luck.</p>

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<p>Thank you, musicamusica.
That sounds like a good idea.
What is considered “good credentials”?
A degree from a well-known university? Do you know what I should be looking for?</p>

<p>I’m doing the NATS evaluations soon, and certificate of merit next year. Maybe someone there could give me a reality check.</p>

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<p>Thank you, patientpoppa!
I’m currently in my second semester of harmony studies, and I’ve had quite a bit of piano theory from when I was studying piano, so I feel like I’m on the right track for the theory. </p>

<p>Anyway, the story about the flute student is very inspiring. Thank you for sharing it. And good luck to you and your son for your endeavors!</p>

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<p>NATS would be really helpful. Email faculty at nearby universities or conservatories.They can either give you a lesson for a fee, or send you the name of a good local teacher. Even singers who have had lots and lots of experience need a periodic reality check to make sure things are progressing properly.
The talent pool is vast and deep—you’re not doing yourself any favors by not knowing where you stand. My D is out of grad school and doing auditions for YAPS. One of them alone had 1200 applicants send in pre-screening CDs. YIKES!</p>

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<p>musicamusica, thanks!! Will definitely do that. I don’t really want to think about the “breakup” with my teacher right now, but I’ll leave that for later… perhaps after NATS. </p>

<p>Good luck to your daughter! That sounds absolutely terrifying and she is so brave.</p>

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<p>Agree with musicamusica, find a different person to evaluate you. Voices mature later, but soprano is a hard path and quite a few places look for the ing</p>

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<p>Singersmom, I picked her because I was shopping online for teachers - and I wanted to avoid people who claimed to teach in “all styles”, since from my experience, those people were not so adept at teaching someone who really wanted to sing classical. And so I came across her, and I agreed with her philosophy. It never occurred to me the places her students were going - it is a hard reality to face, especially since I like her so much. </p>

<p>I will definitely contact people from local universities for a proper evaluation…! Anyway, thank you so much for your feedback.</p>

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<p>@Bunny (Love the screen name! Now I’m humming the darned song…!)- while it’s true that voice mature later, the soprano “pool” is huge, so unless you’re a Wagnerian singer, your lack of training coupled with your age is going to be a factor.
Don’t wait and don’t be concerned about “offending” your current teacher, do your research and get heard by another teacher at an area music program as soon as you can. If you are not seeing/hearing the progress you expect, you may be reinforcing problems by “muscle memory”, something which you are probably dealing with anyway. You may well want to consider finding a good ENT MD who specializes in voice and get a complete workup, including a scoping, to see if there are any physiological problems ( in the vocal folds, polyps/nodes) that need tending to. The fact that your voice teacher does not have a formal degree in music is not a point in her favor- gone are the days where a teacher may have had an illustrious stage career without the training that precedes it (there are a few exceptions in Europe,almost all male, but the younger “conservatory” training that they receive there is totally different from the US). The human voice is a living instrument, and a very delicate one, and once it’s damaged is not easy repairable- getting everything looked at so that you have a “baseline” would be beneficial.
Being perfectly frank, the chance of you getting accepted to a top VP program for either an undergrad or Masters degree is virtually nil, but that does NOT mean that you can’t get into a perfectly good program which will meet your needs and train you well. There are many places to perform other than the stages of the big houses and who knows, you might even decide to teach and train others like yourself!
Good luck and please let us know your progress!</p>

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<p>Mezzo’sMama - Thanks! That’s very sound advice!! I appreciate your perspective.
I discovered opera after I’d become pretty comfortable with other styles - pop, jazz, country, whatever… and classical singing just seemed like the natural thing to do next! Oh, to have such control of breath, and voice, to sing the most beautiful, romantic melodies in the world…! I fell in love with art!</p>

<p>It also happened that I’m still working on my undergrad, so I thought, well, why not choose this as my major? So yes… if by “top” VP program, that means Juilliard, Eastman, etc., I wholeheartedly agree. I will see what I can pull together in two years, and go for whatever door opens to me then :)</p>