<p>My daughter loves to sing and act. She's just starting high school but she thinks she may want to major in music (vocal performance) or MT in college. She just started talking private voice lessons with an extremely pricey instructor who was recommended by a friend. I have no idea what this teacher's qualifications are or what she is going to teach my daughter.
What should my daughter learn or master in private lessons with this teacher if she's aiming for M/MT major in college? Is there a specific curriculum she should follow? Should she practice only singing in one style of music or should she also ask this teacher to teacher her classical music? Should she try to copy someone's existing style? We're total novices about singing and I want to make sure she's getting a good education. I have no idea what to expect...Also, can "broadway caliber" voices be made or is a person just born with one? Is there a minimum range you need to have? Thanks for any and all info!!</p>
<p>The singular most important thing: make sure that this teacher does not push your daughter’s voice. Make sure that all the decisions in regards to her vocal education err on the side of good vocal health. Since I assume that you pay her teacher those pricey fees because that teacher is a well regarded professional known for producing good singers—the balance of your questions should be asked of the teacher. (I’m not being snarky… every teacher will have a different answer and he or she should know your D’s voice best)</p>
<p>I’m not a voice teacher, nor a professional singer, so I can only speak from my kids’ (one a voice performance major, one an MT major) experience. Starting from about 8th grade, they both took voice lessons from a very experienced (and, yes, pricey) voice teacher who taught them great technique, age-appropriate classical repertoire and concentrated on vocal health. They also had an MT coach who focused only on MT repertoire and performance skills. We made sure that the voice teacher knew about the coaching and he was quick to point out if an MT choice was appropriate for our kids. For both of my kids’, vocal health and good technique was our primary goal. They were very well prepared for college level (and for MT - professional) auditions. One way that we knew that we were on the right track: comments from judges and other professionals on our kids’ “great technique” and “wonderful intonation”, etc.</p>
<p>I’m curious as to whether this pricey teacher is a member of NATS?</p>
<p>(The National Association of Teachers of Singing).
[National</a> Association of Teachers of Singing](<a href=“http://www.nats.org/]National”>http://www.nats.org/)</p>
<p>Members must have a certain level of education / experience and abide by a code of ethics. Anyway, both my daughters have been working with NATS teachers for the last 2 years (younger D) and 3+ years(older D). We have certainly been very pleased with the results; they both started training in high school.</p>
<p>Well - for some reason I can’t edit the post I made earlier today, above.
Just wanted to say - I don’t want to be or sound snarky. I just always am concerned about teens taking lessons at a (relatively) young age. I’m not a voice teacher - but I do know voices can be greatly enhanced by training, but they also can and are sometimes ruined by the wrong teacher.
My suggestion of NATS voice teachers is, at least from what I’ve understood by knowing members of the organization, observing their work with my own D’s, and looking at their literature / info, teachers in this organization do have solid training on how to correctly teach voice and they abide by a code of ethics as well. To me and my husband, that is very important in allowing anyone to work with our own kids, so in trying to respond to posts from other parents on this board, I’d certainly give the same advice.</p>