FIRST VOICE LESSON 7.23.2024
By Elizabeth Perryman
Tonight was a first voice lesson with a new student. As we began, they handed me a prepared laundry list of their vocal abilities and pedagogy requests. This was a delightful first which made yours truly quite giddy as a list loving, office supply fan of organization. I was inspired to read that the student wanted to work on finding their authentic voice and accessing body freedom. Other requests included the wish to avoid reaching for notes, imitating others, connecting to the text, acknowledging the challenge of singing, and not singing with discomfort. Twas Perryman catnip indeed.
Initial vocal sessions are an intriguing and enigmatic puzzle. It's day one of vocal portfolio construction. My primary goal as a voice teacher is to gather baseline information about their vocal journey to date and begin assessing how I can guide their pedagogical needs. In general, people study voice to strengthen their voice, connect with diaphragmatic breathing, build a reliable technique, access blended registers, expand their range, prepare repertoire, and sometimes repair weak musculature.
In order to meet the student where they need, I find that it is essential to address vocabulary, personality, and learning style. Because singers coexist with their instrument, our emotional inner world will cast a shadow on our technical progress if not addressed. As a student I tend to try to please, apologize too much, and protect.
Teachers like Patricia O'Neill gave me the safe space to bring out my inner lion and shed my vocal shackles. When I have the privilege to teach my talented wife Elizabeth Honer she is focused, quick, and receptive in a linear way but bravely willing to face some of the emotional landmines that emerge when the free voice is exposed.
Some of my students have a voracious appetite to find all relevant intel on their voice type (tenor anyone?;-) Other students have an amazing ability to use humor as they take me down to kiwi singing town.
Teaching voice is a wild ride not dissimilar to having talk therapy ala bel canto. I am grateful that I personally had to get rid of much suck in my singing in the 1990s which left me with a diverse tool kit to help others now. Giddy up.
Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned." — Mark Twain
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