Let me say this right away:
Online singing lessons are not my first choice.
I much prefer meeting someone face to face.
There is simply something about being in the same room. It is easier to see, hear and sense what is going on. I can use my hands, my various tools, and everything else I have gathered over the years in my little pedagogical workshop.
But…
Online teaching can actually do something.
We found that out during Covid, when it was suddenly the only option. And yes – it worked. Not always perfectly, but often surprisingly well.
So I do also teach online. But there are a few conditions that need to be in place.
There needs to be room to move.
A floor is a good start. A wall to lean against can also be useful. Singing is not only about what happens from the throat up, so the body should ideally be able to join in too.
And the sound needs to work.
It does not work so well if the upstairs neighbour starts banging on the pipes the moment the voice takes hold.
And it is not so easy to work with the voice if the sound I hear comes and goes, cuts out, or mysteriously decides to take a break mid-sentence.
In other words, the technology needs to be on our side.
On the other hand, I think online lessons can work really well when there is a specific issue to work on.
Something that is being tricky.
Something that has suddenly stopped working.
A particular note that will not sit right. A voice under strain. A problem we need to solve – perhaps with the help of CVT or another concrete vocal tool.
Here, online lessons can be both effective and practical.
But if the voice needs to be built up completely from scratch, my starting recommendation is that we meet in person.
Because the voice is not just sound.
It is body, movement, breath, tension and release – and everything that happens in the space between two people.
So no.
I have not been converted into online teaching’s great apostle.
But I have learned to appreciate what it can do.
And when the circumstances are right, we can actually get quite far – even when we are not standing in the same room.
