Flippin' singing teachers

 

Flippin' singing teachers

There are some phenomenal singing teachers and singers out there and long may that continue. Therefore, I am very sad when students end up at my door who have been intimidated, have lost confidence and feel they can no longer sing at all. It’s one thing to reach the requirements of an exacting music course, but it is quite another to be undermined by somebody who has lost their integrity when it comes to teaching (if they ever had it).

My first degree is in education, back in the day when that was a qualification fit for purpose. I have always retained much of what is the beating heart of excellent teaching: working with what you have in front of you; listening to your student; seeking endlessly different ways to explain something; steering a course through the multiple aspects of using your subject; reading around the subject; having empathy as a core skill; seeking knowledge but also acknowledging what your own strengths are that you bring; supporting your students to aim for the top attainment possible; encouraging and having a positive set of values and language at the very centre of every lesson.

I am appalled when I sometimes hear of the way in which a young performer has been treated by a starry teacher who actually lacks the skill set of teaching tools, or the humility to go and find them. Instead all is projected onto the student who is never empowered in that situation.

I am also amazed by teachers who actively step back and don’t offer any guidance or advice to students about how to approach a phrase or how to get over a technical hurdle. I once sat in on a lesson where the teacher said to me that they felt the student knew what to do and they just went through several songs, not helping with language or any technical aspects and the student struggled to sing as much at the end as they did at the start. The student left the space not having learnt anything except that they were not getting up to standard and not knowing how to change that. That ain’t responsible or even ethical teaching.

So, dear reader, I am in the process of writing a book which draws on what I say in lessons; how I work a voice and the things I think are beneficial to learn. I don’t want complicated explanations. It is not my intention to disabuse anybody of the way they teach if it works for them, and more importantly, their students. I value the authentic teachers who strive to bring what they learn from other disciplines to the table.

I suppose my book is going to be for the curious singing teacher who wants to hear about teaching from a different angle; for those who seek a perspective that is not overly couched in scientific data, and how we work beyond the setting up of a voice. We always hear about that rather than what happens next!

For me great teaching is not about how many qualifications you have, it is about how you extract the salient elements at any moment in time and show the relevance of what you say in enhancing somebody’s technical prowess. A truly great teacher manages that in a few sentences; I am still working on that!

In the end it will be about helping somebody feel excited and enthusiastic about practising and finding solutions that last for a lifetime of singing.

I will then consider I have played a small part in this process.


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