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Frequently Asked Questions
How much are lessons?
I charge £30 for half an hour, £40 for 45 minutes and £50 for an hour. Good vocal teachers range from between £30-£40 an hour right up to about £100-£150 an hour, with the average being around £70 an hour. PLEASE NOTE that I operate a 24 hour cancellation policy. Any lesson that is not cancelled 24 hours prior to the lesson time and date will be charged at the full rate, however I will always try to reschedule the lesson within the same week first if possible.
Can I buy lessons for somebody as a gift?
Yes you can! Send a cheque for the amount made payable to Balance Vocal Studio and send it to the studio address (see contact details.) Once the cheque has been received, a gift voucher will be sent out to you in the post.
Do you do discount for block bookings?
Yes I do, if you buy ten lessons of the same length in advance the you will get them for the price of nine.
Do you teach over Skype and how does that work?
My preferred method of teaching is always face-to-face, however for those people who can’t travel to Liverpool for a lesson, I will teach them over Skype. You basically need to download Skype from the following link – www.skype.com/download and follow the instructions. You should invest in a good set of headphones, preferably with a mic attachment in order to get the best out of the method of learning. It can sometimes be slow depending on internet speeds but is still an effective way of teaching and learning. In an ideal world, I will have met the person at least once for a face-to-face lesson.
How important is Vocal Technique? Surely I can either sing or not?
I view good Vocal Technique to be the ABC’s of singing. Once you learn your ABC’s then you’re free to go off and write that novel, or article, or cook book(!), or whatever it is that is in you that you want to express. Singing is the same. Our natural ability will only take us so far, some further than others; agreed, however at some stage a good singer will need to start thinking about technique. It helps to view things on two scales, talent versus functionality with both scales operating from one to ten. If you have a seven in talent, then that will probably stay a seven for the rest of your life. However, if you have a one in functionality then you can increase that all the way up to ten through studying technique.
And, if you don’t consider yourself to be a singer and you want to learn, then technique is the absolute only place to start.
Can a bad vocal coach ruin a singer’s voice?
This is a tricky question. I don’t imagine for a second that anybody sets out to be a “bad vocal coach” and I would like to believe that every single vocal coach out there is motivated by helping their students to reach their fullest potential. Ultimately a singer will ruin their own voice and will be responsible for the implications of that. However, it is the job of the vocal coach to spot the habits and bad practices and try to put a stop to them. If a vocal coach doesn’t know what to look for then they may miss something really important and that can lead to the student ruining their instrument. Make sure that you know the history and training of your vocal coach. It’s that simple. There are a lot of piano teachers out there who are moonlighting as vocal coaches without any training. Make sure you find out about what training they have and what their ongoing training is. Speech Level Singing requires me to pass a rigorous examination procedure every year in order to maintain my certification. This costs me a lot of time and money, but that is the sacrifice that I am willing to make in order to become an excellent teacher.
Do you teach children?
I teach children from the ages of 11 to 16, however a parent or guardian has to be present during the course of the lesson.
Can you start learning to sing later on in life?
Why not? I teach adults from 18 through to 60. It can take a little bit longer to develop a good awareness of your singing voice if you are older but the technique still works.