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There are many types of people who take and give voice lessons. On top of that, there are different genres of music that someone can be coached towards.

Not to mention the ways in which you can be taught. The pedagogy and techniques vary slightly among music professional and teachers.

I know because I was one. Even though I might have learned different activities and tricks from other teachers, I definitely delivered it to my classroom in a way that was my style.

But what most people don’t discuss are those people who are good at taking voice lessons, and those who are not. There are some key elements to making or breaking into the vocal scene.

Whether you are just taking voice lessons for pleasure, or have dreams of making it to the big time, here is…

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Take Voice Lessons

Reason 1: You are not willing to work hard.

In other words, you are lazy. You don’t practice, you don’t really want to get better, and you definitely don’t want to reflect and see where you can improve.

Even worse, you brush up on your learned “skills” from the last lesson ten minutes before your next lesson. Sound familiar?

Of course, you are going to see this coming, but that was kind of me in college taking voice lessons. I figured they were just like any other class. As long as you were prepared before class, it didn’t matter what happened during the week.

Wrong. I was completely wrong. And I knew I was, but I didn’t do anything about it until at least my 3rd year of voice lessons, where I finally took my work seriously and started growing as a vocalist.

Reason 2: You don’t listen to others

Not only are you lazy, but you don’t take any advice that your hard-working voice teacher gives you.

If she/he presents it in a way that doesn’t make sense to you, ASK for a different explanation or exercise. I guarantee they have more than one trick up their sleeve.

That’s what they are trained to do.

Furthermore, if you are paying for them to teach you and you take none of their instruction, why are you even taking lessons?

When I taught, this was a usual scenario: the students who complained about their voice never actually took my advice for them to improve on their voice. It drove me insane!

They even asked about specific problems, to which I gave at least one or two specific answers/reasons!

Don’t be that person, please.

Reality check: free up your lesson hour to someone who really wants to learn!

Reason 3: You don’t believe in your ability

I hear these phrases a lot.

“I suck.”

“I’m not good at at singing anyway.”

“No one wants to hear me croak.”

I get it. Really, I do.

But unless you have confidence that you can do the work to get yourself to where you want to be, taking voice lessons is useless.

Sometimes it is a slow process, sometimes it doesn’t take long at all.

It all depends on your attitude, on your willingness to become a better vocalist and really, a better person.

When I auditioned students for our select choirs, I would hands down, every time, select students who were willing to work with me, had a great attitude of a team player, and who were confident in their desire to sing.

For many of you, confidence may not mean you have natural ability. It means you are going to figure out how to gain those skills to fulfill your dream.

I’m doing the very same thing working from home. Learning the necessary skills to make it in the online world.

Are Voice Lessons For You…or Not?

So, do you really want voice lessons? This article freaked you out big time, made you think you don’t have it in you.

Good, I hope it puts you in a fighting spirit to think you will not be that kind of student.

Don’t get too caught up in the lies that you tell yourself. Others might even be putting you down because your voice is different. Forget them.

I believe you can be the kind of vocalist you want to be. Go back and read the advice that I gave earlier in the article (ignore all that negative stuff I put in there to get your attention).

And then explore your options.

Right now, I am super excited to introduce the first Course of hopefully many!!

This first one is geared toward Posture and Breathing Basics, with a little bit of breath connection thrown in there!

Have no idea what I’m talking about? Head on over to my ECourse page to check it out!

The best part? It’s FREE!!

A second great part? You can learn in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Choral Music Education from College of the Ozarks and Emporia State University, and have taught over 250 students choir techniques. I have also worked with various students one-on-one for vocal preparation and lessons.

Either way, if you feel like trying something different in the learning-music realm, get on that sign up for free! If you don’t like it, you didn’t lose anything!

Please share this article, comment below and tell me your greatest fear of starting voice lessons (even if you really really want to sing!)

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