Congratulations! You have taken one of the bravest steps you will ever take. You are going to find "your voice". There is nothing more important, profound and rewarding than finding the voice you were meant to communicate with. My philosophy is that vocal training should give you the tools, so that you as an artist can make the choices you need to make in accomplishing your vision. In other words, if you can think it, you should be able to sing it. I feel that the teacher's only agenda is to help the student find and embrace your voice and style. The training will improve self esteem, give you confidence in the choices that you make and move you closer to the organic sound that was given to you.

Singing lessons are for anyone who loves singing. It really is about the creative process which, a highly overused phrase, is really the bloodline of having a better life. Through my years of teaching and living the life of an artist, living creatively, is its own reward. You don't have to do anything with it. You don't have to be famous. You don't have to even be good at it. All that is required is to live it while having a willingness to learn and to enjoy yourself. You would think that this is a fairly easy task. Well, sort of, but not really. And therein lies the challenge.

Besides having a great voice that you can use expressively, being a singer involves many other elements. You must know how to command attention on stage. How to develop what is on the inside and carry it through to the audience? How do you get respect from a band and what do they expect from you as a front person and leader? Do you know what a producer does and if so, how do you find one that will understand who you are and help develop your talent? How do you save your voice, singing night after night?

In teaching singers, I have never met one who did not have more potential range than they knew and were using. Sometimes factors such as smoking cigarettes or anything else that may damage the vocal chords, can limit range expansion. However, in the absence of these inhibitors, an increase of range can be achieved with knowledge, understanding and the right exercises.

What always surprises me is watching students go through all of their fears of looking stupid, sounding bad and because of these fears of being wrong or not being liked the student becomes incredibly frozen or stuck and/or self-judgmental. But guess what? This is part of the creative process. This is how you find your voice. This is what changes you to become a more complete, happier person. And I think you are very brave to be willing to walk through it.

Because I wasn't born with a great voice, I had to find my way by making mistakes, searching out information, almost losing my voice and all through this, singing many different styles from Heavy Metal to Be-Bop. It was quite a ride. Because of having voice problems, I learned through vocal coaches how to fix what's broken. This vocal journey took me through classical training, somatic voice training, Jazz improvisation and an overall study of almost every single kind of music. This background not only gave me the knowledge but the gift of communication i.e. singer to singer. This kind of experience is coupled with the fact that I have been a working singer for 40 years. It is important for the singers that I work with to know that with all of the challenges, I am still singing and my voice continues to improve.

Because I have been down the hard road in gaining my experience, I have found what my job description is. It has changed throughout the years. My job is to not only be aware of where the student is at and have the knowledge to move him/her forward, but it is to create a safe place for the student to develop.

Lessons can be designed for any age and any voice type. You don't have to read music. As I previously said, what you want are the tools to find your voice and that you require to make the choices you need to make as an artist. You will have the confidence to develop your natural ability to communicate your feelings through your voice. This process never ends. I have been singing since 1969 and I still take lessons. I know that it is important to have an outside ear, someone more experienced than I am to give me an opportunity to increase my versatility and performance.

Just as the painter has getter freedom of choice by having more colors available, you the singing artist, have greater freedom to express yourself in a more exciting and emotionally truthful way by using the colors on your palate.

How do you start?
Well, this can be tricky. Every voice teacher is sure that they have the one and only way of training the voice. So if you are not a professional this can be sticky territory while making your way through the bad voice coaches. So let's begin this process as if you are a beginner.

Look at local talent
Go to your local club, concert and/or educational institution and see what singers you really like. Ask them who they train with. See how they are breathing. Are they gasping for air? Is their voice scratchy, are they reaching for their notes? If the answer is yes, then stay away from their coaches because they are probably getting incorrect information. Most of my students come to me after they have had terrible training, don't know how to breathe and voices are in trouble after they studied.

Who is a good fit?
You can have the best vocal coach in the world. But if you hate them, bottom line, you are not going to be willing to go to your lessons. I can't wait to see my vocal coach. He is smart, charming, caring and knows how to hold my hand through the difficult creative process which never seems to end. He is a cheerleader for my progress and I love spending time with him. Now, I'm not saying that if your coach is hard you should leave. Quite the contrary. You want to be challenged as much as possible.

How often should you go?
One of the most important decisions a singer must make involves not only finding a suitable vocal technique, but choosing appropriate vocalizes and exercises which will develop and train the voice as well as help maintain it to ensure a long and healthy vocal life. Eventually, the individual singer must take responsibility for his or her own vocal development, maintenance, and health. In the event that misuse, overuse, or some other factor could cause vocal fatigue or a more severe problem, beneficial therapeutic exercise becomes priceless.

How It Should Work
The first voice lesson will be a basic explanation about how your voice works and the beginning of how to breathe properly. You'll learn a lot of important fundamentals and the instructor will get to know exactly what you can and can't do with your voice. After the first lesson, you will have an overview on how to proceed and what your core issues are.

The main thing is that you find your "core" sound. Then build your stylings, nuance, artistic choices and influence on top of that. Most singers do this backwards. We spend alot of time reversing the process. In other words, you need help in fixing what is broken so that you can continue on with the task of learning to sing properly.

Results to be Expected
At the very least you should expect a range increase of at least an octave. In addition to range extension, there is improvement with tone control, breath control, voice strengthening, dynamics, vocal agility, and ear training. After your vocal technique is in good shape, you will be shown how to apply what you've learned to the songs you sing, working extensively with styling and learning all of the vocal tricks that make for a professional vocal performance.

Goals
The Goals that we are trying to achieve apply to all ages and levels of expertise. First of all, the teacher should have no agenda on what kind of music you want to sing or if you ever sing at all. What is important is that you are improving and the bonus is that it can be a metaphor for life as everything you need to know about yourself you can find out by constantly challenging yourself and understanding the patience it takes to accomplish long and short term goals.

The basics that will be covered are breathing, relaxing, placement of voice (not pushing), posture and warming up. These fundamentals will answer questions on saving your voice, singing seven nights a week, three shows a night and while doing this, your voice will have increased range and power. You will have tangible abilities when done. Even good singer with vocal problems or trouble has basics that need review.

As the training continues, you will cover points of precision. Develop style, phrasing and tone quality. When you are out there singing and need to "cheat" i.e. rock singers screaming, how do you do this and not hurt your
voice. All of this can be covered plus much more.

Are you having problem staying on pitch in the studio? Is there a song you can't quite master or a note that you can't hit? By revisiting some of the basics in vocal training, there isn't a problem that can't be solved. Or if you need to get ready for a recording date or audition, the instructor may be able to put together a "fast track" approach to get you ready. Though, it is not my favorite way to work, I have done this many times and this allows the students to achieve their short term goals. If you live too far to commute some teachers will put together intensive training sessions. In addition, I have been hired by many recording studios to work with their singers in developing "on the spot" technique so that their voice records at its most optimum.

Performance/Application
Instruction may cover many issues including; Being comfortable on stage, handling nervousness and overcoming stage fright, being relaxed when talking to audiences and what to say to them, putting emotion into a performance, physical movement including gesturing in songs and stage manners. An experienced teacher can show you how to stand in front of a band and take charge. In addition, they can demonstrate how to count your tunes, pick your keys, signal the band for breaks, chord changes and the ending of a song. There is a way to command the stage, which leads to your band's respect. Depending on need, they may be able to include the fundamentals of putting a band together and avoiding the drama that can be a part of this process. And most importantly, what is the right key for you to sing in and how do you find that out?

Your instructor may be able to help you with industry contacts, finding material or just overall advice in the business. I know I am more than willing to help. What I don't know, I know the people that do and more than happy to put my students in touch with them". This can include performance, monologue work, arrangements, songwriting, production and more.

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Please go to the bio link on this site for more information about the instructor. http://www.katehart.com