So, over here I’ve discussed what will happen in your first singing lesson. But what can you expect to achieve in your first six months of regular singing lessons?

Choirs are the best. I’ve been in choirs since I was eleven years old and have run my own community choir for the past 15 years. As we leave our fortnightly rehearsal, the choir members and I often remark that we were in a bad mood when we arrived, but after 60 minutes of singing we feel refreshed, content and positive. I hear the same from friends in choirs all the time. 

The benefits of singing in a choir have also been researched and found to have a profound effect on mental health and brain function  (you can read about it here). But every choir has a unique style or flavour. How do you know which one will work for you? Here are a few things to consider or ask about before you join a new choir.

Whether AMEB examinations are right for you or your child is a bigger question, but what I want to talk about here is the difference between the three different strands of AMEB Singing:

In my teaching, I often use videos of wonderful singers to illustrate a point, demonstrate an idea or simply to inspire my students by watching some of the greats. YouTube is absolutely awash with amazing videos of all kinds of singers and I always love discovering new videos of performances. However, I keep returning to the following clips. You can read the details of the performance (ie. where and when) on YouTube. For the purposes of this article I’ll just be detailing why I like to use them. 

When I tell anyone new I meet that I’m a singing teacher this is inevitably the first question they ask, followed closely by “can you sing us a song?” It’s an interesting and broad question so let’s break it down into the three questions people ask next:

For a lot of people, a first singing lesson can be an exciting but daunting experience. My personal belief is that all people can sing and with a few tips, 99% of people can sing in tune and beautifully. My goal in our first lesson is to figure out what you want to get out of lessons and to make you feel comfortable using your voice in this new environment. With that in mind, here are a few typical elements of a first singing lesson: