Adults only please.
Lessons are £40 for one hour and must be paid for when booking. I operate a strict 24 hour cancellation policy. Lessons cancelled without 24 hours notice will be charged in full.
Please email me. I need to know all about you! Singing is personal and no two people are the same. Tell me about your singing experience, your goals, any vocal issues or problems, your state of health - physical and mental/emotional, the type of music you like and want to sing, your occupation, hobbies etc.
At your first lesson, you will need to have something ready to sing. Please come prepared. I recommend you record the lesson.
Please arrive on time. If you arrive early, please wait.
In your first lesson, I will try to put you at your ease. Even hardened professionals can be anxious with a new teacher! I have a cute and friendly dog who is a great ice-breaker. Please let me know if you don't like dogs - he won't be offended! You will sing your piece and I will observe you. I enjoy the diagnostic side of teaching and can usually put my finger on the main issues straight away. Interestingly, complete beginners often have few vocal problems whilst the more experienced singers will have many! Years of untrained singing can lead to quite entrenched bad habits.
I will give you a brief overview of how the voice works - the primary physical structures and their relationship to one another. We will explore breath, support, onset of tone, resonance, postural alignment, and tension. I will introduce you to exercises to help you set up the voice which will become part of your warm-up regime.
Future lessons are very much led by you. Hopefully, you will practice regularly (knowing how to practice is a skill in itself and one I can help you with) and I can give you new exercises that stretch your abilities and build new strength and control into your voice. If you don't practice, your old habits will remain. There is a lot of information on the web about creating new neural pathways - you can't do it without practice!
We will look at the piece you are studying or hoping to improve and explore the character, text, emotional nuances, phrasing, dynamics, articulation etc. If you are working towards a performance, we can also explore stagecraft, gesture, confidence, anxiety, working with other musicians, microphone technique and other technical aspects (eg. get the guitarist to turn down!), recording issues, audition advice and other industry-related stuff.
I have a wealth of experience I want to share with you. If you are ready for the journey, I'm here to help you.
ADDRESS:
79 Russell Road
Forest Fields
NOTTINGHAM
NG7 6HA
CONTACT:
Email: sarah@simplysinging.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)7790 454622
LINKS:
British Voice Association (BVA)
Association of Teachers of Singing (Aotos)
Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM)
simplysinging.co.uk