What is the difference you may have been asking yourself?  You hear these two terms, but it can be confusing to know whether they are just different ways to describe the same thing or really different things.  Well, the mystery shall now be solved:

Voice teachers and Voice coaches are two different things.

There is a lot of spilling over from one to the other though and some people do a both.  But in general this is the deal.

The Voice Teacher

Your Voice Teacher is your vocal technician.  Their job is to teach you the mechanics of the voice and how to use it properly by using the correct technique to get it out of your mouth in the most beautiful, freest way possible.  This will be done through vocal exercises,  (Vocalize!- my book filled to the brim with Vocalizes).  They will discuss and work with you on proper jaw and tongue release, body support, connection, posture, breathing etc…Their job is to teach you how to sing your best technically.  How to get the sound out of you in the best and freest way.  If you are looking on improving your voice and or learning how to sing your best, you want to start with a Voice teacher. (like me )

The Vocal Coach

A vocal coach’s job is to teach you how to approach, interpret, and perform a song.  This has nothing to do with your vocal technique, that is separate. They are usually great pianists, that can play through any of your music.  Their job is to discuss with you your “styling” of a piece.  Kind of like an acting coach for singing.  But this is not about stage direction, more about your approach to a piece of music.  So for example a classical vocal coach would know the difference between different composers and the styles in which you sing them, they would be able to help you develop your cadenzas, help you with your pacing of a piece, your translations, your interpretations.  They would be familiar with the many ways to sing a piece, the history behind the music.

A coach can bring you to that next level of performance.  I had the most amazing coach for years.  I would study with a voice teacher separately and then go to him to learn how to really sing my songs.  He would always give me ideas on the interpretations and styling of my pieces.  He was also great at helping me to add new repertoire.  The man could play the piano just AMAaaazingly.  He gave me the professional level of experience that I was looking for as a singer who was a performer.

Now that you hopefully understand the difference between coach and teacher there is more to be said. Many voice teachers do coach during their lessons.  I know I do,  I discuss interpretation of music, work on performance skills with my students etc…  And many Vocal coaches dabble in technique.  I know my coach did a bit because he had such a fabulous ear for music.  So these two teachers are not a black and white divide.

Some teachers and coaches can do both better than others.  But, the big issue with having both a voice teacher and vocal coach is that you have to PAY FOR BOTH OF THEM.  This is very expensive.  These people (should be) very well trained and worth their fees, but for a singer who has not hit the golden gig yet, it is a tough expense to fork out week after week.

So you need to figure out what is right for you.  If money is not an issue, then go for both.  But if it is, (which it usually is), you probably do not need both unless you are really training at a high level.  Get your voice down first.  Learn from other great singers and allow them to be “your coaches”.  You can also coach once or twice a month while keeping up regular weekly voice lessons, or save your coaching sessions for big performances.  I think coaches come in as you become more professional. They are a fabulous thing to be able to do as a singer, but you need to start by getting your vocal technique together first.

Hope that helped clear it up.

Ariella Vaccarino

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written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of  Voice Lessons To Go(singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

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It is one thing to sing  your line to a piano part or to a CD.  Often when we sing to other music we are able to sing freer because we can loose our inhibitions somewhat in the accompaniment, but we can also be using the accompaniment as a crutch for our ear…

I was hit by this the other day when I was at a rehearsal for an upcoming concert of new music.  The piece I am singing is new to my voice and I have been learning it by playing the piano part of the voice out on the piano and singing to it.  Since the piece was so new I hadn’t had much time to look at the orchestration to see what everyone else was going to be playing while I was to be singing my line.

I really felt insecure on my part at the rehearsal.  My vocal line was no where to be heard except coming out of my mouth.  Nothing in the accompaniment played or really supported my part.  My part had been written like one of the instruments in the chamber ensemble, standing completely on its own like the flute, violin, or viola.

I hadn’t sung something like this in a while and honestly I had forgotten to prepare correctly for it.  Often I am singing to orchestration or piano accompaniment that is supporting my voice part, playing predictable chords underneath and giving me a real cushion to the melody.

I was able to pull off the rehearsal, but I was not secure on my line.  I immediately came home and “re-practiced” the piece singing out my lines acapella and playing the piano parts of the other instruments learning their cues. It was not a completely pitch centered line when I first started and I kept having to check my starting notes, but after a bit, I was prepared.

So don’t forget, not only should you learn your music with accompaniment,  you should turn off the accompaniment and sing through your lines making sure that you are secure on your intervals in your phrases and your starting notes on new ones.  This will give your line more beauty as you are more confident to sing them correctly without any sort of crutch.  (I forgot to head my own advice on this one, but I am glad I got through it so I can be prepared better next rehearsal, and hoping help you all avoid the same situation!)

A practiced singer is a professional one!

written by: Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice lessons To GO (singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want to find out what you need to work on before your next audition? Sign up for my Your Vocal Assessment, where you send me a link or mp3 to your voice with your questions and I get back to you with my professional feedback right away.

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The more professional you come off, the more of a good impression you will make as a singer and performer.  One thing you can do for yourself as a singer is to get yourself organized by creating a polished Repertoire Folder.

Top 10 tips when creating a singing repertoire folder.

1. Your Repertoire folder should be a nondescript plain three ring binder filled with the sheet music of your top songs for auditions and performances.  You can also include a CD with pre-recorded accompaniment if appropriate (say you sing to a rock band).

2. Have a table of contents listing your pieces and their composers.  You may also include song length for reference.

3. Have your sheet music put in front to back with the pages taped together so that the pianist can easily get through your songs with as little page turns as possible.   Some people go as far as to slide their music in plastic protective sheets, I actually do not recommend that because you risk having a glare on the music from whatever lights are provided for your piano.  Make sure your copies are fresh and well printed on a nice paper stock.

4.  Have tabs labeling and separating each piece for easy access.

5.  If appropriate, print the lyrics on a sole page and have that placed before each corresponding piece.  This is great for quick review when sitting at an audition.  Also, you can pull out just the lyric page to sing from for reference if your piece is not yet memorized leaving the sheet music free for the pianist.

6.  If your piece is in a foreign language, your lyric page should include three lines.

1. Lyrics

2. under the lyrics write the  I P A, or pronunciation of the foreign language  written out so you can     read it like english.  Example- Baccio in italian would be written Bach-oh, (break up the syllables as well for an easier read)

3. the actual English.- make sure that you write out the exact English word under the foreign text, not just English lyrics that may have been written to fit the piece.

7. Label the inside of the folder with your name and contact info if you leave it somewhere.  You do not want to put any labels or words on the outside of the folder.  If you are holding the folder when singing you don’t want people finding themselves straining to read what it may say and thus be distrated from your performance.

8. Have a few copies of your picture and resume in the pockets.

9. Make sure to have your top three songs that are ready to go placed first in your book.  These should be memorized and consist of a ballad, an uptempo , and a wild card selection.

10.  Finally, have this book on you at all times.  (Having two is not the worst idea.)  If there is one always in your car or music bag, there will never be an excuse to miss a singing opportunity.  -We never know when these singing they will find us and what they will bring us!

Sing well!

written by:

Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To GO (singing lessons on CD), and author of Vocalize!

www.voicelessonstogo.com