We asked one singer why she sought professional singing lessons and what she finds most useful about them. The answers might surprise you.

Do your singing lessons hit the spot with students? Does your website tell potential customers what they want to know?

It can be challenging as a singing teacher to know if the hard work you put into marketing and lesson prep strikes the right balance.

To shed some light on this issue, we spoke to singer Jackie Pryce about her experience finding the right singing teacher. Here’s what she had to say.

Jackie’s background

Jackie has always loved singing. She performed in musical theatre as a teenager and joined her first band at 19.

After gigging with various groups in the 80s and 90s, she formed the duo Maud’s Dog with her (now) partner Mark Fisher in the noughties. The pair gigged off and on for several years.

After the pandemic, Jackie reappraised her priorities and decided to have professional singing lessons. “I asked myself: what do I want to do more of? And the answer was singing.”

Jackie’s search for a like-minded singing teacher led her to Alexa Terry, and they started lessons in the summer of 2021.

So, have lessons lived up to Jackie’s expectations? Here are her thoughts.

What did you want out of singing lessons?

I felt I needed to reassess my voice and see where my range was because it changes as you get older. The voice naturally lowers with age, which is nice because you get some lower notes and a bit more richness.

I also wanted to refresh my technique, build my confidence and extend my range.

What did you look for in a teacher?

Kindness, patience and honesty along with a thorough knowledge of the techniques of singing.

Another thing that was important to me was performance experience. I wanted a teacher who understood performance anxiety and how to address it.

Personal goals

Although I naturally have quite a low speaking voice, I wanted to develop my chest voice.

I also wanted the tools to try things out for myself and understand what’s going on with my voice. That way, when I’m not in a lesson, I can still modify things when I need to and get the best out of my voice.

What didn’t you want?

It wasn’t enough for me to just do some exercises and sing a few songs; I wanted to also learn about voice production.

Expectations at the first lesson

My goals were to improve on pitching and vocal control and to extend my range as well.

Also, when I’m feeling low in confidence, I want to be listened to and for someone to understand and help me work through issues methodically.

Impact on performance

Something that we worked on together is my chest voice. There were some notes down in the C3, D3 and E3 areas that I couldn’t really get to; they were quite weak. But we worked on that with exercises – and I also did the exercises myself at home. 

As a result, I extended my range by about two or three notes, which is amazing. My voice has strengthened and having that wider range is great.

Now, I love using my chest voice, and I have so much more confidence because I know I can get down to those notes.

Useful exercises and takeaways

What helps is when I sing a song, we record it and then listen to it back together.

I’ll listen and think of the bits I need to work on. And then I’ll usually say [to Alexa]: ‘What do you think?’ It’s important to get that feedback but also for the teacher to avoid coming across as too critical, as it could be quite crushing.

Also, at the end of the lesson, Alexa sends me notes reiterating what we have discussed. They’re really useful and serve as a good reminder.

What qualities do you think make a great singing teacher?

A good sound knowledge of the technicalities of singing and exercises that match the needs of my voice. I think a willingness to teach holistically, treating the person as a whole, is also important.

Knowing that many different issues can affect the voice and taking that into account is key, as is the ability to give honest feedback.

Want to know more?

Listen to our full-length interview with Jackie on the Singing Teachers Talk podcast.

Inspired to develop your teaching skills?

If you’re a singing teacher who would like to expand your teaching skills and knowledge of the voice, take a look at BAST Training’s range of courses.