Singing Lessons
MORE THAN LEARNING TO SING
I’ve taught one-to-one singing in schools since 2003 and I can honestly say, every single pupil I’ve taught has grown in confidence, improved their posture, been challenged, encouraged and achieved wonderful things! Music has been proven to help academic learning, it also teaches empathy, communication skills, listening, memory and presentation skills. The helpful thing about singing as opposed to other instruments is that you can learn so much even if reading music is something you find difficult. Learning by ear is also a very important skill to have, as is performing from memory, learning to communicate musically through acting, annunciating and moving.
Though singing can be done without reading music, I do encourage all of my pupils to learn to read, sight sing and learn some music theory. For pupils who find reading music more natural, I teach Grade 5 theory and offer the traditional route of ABRSM exams. Pupils who aren’t interested in this side of music are able to take performance exams instead - don’t worry this isn’t a ‘cop out’, there are other challenges in taking that route! Rockschool is a challenging and contemporary exam board for singing pop, and I also offer Trinity and ABRSM musical theatre exams.
"Jules, I wanted to say that Sofia is really enjoying the singing lessons with you and she feels so much more confident and sings much more! She is so happy to be part of the school choir. Thank you :) "
Alejandra, mum to Sofia, aged 11.
VOCAL COACHING FOR TEENAGERS
IN SW LONDON
What is a good age to start singing lessons?
A good age is from 11 years old onwards and I welcome over 13s. I personally started lessons when I was 14. I don’t usually take on younger than 13 unless they are already at a good standard on another instrument (above grade 3).
What does a typical lesson look like?
- We start each lesson after a brief catch up with 5-6 minutes of vocal exercises to warm up and train the voice. You will have access to my online vocal exercise library to learn and practice these exercises at home too.
- Then we will work on some music reading /sight singing exercises for about 5 minutes (occasionally we miss this out).
- The rest of lesson is dedicated to learning and performing songs. The more prepared you are the more time we get to spend on songs, so make sure to have all your materials - sheet music and backing tracks ready to hand. Even better, try to learn the lyrics and melody from memory as soon as you can as then you can focus totally on your voice and performance!
Do you enter pupils for exams?
Yes! I like to enter pupils in to exams and competitions if they would like to, as it gives a sense of focus and something to work towards; I find pupils improve a lot when they have a goal in sight. Each exam board has good things to offer to challenge students, I work with ABRSM, Trinity and Rockschool. I actually think that Rockschool is the most difficult of all three, even though it is a pop syllabus, so rest assured if you or your child wants to sing pop music, they are not taking the easy road.
I’m happy to say that at least 90% of my pupils since 2003 have achieved a distinction or merit in each exam (including all distinctions at grade 8) and no one has ever failed.