This is a continuation of my August, 2001 article in Music Education Madness on "Teaching Voice to Beginners." In the first lesson the student and teacher conduct a mutual evaluation of each other. For me, the first lesson is NOT an audition. The only reason I won't take a beginning student is age (my students must be at least 8 years old and able to read). My goal in the first lesson is to evaluate the skills of the student and to lay out clear requirements for the future. The student, on the other hand, is auditioning me: her goal is to see whether or not she really wants voice lessons. If the student shows up at the second lesson, that means that I, the TEACHER, have passed the first test.

OK, so auditions are important--ya gotta get in the show--but it's the performance that counts. The second lesson may be the most critical lesson you ever give to your beginning student. You will actually teach her something, possibly several things. However, my observation is that in the second lesson you must walk a careful line: you don't want to overwhelm her or intimidate her, yet you also want to show her there's lots to learn and you want to make sure she understands that hard work (and practice) will be necessary.

Let me expand on this point, which is essential to teaching the young beginner in voice. Adult beginners know they need you. They tend to have specific objectives, and to be very aware of their vocal problems. Often, they've tried to "fix" the problems on their own and gotten nowhere. They don't expect an overnight transformation. The challenge with adults is that, although they understand their needs and respect you as a professional, they sometimes find their lives are full of other commitments and they drop out.

In contrast, teens and pre-teens, even with those who come across as shy and bashful, often have the illusion that a few voice lessons will make them a star. Funny, isn't it? They don't have this illusion about piano or violin lessons-everyone knows you don't just pick up a violin and play it like a virtuoso. But they've been told they have an 'nice voice,' they've gotten a solo in chorus or they've sung a role in the 5th grade Christmas pageant, and, voila, they're ready for Broadway, give or take a little coaching. (Of course, parents are hardly objective, either!!) Yet, they still have that fragile, fragile ego, that gripping fear of failure in front of an audience...

• My objectives for the second voice lesson are:
  
  · Let the student know she has lots to learn, yet reassure her she can do it.
  · Make a practice tape for the student, and explain her practice regimen.
  · Grill and drill the student on scales and scale fragments ("frowns, smiles, and snakes").
  · Begin teaching song repertory.
  

The Practice Tape
Hopefully, the student brought a blank cassette tape to the lesson, upon which I tape record a five-minute set of vocalises, mostly ones from Basics of Singing, which don't come on the CDs. I used to have the student sit while I recorded into tape-recorder, but my recorder was out of batteries one day, so I recorded using the Karaoke machine. This actually works better because the student is involved (she has to hold the mike to me while I sing a demo, then point the mike to the keyboard for the repetitions).

The vocalises include legato and staccato exercises, together with scales and octaves. My instructions are that the student do the exercises four times each day, in two sets of two (i.e., twice through in the morning, twice again after school; or twice through after school and twice through after supper.) ROSE'S RULE: Practice every day means practice every day. Don't come in here and tell me you practiced for four hours yesterday and that covers you for the week.

Make sure that you ask the student if she understands how to do the exercises, and go through them all during the first few lessons as a warmup.

You will often find that students have a problem with legato singing. They introduce an "h" sound between the notes. Be patient. First, they must hear what they are doing. Hearing the mistake is a skill in itself. Then they must correct it-and the control they have over their instrument can be quite limited. Just make sure your own legato is perfect, and they will get it eventually (by imitation, if nothing else.) I am very serious about this last point-I've been to choral workshops where the presenter is trying to get a legato sound from the chorus and the presenter's own legato lacks at lot!! What you do, your students will do.

If the exercise is at the extreme of the student's range, have her sing it staccato, then go back to legato where she is more comfortable, and work on it. Don't compromise on this point, but, again, be patient, it can take years (I mean YEARS) to develop a perfect legato through the entire range of the student's voice. And DO take the student into her head voice, even it she insists she can't sing that high. Get past the "crack" at about c#' or d' and lo, she can sing that high and higher! (Boys, too.) We'll cover pitch problems in a future article, but be assured, there IS hope, you can correct pitch problems.

For the scale, I demo do-re-mi forwards and backwards on the practice tape, but I also teach them one of my favorite tongue twisters, "Red leather, yellow leather; good blood, bad blood." (If you are not familiar with this, each phrase goes on a scale note, that is, "red leather, yellow leather" on do, "good blood, bad blood" on re, etc.) The student is not allowed to write this one down, nor do I demo it on the tape, because I am already starting to work on memorization.

It's amazing how much improvement results from these simple vocalises. You can really tell which students are practicing, and your positive feedback to the student will encourage her to continue the drills.

Frowns, Smiles, and, eventually, Snakes
Hopefully, the student has also brought her music manuscript book and has memorized the solfege syllables for the major scale backwards and forwards. Usually they've done the first and THINK they've done the second, but, well...

In the manuscript book, I now write out the "frowns". These are seven exercises, do-re-do, do-re-mi-re-do, do-re-mi-fa-mi-re-do, etc. I write them out in the key of C, in half-notes, with a barline between each pattern. Only the highest note in each pattern is labeled with its syllable.

Then I take the student through the patterns in order. Sometimes it takes quite a while for the student to catch on, because I only play "do" and they must sing the rest unaccompanied. If they have not had sight-singing, they simply do not know what they are expected to do. They will sing "do" and stop, and there will occur the silence of complete puzzlement. You have to be very patient. Don't over-explain. If they have a problem, have them start to sing the entire scale, and stop them abruptly. Gradually, they will get the idea. Of course, some students zip right though this because they've had sight-singing in school.

Next, I prove I went to kindergarten by ripping out a page of manuscript paper and making 8 little squares, each labeled with a scale syllable. Then we "go fish" and do the exercises randomly. Again, some students may not understand what is expected (when you pull the square with "la", you sing the pattern labeled "la", i.e., do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-sol-fa-mi-re-do.) The little squares go in an envelope which is taped to the inside cover of the manuscript book.

That's as far as you can go with most students in the first lesson, but with others, you can get to the "smiles" (high do-ti-do, do-ti-la-ti-do, etc.). Make sure you explain why they are called "frowns" and "smiles." Ask the student to observe the contour of the musical line. In the "smile" patterns, the student only hears the low do, she must find the high do herself and then sing the pattern If a student is really capable, I only write out the first two or three patterns and assign her the rest as homework.

Next month (October, 2001) I'll have an article in Teaching the Big Kids on the "Frowns, Smiles, and Snakes". Although the October article is directed to a classroom or chorale setting, you will easily see how to adapt it to private lessons. By the way, I do this for all my young students, no matter what their skill level, and my students love the "snakes!"

The First Song You Teach
The above items should consume no more than the first fifteen minutes of the lesson. Even if you don't fit everything in, it's very important to stop the technique segment and start the repertory segment. Sometimes the student is late, asks questions, forgot to bring the cassette tape or the book, whatever, and you feel "behind schedule."

Still, young students need a set routine, which must be established and kept, lesson after lesson. They are watching the little clock on the piano just like you are, and you've promised them they will sing. Most are not really bored with learning technique, but they are easily exhausted or stressed by the effort of mastering new skills. And they do want to sing. So discipline yourself! What you don't accomplish in the second lesson you can leave for the third lesson.

You will recall from the previous lesson that I divided beginners into three categories. So for each category, let me suggest a first song that you teach (of course, this assumes you are using the materials suggested.)

For the beginners with "challenges," it's pretty straightforward: just go through the book, Teach Yourself to Sing, in order, including the exercises. You really need the additional exercises for these students. The first song, "How Lovely Is the Evening," is quite simple, but you would be surprised how many opportunities it presents to teach (counting off, expression, pronunciation of the text, finding the right note for each phrase, singing the same note over different harmonies, etc.).

For the children who are using Solos from Musicals for Kids, I usually start with "The Bare Necessities" for up-tempo and "Where Is Love" for a ballad. Generally, these two songs will take several lessons to absorb and MEMORIZE and perform. (My studio has a "performance corner.")

The older students (12 and up) who will be using Basics of Singing may not have the book yet. I don't like to start off by violating the copyright law, so I use a song that is in both the 3rd and 4th editions (which I have in my studio) so the student has the song on her music stand. I like "Santa Lucia," because it has a catchy melody, an unfamiliar text with words the student may not know, and it requires good legato. After the student goes through the song a couple of times, she gets a quiz: what is this song about? I really want to start them thinking about interpretation. Of course, they will not be able to practice this song at home, but to my mind this is further incentive to buy the book. And they have the exercises to do!

What's Next?
Next month (October, 2001), please see my article on "Frowns, smiles, and snakes." The music concepts taught are

· Drill and grill the scale
· Sight-singing scale fragments and patterns
· Snakes (really twisting and moving around that scale!)
· Chasing the snakes (harmonizing in thirds), for more advanced students.

Future articles on teaching voice will cover

• Pitch problems
• Expanding the student' vocal range
• Teaching rhythm to voice students
• Interpretation of the text
• Pronunciation and enunciation
• Arpeggios and other skips
• Composing your first song (uses the pentatonic scale-always works!)Preparing for the recital (yes, you do have to sing in the recital).