The teacher-student relationship is critical to a singer’s artistic and career development. Establishing, nurturing, and maintaining that relationship can be one of the most daunting tasks a singer faces. Last month we discussed how to go about finding a good teacher (see Part One of this article in the online archives at www.classicalsinger.com). This month, let’s look at how to determine whether that teacher is working for you, and perhaps even more difficult, what to do when a situation isn’t working out.
Red Flag, Green Flag
How do you know you have a good teacher, anyway? How do you know you have a poor one? Sometimes it’s obvious, but just as often it’s more a matter of subtle signs and judgment clouded by a variety of factors.
First, the green flags. A good teacher has a great attitude. He or she is passionate about teaching; it’s not just a way for them to pass the time and make money between their own singing gigs.
A good teacher behaves professionally. He or she is respectful of your time, starting and ending lessons on time and giving you their full attention—no phone calls, snacking, or other distractions. No one should be in the studio except the teacher and the student, unless the student has given permission for an auditor or perhaps a well-behaved pet to be present. Lesson time should be spent on instruction, not excessive chatter and anecdotes about the teacher’s own career (unless they are pertinent to the instruction).
The teacher should be clear about studio policies, letting you know the rules, fees, and cancellation policy up front, with no guessing games. The teacher should also be available to the student, within reason, responding to
phone calls and e-mails promptly. (Students must be respectful of the teacher’s time as well. If you have detailed questions that will take more than a few minutes to answer, you should address them in your lesson or book a separate, paid time to discuss them.)
A good teacher is open with knowledge. He or she should encourage questions and should never become angry or defensive when you ask for explanations about technique, repertoire, exercises, career opportunities, or any instruction. Furthermore, a good teacher should be able to explain clearly why he or she is assigning certain exercises or repertoire and what those assignments are expected to do for the student. Students should be welcome to record lessons.
A good teacher is proud, never jealous, of a student’s progress. He or she is happy to recommend appropriate audition and performance opportunities. (I once suffered a teacher who did not allow me to advance to the second round of a competition, because she was angry that I won the fi rst round instead of her preferred “star” student!)
A good teacher will teach you to analyze, comprehend, and selfcorrect. A good teacher wants you to rely on his or her guidance, but also Gianni Schicchi, Opera UCLA, photo by Todd Cheney wants you to develop your own educated, well-thought-out opinions. A good teacher’s ultimate goal is to set you free from dependence on others’ opinions. You will always need checkups, but ultimately, you should know enough about your voice and technique to be able to selfcorrect most of the time.
Good teachers should also be good singers. If they have major technical difficulties in their own singing, they cannot help but pass them on to their students. It’s not enough to be a good singer, however. A good teacher must also understand how to communicate ideas effectively, and how to develop a voice.
Teachers have many different ideas about good technique—and very little codified language. Every teacher has his or her own way of explaining concepts. Fundamentally, good technique makes singing easier, never more difficult. Singing should never be labored or require excessive movement of the abdomen, shoulders, or rib cage. Good technique is never painful and never results in vocal fatigue or hoarseness. If you are singing correctly, are not going through a Fach change, and are not being affected by allergies, acid reflux, or some other outside force, you should never lose range, only gain. You should feel happy and confident about your progress and secure in your knowledge about your voice, rather than confused and frustrated.
I recently heard from a young lady who had begun with great promise. She had been offered scholarships to a prestigious institution, which for personal reasons she was unable to accept. She decided to continue studying in her hometown. Just a few years later, she re-auditioned, and was not even accepted to the school. She described several vocal problems to me that “no one seems to know how to fix.” She was understandably frustrated and puzzled by her decline in vocal progress, and wondered what the problem could possibly be. Sadly, the problem is easily diagnosed, even without hearing her: poor teaching. Vocal decline is always a big, bright, red flag.
If you find that you are often feeling confused and frustrated during or after your lessons, this may also be a red flag. Your teacher may be just as frustrated as you are. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have a poor teacher, but it may be time to attempt better communication. Teachers are not mind readers and they are not therapists. If you have a problem, broach it with your teacher. A good teacher will be happy to have an opportunity to resolve the difficulty. Bad teachers, on the other hand, are often defensive when approached with a
problem they don’t know how to resolve.
Perhaps the biggest red flag is any type of abusive behavior. If a teacher harms your selfesteem, hurts your feelings, or abuses you in any way, get out. There is absolutely no reason to put up with abuse, vocal or psychological. Sadly, many abusive teachers out there are sabotaging singers’ talent and souls. In my book, The Student Singer’s Starter Kit, I have included a section on abusive teachers (see sidebar, p. 69).
Remember, you and only you are in charge of your education, your voice, your career, and your life. Don’t stay in a bad situation. Just don’t.
A teacher doesn’t have to be abusive or bad, or even a bad match for you, for your relationship to change and for the situation to cease to be optimal. No one teacher holds all the answers for any one student, and after years of profi table study you may find that you’re no longer progressing. You may be getting bored with lessons, or feel that you have a few technical areas that don’t seem to be resolving, no matter how hard you work on them. Communication may be getting more difficult. Both you and your teacher may be getting frustrated or just feel that you’re in a rut. These are signals that it may be time for a break or a change.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Leaving a bad or abusive teacher is difficult, but leaving a beloved teacher you’ve outgrown is just as hard. Bad teachers make it hard for you to leave and frankly do not deserve much consideration (abusive teachers deserve none). Remember, whatever else your relationship with your teacher has been, it is at its heart a business relationship. It is good business to progress and grow, and sometimes that means leaving. This is your voice, your education, and your career, and you have a fi nite amount of time to get it right. If you are no longer getting what you need from a relationship, it’s time to make a clean break.
Make an appointment to speak to your teacher and prepare what you want to say ahead of time. It is not necessary to go into details about what isn’t working. Simply tell them how much you appreciate the work you’ve done together, but regretfully you feel that it’s time to move on. This is not easy to say, especially to someone you care about and respect. You may want to take a small gift, card, or flowers to soften the blow, but it’s not necessary. You may be surprised—your teacher may also have been feeling the need for a change. A good teacher may be sorry to lose you as a student, but will be happy for your progress.
If your teacher can be volatile and you’re afraid that the situation might become unpleasant, take a friend or relative along for moral support. Be polite, respectful, and keep it short. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into any arguments. Say what you have to say and get out.
If your teacher is abusive, then and only then do I advocate avoiding speaking to them in person or by phone. They do not deserve a face-to-face meeting and indeed, should not be given any further opportunity to manipulate you. Send a registered letter or leave a voicemail. Keep your message very brief and to the point: “Thank you for your work with me, but I have decided to discontinue lessons with you. I wish you all the best.” Avoid any further contact.
Finally, please don’t spring a studio change on your teacher out of the blue. Before you leave a teacher you have worked with for some time, you should give him or her the opportunity to address any problems, especially since it may be mutually beneficial. But even if it’s really time to move on, avoid burning bridges if you can. You need good contacts in this business, and you never know where someone may end up. It’s often as the head of an opera company you’d like to work for.
Your voice teacher is the second most important person on your professional team. You are the most important. It is vital that you trust and respect your teacher, but your teacher must also trust and respect you, and you must
trust and respect yourself. As a professional, part of your job is to take responsibility for your own education and your own career, and that means keeping control of your own power. You are the boss of you.
A good teacher will support that.
