Listen!

Weekly Teaching Tip – Aug. 24, 2015
by Agata Pisko

Why are certain singers booked a lot and why others aren’t?

How can we as teachers help the others to become more successful?

One of the most important conclusions I have made having talked to some of the most successful singers in my area is that they constantly listen. They know old and new recordings of the style they have chosen for themselves. They know other styles as well, they compare sound the voice in different styles, of various singers within the same style. They know why they sing things the way they sing.

Very often I have students who want to sing a song in a certain style – but they actually have little or no idea of how it sounds to sing a song as rock/pop/musical/classic/jazz.

We cannot over jump it, people. We have to make them do their homework. And we definitely have to give them material to listen if they have not found it themselves so far.

It does not have to be much. Give them two songs to listen to until their next lesson. Ella or Sarah for jazz, Incognito or Chaka for R&B, Great Big World and The Beatles for pop, Luciano or Maria for classic, Kiss for heavy metal… etc. Make your own list.

Ask your students to make a research themselves. And tell you next time what singers they have found, why they like them, what is so special about their voices.

Make your students LISTEN.

And if they have not done their homework until next time, spend your lesson listening.

It is as important as singing itself.

It saves time. And money. And brings results.

My next workshop in my area: learning styles by listening. See you there!