Tips for Successful Online Voice Lessons

DO ONLINE VOICE LESSONS REALLY WORK? THE SHORT ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY.

We are so lucky in this day and age to be able to learn a huge variety of skills via the internet, and singing is one of them.

I’ll admit, at first, I was skeptical of online voice lessons.

I insisted on driving an hour each way to have an in-person lesson with my teacher until finally, one day I just didn’t have time to make the drive.

I took my lesson online, and I was blown away by how good it was.

In many ways, it felt even more effective than being in person. I was more focused. I wasn’t frazzled. I had all of my materials organized and ready. And, it was all in the comfort of my own home.

Another benefit of online voice lessons is that you have access to the best and most highly skilled teachers in the world no matter where you live, so you can find just the right fit for you.

Online Lesson Downsides (And Solutions)

Truth.

The only real downside I have found with online lessons (aside from the occasional unstable internet connection), is that there is a bit of lag time with the sound of the piano and the student singing, so as a teacher, I’m unable to accompany you because of that.

So, the workaround is that I will play the exercise pattern for you, and then you’ll sing it back acapella (that’s Italian for “without instrumental accompaniment”).

For song application, you’ll have a device on your end to play your accompaniment track so that you have something to sing along to during that portion of the lesson.

I also have recordings of the scale patterns so you can practice and learn them before your lesson. This makes singing the scales acapella much easier during your lessons.

Tips To Help You Get The Most Out Of Your Online Lessons!

1. Make sure you have a GOOD internet connection. I like to plug directly into my modem via an ethernet connection so that there won’t be any wifi interference, but with a good fast connection, even if you don’t plug straight in, you should be okay. A public connection is not going to be as fast as your connection at home, so keep that in mind.
2. Find a quiet, safe space to have your lesson. You don’t want people walking through to get a snack from the kitchen while you’re in your lesson. Finding a bedroom or office where you can close the door is ideal and it will also help with external noise.
3. Turn off your phone or place it in “do not disturb” mode.  Ringing, dings, and buzzing are distracting during a lesson. Close any other apps and silence notifications and incoming calls so you don’t get disturbed. They’ll still be there after your lesson :)  
4. Prepare your sheet music, lyrics, and tracks.  I recommend having them printed out on paper and organized in a binder so that you can make notes of vowel adjustments, breaths, or dynamics. Have them out and ready so you aren’t taking valuable lesson time to get them set up. 
5. Use a separate device for lyrics and music.  Please DON’T try to read your lyrics or music off of the same device you are using for our lesson. If you do, especially if you’re using a phone or tablet, then I usually can’t see you anymore.
6. Use a different device for your song tracks. If you are using a laptop or computer for your lesson, then you could have a phone or iPad to play your tracks. This way it doesn’t interfere with the sound of your voice going into the device.
7. Check your device's power before you start.  Make sure your device or computer is plugged into power or starting with a full battery. Nothing worse than your phone or computer dying in the middle of a lesson and missing part of it to run off and get a charger.
8. Have your water ready! Have water within reaching distance, so you don’t have to run off for that either! Bonus points if you also have a straw we can use during your lesson :)
9. Check your angles. Make sure I can see you clearly and from a good angle. Prop your phone up on a bookshelf if need be. If you’re using your computer and can’t get your head in the frame without angling the screen way up, then just step back slightly so there is a bit more distance between you and the lens. 
10. Sitting is an option. You can choose to sit for your lesson, but imagine that you are standing from your “sit bones”. That lifted posture will help keep you breathing optimally for your singing. Sitting on your bed is not optimal because it’s more difficult to sit tall.

Which Platform To Use As A Teacher/Student:

There are many online video chat platforms out there, but the most common for voice lessons seem to be Zoom and Skype. I’ve used both a lot, but currently, I prefer Zoom. 

Here are the pros and cons of both platforms as well as tips to optimize your audio.

ZOOM

Zoom Pros:

• It’s free to sign up.
• It’s easy for me to record your lesson or enable recording for you on your end.
• It gives both a video and a separate audio file. That way neither the teacher nor the student has to horse around with extracting audio from the video if the student wants to save the audio file on their phone.

Zoom Cons:

• You have to have the student set their audio settings so that Zoom isn’t trying to “suppress background noise”. Otherwise, it will mute the singer on sustained notes or semi-occluded exercises like lip trills.
• If the student is on a tablet or phone, they CANNOT change the audio settings, so they will sometimes sound muted. I have tried to do it from the iPad settings and from Zoom, and I have yet to figure it out. Have the student get closer to the mic.
   

OPTIMIZING AUDIO FOR ZOOM:

This is important! If you are running Zoom from a desktop or a laptop, follow these steps before your lesson.

1. Make sure you have the most updated version of Zoom.
   
2. Follow instructions to update if required. A message will appear letting you know it’s been updated. 
3. Go to Zoom preferences and find “Audio Settings”
   
4. Scroll down to Audio Profile.
   
5. Select “Zoom optimized audio”.
6. Select “Low (faint background sound)”

SKYPE

Skype Pros:

• You can use a free account.
• You just need to turn OFF “noise cancelation” in the audio settings, and it sounds good.
• You can record the lesson as a video and it can be downloaded from the chat window for 30 days.

Skype Cons:

• You can’t pause the recording. If you stop it, Skype will create a new separate video file.
• Skype does not create a separate video file. Scroll down to Pro Tips to learn how to extract the audio.

Pro Tips

CREATING AN AUDIO FILE FROM YOUR SKYPE VIDEO RECORDING:

1. Download the video file from the chat window to your computer.
2. For Mac users:
1. Open the file in Quicktime.
2. Go to File > Export > Audio
3. For Windows users: Use a media player like VLC Media Player (free, open source).
1. Open VLC.
2. Go to Media > Convert/Save.
3. When you click Convert/Save, it opens a dialog box wherein you can select the video file which you need to convert to MP3.

OPTIONAL PURCHASE:

If you really want your teacher to hear all the tiny nuances in your voice, any microphone will be an improvement to sound going straight into your phone or computer.

• Here are a couple of reasonably priced USB mics:
• CAD U37 ($59)
• SHURE MV51 ($149)

For more equipment recommendations, visit my Recommendation Page!

Let me know if you have any questions about any of this! Also, if you have your own tips that I haven’t included here, I’d love to hear about them. Share in the comments or send me an email!

Big thank you to Alida of Alida Vocal Studio in Vancouver, CANADA for helping me with my online demo video!