Voice Teaching

Hi Camille!

I am back with another question, but it is not vocal pedagogy. I've always wanted to become a vocal coach, but how do I do it? My parents are afraid that becoming a musician or voice teacher is not a stable job because it is a self-owned ran business(I hope this phrasing is okay, I can't remember the right words). So I'm wondering how it is possible to be a successful voice teacher. 

Thanks. 

Aaron

Great question, Aaron! It can be self-owned, but you can also work as an associate teacher under a more established teacher in your area. Online teaching sites include Takelessons, Lessons.com, and others. Most voice teachers I know wear many hats - they may teach instruments as well, and they often teach in more than one place. 

As for education: some voice teachers have studied vocal pedagogy or music education in college; others get teaching certification through a company like IVA. Whichever path you take, I recommend having a mentor/guide teacher to supervise your first lessons and help coach you. 

To be successful, you need to get good results for your students (so they'll come back and recommend you)! It can also help to define a "niche" (styles you're particularly good at teaching, or a certain age group or type of student). I recommend the book "Voice teacher influencer" by John Henny - he's very successful and has a lot to say on this!

Thank you so much! I have a different question, and it is on some cool music theory. So, one of the questions on a workbook said, "Circle an interval written in harmonic form". I didn't know what it exactly meant so I went to the answer, and I saw they circled an A and F# chord. I thought about it for a while, and I'm a bit confused because the only other time I heard "harmonic" was "harmonic minor scale" which doesn't relate to the music because I found out it was in the key of E Major. Can you help me understand the context of "harmonic" in this question, please? Thanks!

A couple of friends of mine run successful music tutoring businesses, but they do it part time alongside more formal day jobs. As such it doesn't matter if they have a few lean weeks as they have the wages from their day jobs to support them. 

Stick up adverts locally and I'm sure you'll get work rolling in.  

Hi, Aaron! Harmonic vs. Melodic, when referring to intervals, would mean played simultaneously (harmonic, or in harmony), vs. played sequentially (one pitch after another, or melodically). Hope that helps!