WHY TAKE VOICE LESSONS?
Singing is one of the most personal, most vulnerable forms of human expression. We each have a unique voice, and sharing it with other people through song can be the most precious gift we can give. I love to sing, and I love helping others find their voice and learn how to sing.
I encourage singers who are serious about performing to take regular voice lessons in order to learn a solid foundation of healthy technique, as well as work on appropriately challenging repertoire. Those who love to sing and want to sing better by improving their intonation, tone quality, stamina, or any other qualities are also encouraged to take private vocal lessons. Singers of all ages are welcome to take voice lessons, providing they have the ability to focus on their posture, breathing and sound for the duration of the lesson, follow instructions, and practice outside of lessons. Undeveloped voices will build healthy habits and learn musicianship and repertoire until the voice can be “trained” as it matures. In my experience, students under age ten are not mature enough for the work I pursue in lessons.
As so much performing involves first auditioning for roles, I am happy to work with students on audition preparation for musical theater productions. Bring your pieces or I’ll help you choose some, and we’ll put the technique and performance layers together into a polished package of introduction, monologue and song. As stated above, I encourage all serious performers to take regular lessons, not just audition coaching.
WHAT IS A TYPICAL LESSON LIKE?
We will begin with 10-30 minutes of vocal exercises to warm up and train the voice. Specific exercises will focus on the vocal challenges and goals we are addressing. We may come back to more vocalizing as we encounter challenging sections of your repertoire. I will try to give you at least 3-4 pieces at a time so you do not get bored with the material. We will usually work on 2 pieces at each lesson, more or less depending on the work we need to do on each piece. I don’t accompany well, so I use recorded accompaniments. We may work on a song anywhere from 2 weeks to 10 weeks, and may bring it back again months later. The style of music is up to you, so bring in your music or I’ll help you choose some!
Singing technique is only one piece of the puzzle – performing a song takes investment in telling the story, not just executing the notes and rhythms correctly. I love helping students add that next layer of intention and emotion to bring out the artistry of singing and make it a performance.
Some basic musicianship skills (note reading, terminology, music theory, basic piano skills, ear training, etc.) will be included in our time together. If you want to study any of these areas in more depth, we can designate a larger portion of our lesson to those pursuits. I recommend that all singers learn at least basic piano.
PRACTICES & POLICIES
I teach students age 10 and older. Younger singers can join a choir and take piano lessons to build musicianship skills while the body and brain are still developing the skills necessary for private lessons with me.
Tuition is $68 for a 45-minute lesson and $80 for a 60-minute lesson. Tuition is discounted for students committing to the full school year, and for those buying packages of lessons in the summer. Lessons are most productive when scheduled weekly. Most of my upper elementary and middle school students are successful with 45-minute lessons, while my high school and adult students take 60-minute lessons.
Singers are athletes, and in order to fully exercise our singing muscles, daily practice is ideal! Since we are not living in an ideal world, I recommend scheduling 30 minute practice sessions at least 3 times per week. Doing your warm-up track daily is encouraged. If you don’t practice we will basically repeat the same lesson from week to week, which is frustrating for both of us. Sing, sing, sing!
Prospective students (and/or parents) will receive detailed studio policies via email upon inquiry.
Student Activities
Laura’s voice students have performed with the 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-it Repertory Theatre, SecondStory Repertory, Renton Civic Theater, Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre, Kitsap Forest Theater, The Repertory Collective, Studio East, Youth Theatre Northwest, CORE Theatrics, Redmond Academy of Theatre Arts, Village Theatre's KIDSTAGE, Bellevue Youth Theatre, the Seattle Women's Chorus, Kirkland Choral Society, Seattle Symphony Chorale, Seattle Bach Choir, Sweet Adeline's choruses and quartets, and many local schools. They have earned recognition in the Puget Sound, Tahoma and Northwest Region NATS Student Auditions, placed 1st and 2nd at Solo & Ensemble competitions and advanced to the state contest. Others have been honored with scholarships and other recognition from the Schmidt Vocal Competition, the CS Music International Vocal Competition, Lake Washington Singers, the Pitzer/Weeks Scholarship Fund, the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition, and the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside for both Musical Theater and Classical performances. Several have gone on to study music and musical theater at the college level, and many continue to make music a priority in their lives.