![Seth Riggs at the](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Seth_Riggs_at_the_%22Margareta_Svensson_and_Seth_Riggs_Summer_Vocal_Workshop%22_in_Varberg%2C_Sweden_July_26%2C_2013.jpg)
A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a
music teacher
Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a res ...
, usually a piano accompanist, who helps
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
s prepare for a performance, often also helping them to improve their
singing
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
technique and take care of and develop their voice, but is not the same as a
singing teacher
Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished.
Vocal pedagogy covers a ...
(also called a "voice teacher"). Vocal coaches may give private music lessons or group workshops or
masterclass
Yanka Industries, Inc., doing business as MasterClass, is an American online education subscription platform on which students can access tutorials and lectures pre-recorded by experts in various fields.
The concept for MasterClass was conceiv ...
es to singers. They may also coach singers who are rehearsing on stage, or who are singing during a recording session. Vocal coaches are used in both
Classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
and in
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
styles such as
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
and
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
. While some vocal coaches provide a range of instruction on singing techniques, others specialize in areas such as breathing techniques or diction and pronunciation.
Roles
A vocal coach is sometimes responsible for writing and producing vocal arrangements for
four-part harmony
The term "four-part harmony" refers to music written for four voices, or for some other musical medium—four musical instruments or a single keyboard instrument, for example—for which the various musical parts can give a different note for ...
for backup vocalists or helping to develop
counter melodies for a secondary vocalist. Some vocal coaches may also advise singers or bands on lyric-writing for a music production. Some critics allege that in some cases where popular music recordings credit a singer for work as a vocal coach during a recording, this may be a subtle way of acknowledging a
ghostwriting
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
role, in which the coach writes lyrics for a singer-songwriter or rapper.
In the 2000s, the increasing use of recording software which contains vocal processing algorithms and digital
pitch correction
Pitch correction is an electronic effects unit or audio software that changes the intonation (highness or lowness in pitch) of an audio signal so that all pitches will be notes from the equally tempered system (i.e., like the pitches on a piano) ...
devices is replacing some of the roles of the vocal coach. In the 1970s, if a producer wanted to record a single with a popular sports star with few vocal skills, the celebrity would need weeks of vocal coaching to learn their song and improve their tone and diction. In the 2000s, the vocals are often processed through pitch correction software instead, and rhythm can be corrected with Pro Tools. This enables 2000s-era producers and audio engineers to in order to make an untrained performer's singing sound closer to that of a trained vocalist.
Training and experience
The training and education of vocal coaches vary widely. Many vocal coaches are former or current professional
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
s. Some vocal coaches have extensive formal training, such as a Bachelor of Music, a Master of Music, a Conservatory diploma, or degrees in related areas such as foreign languages or diplomas in human kinetics, posture techniques, or breathing methods. On the other hand, some vocal coaches may have little formal training, and so they rely on their extensive experience as a performer. For example, a native German language speaker who moves to the US may begin providing German diction coaching to amateur vocal students, and over several decades, this vocal coach may develop a broad range of on-the-job experience in coaching German-language singing styles such as
lieder
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...
and
Wagnerian opera
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
.
Vocal coaches may also come to their profession through other routes, such as related musical professions or from other fields. Some vocal coaches, for example, are rehearsal pianists with decades of experience accompanying singers, or former or current choral, music theater, or symphony conductors. More rarely, vocal coaches may come to the profession from a non-musical route. For example, a specialist in
Alexander Technique,
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
, or medical aspects of the throat and vocal cords may begin to specialize in coaching and training singers.
The vocal coaching field is competitive, especially at the highest professional levels. Salaries vary greatly, as do the conditions of work. While a small number of top vocal coaches can command very high hourly or daily rates, most vocal coaches, like most other music and arts professionals, tend to have salaries which are below the average for other professions which require a similar amount of education and experience, such as economists or bank managers. The work conditions vary widely, from part-time or occasional freelance work for individual singers, opera companies, or record companies, to full-time contracts or multi-year jobs for universities (coaching vocal performance students and students in opera courses) or music theater companies.
Methods of instruction
While vocal coaches use many different techniques to teach singing, they will usually instruct students in one or more of the following methods:
* Private singing lessons (usually in 30-minute, 45-minute or 60-minute increments)
* Group lessons (this is two or more students working with the vocal coach; for example, a
barbershop quartet
A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...
might get coaching as a group)
* Recording studio coaching that takes place in a
recording studio
A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
with a
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
and
multitrack recording
Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...
equipment, which is operated by an
audio engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
. Singing for recordings requires different singing techniques than singing at live shows. To give one example, when a singer is performing at a small
coffeehouse
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
gig without a microphone, she does not need to worry about "plosive" consonants (such as the letter "p"); however, when singing in front of a microphone, words with the letter "p" can be overemphasized by the microphone, due to the nature of the way we produce these sounds.
* Workshops (by definition a workshop involves a number of students and the vocal coach; as well, there may be an audience watching the workshop process)
* Digitally or through online singing lessons (e.g., via
Skype
Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
or
FaceTime
FaceTime is a Proprietary software, proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS devic ...
) in which audio or video is transmitted of the instructor singing and the student imitates the instructor. The instructor can also hear the student sing and provide coaching on her or his singing. In most cases, there is a small delay in the audio transmitted during digital voice lessons so the instructor is not able to actively accompany the student. Instead, the voice teacher plays a tone or chord and demonstrates the scale or exercises which he wishes for the student to sing. The student then imitates the instructor. The instructor can then modulate the scale upwards while the student follows singing the same scale pattern.
*
Accompaniment
Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles ...
by a pianist is often part of vocal coaching. The vocal coach may double as a vocal coach and as an accompanist. In other cases, the vocal coach may hire an accompanist to play during the coaching sessions. The piano is one of the most common instruments used for accompaniment, as it can be used to play
bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...
s,
chords
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord (as ...
and
melodies
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
at the same time. Other instruments may also be used (e.g., guitar, Hammond organ, etc.) but are less common.
Nomenclature: vocal coach vs. voice teacher
Within the community of voice teachers, there has been some debate about the terms "vocal coach" and "
voice teacher
A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing.
Typical work
A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in singi ...
".
While many believe the terms are synonymous, some professionals in the music community hold that the terms have slightly different meanings.
The terms "voice teacher" and "singing teacher" are most often used to refer to a teacher that has been educated and instructs
vocal pedagogy
Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished.
Vocal pedagogy covers a ...
, while a vocal coach may not possess the same education level.
In universities, for example, it would be rare to have a professor of voice refer to themselves as a vocal coach, even though they may teach private lessons.
Additionally, the term "voice teacher" or "singing teacher" normally refers to an instructor whose main role is developing the singing voice. The term "vocal coach", on the other hand, may be appropriated by someone who works on stage performance, vocal style or a host of other subjects that are related to voice, but not necessarily teach singing.
See also
*
List of vocal coaches
References
{{Authority control
Singing
Occupations in music