Vocal Training - How Do You Know If You Need It?

How do you know if you need vocal training? To help you decide, Helene Goldnadel puts the following questions together:

• Breath - can you get enough breath in; can you control that breath when it is directed at your vocal cords?
  

• Open throat - Do you EVER experience throat tightness resulting in a feeling of vocal strain?
  

• Articulation - Does your audience have trouble understanding you? Could a deaf contingent in your audience read your lips and face and understand you? (They should be able to.)
  

• Emotional connection - can you line up your performance focus and make somebody feel what you're trying to communicate?
  

• Range - do you have enough vocal range to sing your songs without strain?
  

• Mix - can you sing in a constantly changing mix of head and chest so that your voice doesn't "break"?
  

• Volume - can you control your levels so that you don't yell in places and then disappear in other places? (This is a nightmare for your listener or the recording engineer.)
  

• Pitch - Do you have pitch problems?
  

• Tone - Is your voice harsh or weak, tinny or "hooty", limited in "colors" with which you can communicate different emotions, missing richness and resonance?
  

• Miscellaneous vocal problems - Are you needing to recover from vocal damage or dysfunction? Do you have trouble with uncontrolled "flutter" when you sing? Is your voice too breathy anywhere in your range? Does your voice hurt in any way when you sing? (Note... if you sing properly you will get physically tired, but you should not get vocally fried).
  

• Level of vocal ability - Do you want to increase what your voice can do in any way?
  

This checklist by Helene Goldnadel should help you with your decision as to whether or not to take vocal lessons. If you are already studying voice, this list can help you figure out whether or not your training is working. If you are a vocal student with a coach you love, you can use this guide as a checklist for further goals you wish to reach. Discuss them at your next vocal lesson for purposeful vocal advancement.