How to look for a good local vocal coach?

wojtek

Hey guys,
I have been thinking about getting some vocal lessons, to help me overall, have someone from outside to monitor me/my progress in real time. Having someone who regularly checks my progress which increases my motivation/everyday practice.

So my question is, what should I have in mind/look for when searching for the right vocal coach?
Does this vocal coach has to teach open throat technique for it to work out, or are there other compatible techniques?
Does anyone have personal lessons and if so, how do You make it an addition to KTVA course?
I can always focus on my phonation, support,vibrato, relaxation, stuff that is somewhat universal - sounding good etc.

What are your thoughts?

sjonrokz4u

Did you see today’s stream

wojtek

I saw most of it (will watch the rest of it). He talks a lot about the credentials, testimonies and being straightforward/not bs. This always applies and is something I ofc will look at. These are kinda obvious things. But most of them don't have it, just an advertisment with degree, experience and what they can help you with (kinda general).

Mysti

I think it is best if the teacher teaches similar to Ken. Open throat for sure, not SLS. There is always the option of Skype lessons with Ken too.

sjonrokz4u

I found my vocal coach by asking a very respected guitar teacher I knew around town and took lessons from growing up. So maybe ask people you know and respect who they’ve worked with?

wojtek

Mysti said:

I think it is best if the teacher teaches similar to Ken. Open throat for sure, not SLS. There is always the option of Skype lessons with Ken too.

I guess I can always ask a teacher to look at some of the KTVA videos on yt and say if his approach is somewhat similar,
At first I thought about lessons with Ken, then I saw how expensive they are... that's insane for a normal person, for that money I can have a 4-5 months worth of weekly lessons.

sjonrokz4u said:

I found my vocal coach by asking a very respected guitar teacher I knew around town and took lessons from growing up. So maybe ask people you know and respect who they’ve worked with?

I ahven't been around this kind of environment for a few years, but that's actually a good idea. I'll try it out

Mysti

@wojtek

I recommend you also find out the style of singing they like or are most familiar with. I ran into this issue with piano lessons. It seems everyone wants you to learn classical on piano, and I have no interest in music that doesn't also have a voice part to go with it. If your teacher teaches you good open throat technique to complement your courses with Ken, and teaches the style of music you love, your money will be much better spent.

Wigs

I tend to agree with all the above, to get the most out of Kens course, you will need a teacher that can work in tandem with what you are learning here. Any deviation or conflicting information will only waste your time and cause frustration. This will be difficult to find someone like this, if you are very disciplined you could ignore everything that goes against KTVA, but then you've wasted some money with someone giving you information you aren't going to use anyway.

It seems you already know what to look for, good luck!

Alaria

Be careful of classical voice teachers or opera singer/teachers that say "there is only one right way to sing." There are some classical voice teachers that won't even let you belt ala musical theater style, let alone sing rock.

wojtek

So I ended up with a classicly trained teacher. We did 3-4 lessons total, then I decided to not continue them.
Overall I am quite satisfied with the results. We worked mostly on my tone, way of projecting the sound for it to sound good/pleasant to listen to.
It was missing anything connected to bridging/headvoice or mixed voice so that's why after few lessons I decided that I got most from what I could expect to get (plus the environment wasn't too professional).

@Alaria This might've been the case, but not so extreme ;p But even if You stumble across someone like this, it might also be beneficial just to take a couple lessons, just to get to know a certain apporach a little more.

In the future I will definetly book some lessons with someone else