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This post is a response to a student I have who is truly wonderful and I expect will have a nice professional career in musical theater.
A few years ago, I posted on the necessary tools and talents one needs to succeed in the music business. Besides the obvious one of have an exceptional voice, you must excel in acting, entrepreunerial ability, self-motivation, etc... But I left one big detail out. And it is the most important one in terms of whether your child should pursue music as a living, as opposed to a nice hobby. Does the student have an innate NEED to communicate through acting and singing? This need will often show up in a strong work ethic, but it is much more than that. For whatever reason, some students literally NEED to sing. It is the physical, visceral, and emotional desire to communicate through song and move people. If you were to ask me whether someone will succeed in music, it is this NEED that I look for most of all. Lots of people have pretty voices. Many of those work hard, are smart, lucky etc...but only a few really need music in their lives to be happy. If they have this DESIRE, they have the best shot to making a music career. DWS This is perhaps the trickiest question to answer because the question leaves out a key detail. Do you want to know if your child can or already has a beautiful voice?
I have taught at the high school level for Friendswood, Clear Lake, Texas City and other communities in the area for the past 5 years. I can say without any doubt whatsoever that most children, once they have voice lessons with me, have the ability to have a pleasing sound that can entertain and move people emotionally. I am even willing to say that the vast majority of these students, if they apply themselves to their lessons and work hard, can have voices that people will marvel at and state "You should be a professional". The reality is that most school-age children are so ingrained in music and the arts that some vocal training enables these kids to have wonderful sounds, regardless of their starting point. Some come in with obvious talents; others have vocal flaws that disguise their talent, but all can develop a great instrument with the right teaching. DWS First, let me say that I am a big fan of Youtube in certain aspects. It is an invaluable resource for historical and modern performances of both classical and musical theater, and is increasingly becoming a great way to promote young singers without a large investment in money.
But Youtube also has lots of problems. First, ANYONE can post 'voice lessons' and 'vocal exercises' that may or may not help a singer. Many posts simply display a lack of actual knowledge in vocal technique and anatomy that result in videos that could potentially harm a singer. Even the best case scenario - a well-meaning and knowledgeable teacher posts exercises on the Internet - is often useless to the vast majority of singers. This is due to the fact that EVERYONE has a unique voice, and to develop your sound, you really need one-on-one attention. Voice lessons allow a teacher to tailor exercises and hoose songs to develop and show-off your voice; generic exercises are useful only if you know why and how to apply the exercises. A teacher can do that for you, but a video exercise cannot. Even more important, an expert teacher uses their ears to quickly identify if a certain exercise is actually benefiting you, or if you need something else. This is why teaching in any form (public school, home-schooled, private lessons of any type) will never be replaced by a computer. A strong teacher can hear what you need to work on, set priorities and goals, create exercises for your specific needs etc....Teaching is as much an art as it is a science. DWS |
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