Online Voice Lessons - The Perspective of The Voice Teacher

In my prior post, I detailed the challenges and advantages of online singing lessons versus the traditional in-person voice lesson.  Now I thought I might provide some insight into what your voice teacher hears when you sing over the Internet.

The first is obvious - you do not sound the same via the Internet as you do in-person.  Even if you have the fastest signal and best external microphone, you sound different to me.  Computers, by necessity, compress audio and that compression changes your sound.  If you have a really great external mic, that compression is reduced but even with the best of technology, your sound is just different from an in-person voice lesson.

That presents a challenge to me.  How can I judge a singer if I'm not actually hearing the 'real' sound?  Fortunately, a few short-cuts are available.  The vast majority of my students started lessons in-person before the coronavirus hit, so I know what they sound like in-person.  With some very careful listening, I'm able to 'fill-in-the-gaps" and have an accurate idea of how my voice student sounds.

The other short-cut is that the gap between your Internet sound versus in-person voice lesson does not affect my teaching advice.  Singing online affects your sound primarily by compression and reducing the natural overtones you produce as a singer.  Without getting into too much science, the loss of overtones via the Internet changes your vocal tone quality, but it doesn't eliminate my ability to hear vocal tension.  And since I can hear when you have vocal tension, I can still accurately judge what part of your range or song needs work and improvement. 

I, like everyone else on this planet, has had to change and adapt to the stay-at-home order.  I am one of the fortunate ones in that I can still maintain my passion and career online.  I want to thank all my voice students for their incredible support and passion for music.  Hearing your artistry makes the week go by a lot better!