Can You Learn to Sing from Youtube?

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