Yesterday was a long, long day. I traveled with two other people to New Jersey for a voice lesson with a high profile (and very expensive) vocal teacher from New York. I don’t know enough about the voice teacher world to give any definite ratings, but I’d guess she was one of the top 50, perhaps top 25, teachers in the world.
Why would I travel so far and pay so much for such a single lesson? Well, there were three main reasons:
- A Roadmap – I’ve really hit a wall with my technique wasn’t getting any better. I felt I could make improvements, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it and what I needed to focus on.
- Expectations – I wanted someone with a great deal of experience to assess my voice and tell me what I was capable of. If a high c will forever be out of my range then there ain’t much sense in practicing towards it.
- Indulgence – I really wanted to see what it would be like to train with one of the best. Are they worth all the fuss?
So we traveled, and we trained. She was a lady with a large personality and an equally large voice. She knew her stuff. She really knew her stuff. When my turn came she put me thru my paces, and after a bit, offered her assessment: “You’re a tenor, not a baritone, and you’re using about a quarter of the potential of your voice”.
If she hadn’t had me singing ridiculous high notes with great ease I’d be almost believe she was just trying to lure me back for more pricey lessons, but there was no disputing the results. On one song where I complained about a troubling high A she had me do a few exercises and then announced “There. You’re singing it on a high C honey. Do it right and the A is no problem.”
Just like the oracles of ancient legends I find her wisdom to be very two-sided. On one hand I’m elated to learn I have such potential, such room to expand my repertoire; but on the other hand I’m very disappointed that the sizable effort I’ve put into improving my singing in the last five years has carried me such a short distance.
I’ve climbed to the peak and find myself at the foot of yet another mountain…