Indeed, I wonder where we can get educated to learn how to sing. I hope you don’t live in a place where you can’t get formally educated, oh wait, that’s not the only way to get better at singing these days.
You can learn to sing formally or informally. Formal education in singing would include attending an institution like a college that grants a degree or diploma upon completion. Informal education would include private classes or online courses. Online courses offer the best value for money to their customers.
It would be wrong to make one thing rise above the rest when all our options in life are so diverse. One option, like going to college may be better for someone while going online would be better for some. But, for the majority of us, online courses are more than effective.
Where You Can Learn Singing
There are a lot of sources from where you can learn to sing.
But first, let’s briefly look at how singing has been taught and how it was developed.
The oldest way that singing was taught, systematically, was in-person. As time went by this education turned formal, which we know as college, and its informal counterpart the in-person classes survived alongside it.
If you’d like to follow a strict curriculum and like to do things quite literally by the book then going to college might be in your favor. If you’re not sure, try giving this article a read.
The in-person classes were transactional, a fraction of what college asks, and depending on how good your teacher was you’d get an equal quality of lessons.
The differences between the two, of course, have interchanged a lot since education has become a lot more accessible and people are far more knowledgeable.
Though, the most striking contrast has been that in informal education people used to be picky about their students, not anyone could find a great master without competency.
And colleges were open to everyone.
You’d argue that’s still the case but I beg to differ.
One of my biggest gripes about music colleges these days is that they reward students who are already good at music and people who are willing to learn are welcomed but at full price. While good students ought to be rewarded it becomes a weird thing as not everyone progresses through artistic endeavors at a steady pace but students who already have these figured out are given free tuition.
Those who need education the most are asked the full price and those who don’t are given free
While informal classes are open to anyone who is willing to pay.
I am not saying that you ought not to go to a music college, if you have the means and the desire to, then by all means you should but I am speaking to the majority of people who’d like to learn for a fraction of the cost of not just the college courses but also in-person lessons.
The only way that I have found to be effective is through online courses.
The best of both worlds. The best combination of structured learning while doing it at your pace, place, and convenience of time with no barrier of entry.
Of course, I am also not saying there is no place for in-person training but I would suggest the most effective way to do it.
So, when you go through an online course and you start to practice, you should consider in-person classes only when you’ve practiced something and you’re seeing progress.
It can be greatly beneficial if you’re able to get another instructor’s opinion on how you’re able to sing given how much you’ve practiced, even if it’s just 30 minutes of practice. But if you don’t meet those criteria and you’re seeing easy and steady progress in your singing then why bother?
College
Colleges are tricky but they’re really a personal decision about how you’d like to learn how to sing.
Even if you go to a college for singing I highly recommend that you still have an online course to rely on.
But, all the facts should be left bare. I have written about it here but I will highly recommend a few things in the upcoming paragraphs.
The biggest reason I don’t think that music colleges aren’t a sound investment for learning how to sing is that they don’t guarantee any kind of job in the music industry.
How you might ask?
The best way to get hired at a job in the music industry is through knowing someone, in professional terms, we call it having a network. The bigger your network the higher your chances of getting something. How can you network when you’re busy learning music at a college that won’t let you graduate unless you pass all your classes?
So, you’re far more rewarded if you move to a city where the music industry is thriving and use your money to showcase yourself and live a healthy and good life. This will allow you to meet other people who are already in the music industry.
Plus, you never introduce yourself with your educational background.
My suggestion is this, apply for scholarships and if you get them wonderful, and if not, think about it.
Self-Taught
Before we talk about anything else, you might be thinking about being self-taught.
There is so much we can teach ourselves but I like to say that being ‘seal-taught’ needs a little bit of clarification because being self-taught while you take someone else’s lessons and guidance will result in amazing progress.
While trying to figure things out by yourself will take a lifetime of trial and error, this kind of self-taught ought to be avoided.
Why should it be avoided you may ask?
While free lessons may work they are not structured and because they’re not structured you can end up trying to learn a skill that is way far beyond your current abilities.
This gives rise to learning techniques incorrectly because the prior knowledge of fundamentals is missing.
Being seal-taught by your own means will allow you to fall for every common pitfall that every singer faces. The easiest solution out of this is going to be to let an online course take care of everything so that you are able to focus more on learning and less on thinking about what you might be potentially messing up.
You’ll improve through practice alone but if you add to the mix the challenge of what’s the best thing to do here for this particular thing then you might never arrive at the desired destination of singing well.
For that same period of time, you could use someone else’s guidance to put into practice and go leaps and bounds ahead.
What Do You Wish to Do?
You need to ask yourself this, what do you want to do?
This is a very personal question.
What do you wish singing to do for you?
I will give you my answer and then elaborate more on this.
Learning to sing has allowed me to sing my own songs. Given my music production skills, I can and have produced, mixed, and even mastered my own songs. So, that’s the end goal for me. I learned to sing so I could sing my own songs well.
The reason I had to learn singing is that singing wasn’t the first thing I picked up in music. I picked up the bass guitar. So my musical journey started off like that. As time went by I picked up other skills. So I went from learning the bass to playing the guitar to writing a few shabby songs to learning to record myself and then finally arrived at singing.
So, beyond the capabilities of my own writing, I don’t really need to do that much as a singer.
It goes a long way to know and see yourself as a particular musician. It will help you answer a lot of questions about why and how you’d like to learn how to sing.
Want the most effective way to learn to sing? Online courses.
But if there is something you’d like to explore and see things in a different light then that’s a different matter altogether.
For example, you’d like to go to college and meet other people and know you’re going to thrive there. Your call, your question can only be answered by you.
So give it some thought.
Practice
You can’t argue this.
Practice is the only way that you’re going to get good at singing.
Even just 30 minutes of practice is going a really long way.
It doesn’t really matter if you go to college or you choose an online course, practice is something that you will have to do.
Knowledge Precedes Practice
It is only when you know what to practice that you’ll be able to practice something.
Acquiring knowledge through online courses is rapid. Watch it once, watch it again and now you know what you need to practice and how much of it. It’s amazing.
With just 30 minutes of watching an online course, you will acquire all that you need to know to practice for the upcoming weeks. It’s really hard to beat its value when you consider how much time it takes to be aware of something this important.
From the moment you buy a course, you can start learning about how to sing almost immediately.
Once done, all you have to do is just practice. Steady and constant practice will allow you to get better at a steady pace.
It’ll Cause Friction
It’ll always be difficult when you’re first starting out. The friction between what you’re trying to do and having never done before is going to be great.
Practice will make it so smooth over time that it will feel like second nature eventually. So give it enough time.
Time
If you’re trying to become a good singer, it’s going to take time.
Patience is highly recommended. Here’s an article on practice.
Consistency will always beat bursts of practice.
It’s going to take time for practice to show its results. Just like building your body and seeing the results. We may like to stand in front of the mirror and pretend we’re better already after one workout but that’s not how it works.
Miracles don’t happen overnight, they are made possible by every small action you take.
Money
The cost of getting knowledge varies.
Colleges are going to charge top dollar for it.
In-person classes are going to be decently priced.
And online courses are going to charge a one-time fee.
You need to make sure that you’re making the right monetary choice and having the option of an online course in my opinion is the best value for money you can ever get.
Given how much and what they make possible, it’s amazing. It may seem like I am speaking too highly of these courses but I would like you to check them out for yourself. I have curated a very good list of courses that you could buy and start your singing journey now if you wanted to.
The reason they’re so effective is also that they are perpetual. If you ever need to show or pass the course down to someone, you could.
Here is the page for the courses I recommend.
Effectiveness
What’s the more effective option for you?
What is going to get you closer to your goals?
What is it that isn’t allowing you to reach the level of singing you ought to but can’t? Not knowing something? Not doing something?
These questions can only be answered by you.
For the majority, and I mean a huge majority of us, the best way for learning how to sing is through online courses. Their money and how much they teach us for the price they ask is going to allow us to propel our singing forward.
All the best.