Singing Teacher Patience

Teaching new singing students, especially beginners, is not for the faint of heart.

It’s a slow burn—getting to know their personality, discovering what lights them up, figuring out how they learn, navigating all the "off days," and easing into a groove where exploring the voice feels natural and fun. Trust? That takes time, more than you might think, and no two students are on the same schedule. 

Teacher Trap:
Students who need more time and support can make us feel unsure about our abilities as voice teachers.

Teacher hard truth: There are no magic exercises that fix all the things. Technical exercises are tools to help student make connections with their voices. Voice students need oodles of repetition, reassurance, and exploration. It is a lifetime of discovery.  As long as you’re being mindful of the needs of a beginner, you’re probably doing just fine. The secret sauce? Kindness, curiosity, and patience. Sit back, enjoy the process, and celebrate each lesson's teeny tiny (but so important) wins.

Repetition and review are built-in to all FULL VOICE Workbooks.

How Long is Your Voice Lesson?

Teaching 30, 45, or even 60-minute lessons never feels like a lot of time, and often, lesson pacing turns into lesson racing where endless correction is the main focus. (Which leaves our students feeling overwhelmed and defeated.) Here are some helpful reminders about what teacher patience looks like in real-time:

• Resisting the urge to rush past struggles
• Allowing each student to develop at their natural pace
• Finding different ways to explain the same concept
• Staying calm when progress feels slow
• Recognizing that every small step forward matters
• Understanding that learning isn't linear
• Celebrating progress rather than pushing for perfection
• Trusting in the long-term process of development

This Hits Hard for Voice Teachers

For voice teachers, patience becomes even more crucial because we're working with an instrument that is deeply personal and tied to emotional development. (please read that again!) Each student needs time to:

• Build trust with their own voice
• Develop body awareness
• Find confidence in their sound
• Work through self-consciousness
• Discover their unique expression

All of these challenges take time. (YEARS!)

The patient teacher creates a safe space where these delicate processes can unfold naturally, knowing that rushing technical development often leads to tension and discouragement. In addition, we need to help our families understand that learning to sing is profoundly personal and needs kindness and support from all involved. 

After reading this article, I hope you can:

• Celebrate your efforts - you are doing a great job no matter how quickly students make progress.
• Listen/observe those small, beautiful moments; they happen in every lesson. 
• Be creative in your instruction so students explore concepts in many new ways.

For a deep dive into ALL the details of young singers' development check out our new release, Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults, by Dr. Jenevora Williams.