iSing Issue 1 | Page 53

The Biz PASSiNG iT ON taken up the guitar and wanted to be able to sing along as he played his favourite songs. Maybe one day he would feel confident to write and sing his own songs. He’d never really sung before but was willing to put in whatever work was required to get better, he had plenty of time on his hands.! ! In the beginning" Once upon a time there was a singer who decided the time had come to pass her knowledge of the craft on by teaching privately to anyone who wanted to learn from her. She had studied voice for seven years with a couple of well known teachers in her country, performed regularly in a variety of settings from professional solo work to contemporary and classical choirs, studied classical and jazz music, and worked on stage in musical theatre productions and in contemporary function bands. “So,” she thought, “I have a lot of the experience needed to help others sing!” ! ! She set about advertising her new service in her local area, using self-made posters with tear off telephone strips. She put an advert in the local rag iSing | issue 1 and then sat back waiting for the call. She didn’t have to wait too long, two calls came within a week and she made arrangements to book the callers in. ! ! The wannabe teacher set up her teaching space with all the equipment she knew was required from her own experience as a voice student. Soon the day came for the first lesson. There was a nervous tingle in her tummy as she answered the door to her first student. She brought him into her teaching space, sat him down to find out a bit more about his previous singing and music experience, and asked him where he wanted to take his singing. He was in his late 40s, in casual employment, leading a rather alternative lifestyle (in other words a hippy dude). Recently he had The new singing teacher made her way to her keyboard and asked her new student to stand in front of her so that she could take him through a few scales. Finally the moment had come to vocalize! She raised her hands to the keys and just as they began to descend it suddenly occurred to her she had no idea where on the keyboard she should lay down her fingers. This was not because she couldn’t play, but because she had no idea where men’s voices sat on the keyboard range… AAARGH! Swipe to read more! isingmag.com »