Question 7

Dear Ms. Lang,
what are the requirements for you to study singing? What approaches do you have?
L.S.

Dear Ms. S.,

thank you for your question.

For me, teaching is first and foremost about the student. On the one hand, it is about imparting skills and knowledge, and on the other hand, it is about optimally activating the student's resources, making his singing as free as possible, and promoting the joy of singing and singing-show-playing.

For the student or the amateur singer this can be enough.

When training professional singers, I also take a professional approach:
1. the student and the activation of his possibilities are in the first place. Here it is important to find individual ways of working, explanations, exercises adapted to each student, which will bring him further in his development. In contrast to "amateur training", the achievement of the greatest possible independence and professional level of performance of each student is an important point.

2. it also seems important to me whether the prospective student has real chances to actively pursue the singing profession. This means answering the question whether the prerequisites for a professional singing career are given.
a.    For artistic vocal training, the consideration of the market for opera and concert singers in the area of solo/choir applies.

• in the solo field, it is difficult for a soubrette, for example, to find engagements from her late 20s. This means that at this age a change of profession may be necessary. If a soubrette in her mid to late 20s is still planning to study voice, the chances of an active singing career are probably low.. For lyric sopranos, this may be the case around 40. Joining a professional choir may not be possible at this age. There is no guarantee that one will reach retirement age singing, because an optical stage profession is also increasingly about a youthful appearance and a resilient voice is needed. There may be age-related limitations here that prevent engagements in old age.
• a choral position, great vocal flexibility, quick learning, and confident command of voice and speech are important.

b.    For the education of a singing teacher, in addition to the physiological knowledge and the joy of "voice training", a main focus for me in the singing area is a mastery of as diverse styles of the E and U - range as possible.

c.    A future in the music business is difficult to plan and also unpredictable, because it depends on many external parameters, which are not only in the person of the musician. As a musician, one works mainly on a freelance basis and without security. In my opinion, this should also be pointed out to the prospective student. If you study music, you should accept that you may work in the lower income range during your professional life. Permanent positions at public music schools or in professional choruses are rare. So every student should answer himself, whether his love for music and his burning for singing are also big enough to carry this perspective, to lead a lifelong fight for engagements or students. The fact is that it is easier to earn much more money with other degrees. This should be clear to every music student.

d.    Vocal health, mental and physical fitness seem very important to me for the singing profession.

e.    Unlike the instrumentalist, the singer works with the word. For this, understanding is important. For me, this means that one must also be able to communicate. This requires the mastery of languages. The repertoire is performed mainly in Italian, German, French, Russian or Czech. Mastery of English can be very helpful for rehearsals and negotiations. Accent-free singing in German is the minimum requirement for most chorus positions. However, most choruses in Germany also require a perfect command of the German language.

f.     However, I find it essential for the training to be able to communicate with the student. This can be in German, English, French or Italian. There should be a good level of fluency in one of these languages. Language skills should be present BEFORE the start of the course in order to be able to follow classes in major and minor subjects well. Experience shows that students are confronted with so much that is new to them that there is little time to catch up on language skills that are not available even in a short period of time during a course of study. Most music education institutes usually require at least B1 - B2 language proficiency at the beginning of the study program.

g.    The decisive point for me is whether the singing presentation is likely to lead to a professional future. At the time of application to study, it should be apparent that an artistic statement is possible and that any vocal and musical deficits could be eliminated within a certain time frame.

h.    Instrumentalists are at least very advanced, if not already masters of their instrument at the time they begin their studies, because they have been playing their instrument for many years. With singers, the situation is usually different. One can actually begin a vocal training seriously only after the completion of the growth phase. Due to this circumstance, a singer may have a lot of catching up to do before he or she can decide for himself or herself whether singing could be "enough" for a professional future as a singer or whether singing will remain a nice hobby.

3. in his studies, the young singer should learn to work independently, acquire repertoire and knowledge, acquire at least pedagogical basics and gain experience in this field and, above all, sing and play with great pleasure, in short: to come as far as possible in his professional development as a singer, musician and teacher and to develop his dispositions as well as possible.

4. "Vocal education is human education" - to speak with the great vocal pedagogue Franziska Martienssen-Lohmann. With the human maturation will also come a development of the interpretative statement. Personality influences vocal development and vice versa. An exciting process that can be the motor for a long artistic activity and satisfying career.

Sincerely
Yours
Petra Lang