10 Tips on taking singing lessons as an adult

Taking singing lessons as an adult comes with its own set of challenges that are unique to adult vocalists. Unless you’re a full-time musician, you’ll likely have to juggle your lessons alongside work, study and family commitments. Another concern for adult beginners is they feel it’s ‘too late to start singing’. That’s absolutely not the case! Just like you’d never tell someone it’s too late to get in shape or learn a new language, you’re perfectly on time whenever you decide to start adult singing lessons.

Plenty of singers have achieved great things later on in life, including Sheryl Crow, Bill Withers and Susan Boyle. So, now that we have dispelled one of the most common myths about singing lessons for adults, what else do you need to know to succeed? Keep on reading for our top 10 tips!

1. Stay Open Minded

All creative endeavours will be most successful if you stay open minded! You may have some idea of the music you’d like to make and the songs you want to learn. Any great vocal coach will always take that into consideration and do their best to help you get there. But often it’s hard for us to judge ourselves objectively, so be open to exploring beyond the expectations you’ve set for yourself. You never know, this might lead to new avenues for your vocals and open possibilities you haven’t even considered!

2. Get to Know Your Voice

Our voices are as unique as fingerprints – voice recognition devices wouldn’t exist if we all sounded the same, right? While it’s great to be inspired by other singers and they have likely lead you to take singing lessons for adults, you need to get to know the unique qualities of your own voice. Your vocal coach will help you identify your range and areas within that like your chest voice, head voice, mixed voice and falsetto. Analysing the unique qualities of your tone is also very important. Why? Too often amateur singers try to learn tracks that don’t highlight their best qualities and end up feeling discouraged to continue singing. Knowing your voice will help you pick songs that suit you the best or adapt them to match your range.

3. Set Your Goals and Intentions

What are you looking to achieve with singing? Is it a hobby or are you looking to sing professionally? Maybe you want to record your own songs or play on stage? While the foundations of vocal training will be quite similar, your goals will help your vocal coach tailor the lessons to you, specifically. So, write down a few things you want to achieve with singing. It could be learning a certain style, being able to harmonise, improving diction, projection and more. Don’t worry if this changes later on – it’s perfectly normal to alter your goals as you start to explore your musicianship in more detail.

4. Take Notes

Taking singing lessons as an adult tends to be much more relaxed than going to school or university. Having said that, if you want to speed up your process, the same habits you learned in formal education will also help you now! Whenever you attend a lesson, bring along a notebook or even record the session on your phone. It will make it much easier to remember what you discussed in your lesson. Similarly, make a note of anything that seems confusing during practice sessions and ask your vocal coach to go over it with you in the lesson. These tips will provide a much more structured learning experience.

5. Find A Practice Space You’re Comfortable In

Singing is a very personal thing and many of us tend to shy away from it, especially in the early stages. Most of the progress, however, is made in between sessions, so practicing is incredibly important! To make sure you stay consistent, find a space in your home or a local studio that you feel comfortable practicing in. Feeling relaxed will ensure you make the most of your practice times. If you still feel nervous, remember, making mistakes or hitting the wrong notes are all normal parts of your journey as a musician. That’s why we make those mistakes during practice so we can be our best on stage!

6. Schedule in Regular Practice Times

Time management is one of the reasons many adult beginner vocalists struggle to stay consistent. Our lives are busy and there are so many commitments to focus on. We want you to keep things simple and schedule in just 30 mins of practice each day. That’s only slightly longer than an episode of ‘Friends’ and probably much less than the time we spend casually scrolling on social media throughout the day. Keeping your practice times to short but more regular sessions will help you stay on top of it and see meaningful progress.

7. Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Many artists have their own unique style which often comes through play and experimentation. So don’t be afraid to venture outside of your comfort zone and try different styles, genres and techniques! Listen to music you’d never normally listen to, try playing a different instrument or messing around with music production tools on your laptop or phone. Experimentation will fuel your creativity and open new pathways for you to grow as an artist.

8. Track Your Progress

We can often be our own worst critics, so it can easily feel like you’re not making enough progress. Try recording yourself and comparing your recordings from, say, a few months ago to now! If you’ve stuck to your lessons and practice sessions, we guarantee you will notice a huge difference. You can also measure your progress by comparing the songs you’re now able to sing that you couldn’t before, how much your range has increased or how much stronger your voice sounds. Even little things like feeling more confident in yourself as an artist make all the hard work worth it! It’s important you check in with yourself and celebrate how far you’ve come. This will motivate you to keep going.

9. Collaborate with Others

Once you’ve gained more confidence through adult singing lessons, we encourage you to collaborate with others. This could be anything from songwriting, to session musicianship, joining a local choir, band or theatre production. Whatever you feel works best for you! You could even start by attending a few open mic nights to meet new people and grow your confidence as a performer. Doing so will expand your horizons, increase your musicality and establish your identity as an artist, not just someone who happens to sing. Plus, it’s so much fun to have a community of likeminded musicians and it will encourage you to keep taking singing lessons as an adult, once you see the results in practice.

10. Look After Yourself

Last but by no means least is, look after yourself. Vocalists are unique in that we are the instrument, so your lifestyle choices will impact on your singing voice. Make sure you get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated and eat well to keep your energy levels up. Your vocal coach will also give you some great tips on how to sing healthily and avoid damaging your vocal cords. A good mindset is the foundation of success, so be kind to yourself as you embark on adult singing lessons. Learning something new is as exciting as it is challenging, so give yourself some credit for having the courage to start! Embrace the journey and be patient with yourself. Avoid comparing yourself to other singers and, instead, focus on how much progress you’re making – trust us, you are doing way better than you think.

Do You Want to Take Your Singing to The Next Level?

At London Singing Institute, we specialise in providing the best quality vocal training. We work exclusively with adult vocalists, so we understand what taking singing lessons as an adult really means. Our personalised, professional approach in a judgment-free environment has helped many of our students thrive and we can’t wait to see what you can achieve!

Contact us to book your first lesson with us – you can learn at our beautiful Central London premises or online, from wherever you are in the world.