Sing better sound better:
singing coaching & vocal training
Get help making the sounds you want to make with your voice, rather than conforming to a course or someone else's agenda:
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Private One-on-one Teaching - in Sydney or Online. All levels. The most flexible form of singing coaching, tailored to your skill level and needs.
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Group Singing Courses - Themed small classes. Workshop your songs with feedback in a supportive environment.
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Group Mentoring - for budding vocal groups or bands. Fine-tune backing vocals. Develop your signature sound.
Attain your vocal goals
Singing Coaching:
private one-to-one contemporary popular voice (cpm) teaching
Private Singing Teaching In Sydney or Online
I offer singing coaching tailored to raise your vocal performance to new levels of skill and expression. Whether you're in Sydney or online anywhere around Australia or the globe, private one-on-one teaching sessions provide the highest level of individualized attention to your voice.
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What is contemporary popular voice?Basically, everything but classical singing, including folk, pop, R&B, music theatre, jazz and various types of world music. I am also skilled at coaching people to sing songs in many languages other than English, so don't be shy about bringing them along to your lessons. If I think what you want falls outside of my skillset I will tell you so and try to refer you so someone who can.
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Why private lessons?Private one-to-one singing lessons are the most flexible form of singing coaching. They can be tailored to your individual skill level and needs, whether you are a beginner who just wants to sing at a party or a professional wanting to build power or range for a particular performance.
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What happens at the first lesson?We do a vocal warmup then I ask you to sing a simple unaccompanied song you that you know well. This could be Happy Birthday, a Christmas carol or show tune, etc. If you can sing me parts of 2 or 3 songs -even better. Then we talk about your musical background and interests and what you want to do with your singing and then I tell what I think you are good at, what you will need to work on and how long I think it might take to achieve your aims.
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Do you offer a free trial lesson?No. Because the first lesson involves a skilled assessment and consultation, I don't offer a free trial. However if you decide to come for multiple lessons, I offer a 10% discount for groups of 4 or more lessons including your first lesson. I also offer generous concession rates for the unemployed, students, seniors and pensioners. If this applies to you please talk to me about your situation. Please contact me for rates.
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Do you offer Online Lessons?If you are in Sydney, I would prefer to see you face-to-face. But if you are outside my area, I am happy to give online lessons if you have a steady internet connection, a device with a good microphone and a quiet place to have your lesson away from other people so you can focus and I can hear you. Laptop or tablet is best for this but a mobile phone can work if it has a good microphone and you have a tripod (a cheap one will do). I may also ask you to download a keyboard or pitch-pipe app to your device for you to practise with. Contact me if you are not sure if your setup will work. For my part, I also have a webcam with high quality audio and reasonable internet connection. Other considerations are whether you live in a time zone different to Sydney and when in the day your internet works best.
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Should I choose individual or group coaching?Group coaching is good for small vocal harmony groups or lead singers plus backing vocalists from a band to work mainly on harmonies and repertoire with a bit of technical input and individual attention. Group coaching is also cheaper per person than solo lessons but if you have specific issues that you think need more intensive work, private individual lessons might be more efficient and better in the long run.
My singing students have given the following feedback about their experiences:
"Gemma’s teaching transformed my singing. Her musicality and her technical knowledge, along with her good humour and patience, are the perfect package."
Tim McCulloch
"Gemma is a fantastic teacher. She has drawn on a wealth of knowledge to assist me with my interest in Nordic and Slavic folk music. My voice has improved considerably during my time with her.”
Christina Indsto
preparing for performance
High school & university recital preparation
If you have performances or auditions to prepare for in high school, technical college or university and you need extra coaching, I can help you with that. This can be long-term lessons or top-up lessons. I can assist you with targetting weaknesses in your vocal technique, with interpretation or by helping you put together a programme that shows your strengths.
group and small ensemble mentoring
Coaching & guidance for small groups & vocal ensembles
For budding vocal groups or bands who want to fine-tune their harmonies and develop their group vocal sound, small group mentoring is a good way to go. If your group doesn't seem to be improving and you don't know to fix it, an experienced outside ear can sometimes sort out problems quite quickly. It can also be about taking things to the next level from good to great. In which case getting a little,friendly push in the right direction might be what you need. Instrumentalists often get landed with singing backing vocals without any background in basics like voicecare, warmups and how to improve tuning, so coming along with other band vocalists and working with a teacher without the pressures of band rehearsal can help with that.