Great Free Apps for New Music Students

Since so many music students have access to iPads and iPhones I thought it would be useful to put together a list of great free apps. For those of you who use Android devices I’ve provided links where available.

Metronome: Tempo Lite by Frozen Ape 

A metronome is an essential part of any music student’s tool bag. This is a great metronome app; it is accurate and flexible. The free version has everything a new music student will need, if your music gets complicated you can upgrade to the paid app. And, if you’re an Android user there’s a paid app version for you.

Music Tutor (free) by JSplash

A great way to learn all the notes on the staff. The free version has ads, but it’s worth it for a quick and fun way to master the note names. You can customize it so that students only learn a portion of the notes at a time and then add in notes as they learn them on their instrument. There is an Android version, too.

Keezy Drummer by Elepath

This app is a fun way to experiment with rhythms. All the beats are in 4/4 time, but if students are resisting the metronome, this can be a fun alternative. Unfortunately, there is no Android version for Keezy apps yet.

Keezy by Elepath

From the same company, a great app for stepping into the creator’s shoes. You can use their sounds or make your own and then play them using the colorful buttons. It is a great way to think about music away from your usual instrument.

Voice Memos by Apple

It’s always great to have a recording device handy and since most people have a phone with them at all times it's the perfect solution. I encourage voice students to record their lessons so they can remember what we talked about and so they can use the warmup exercises from their lessons during the week. Instrumentalists and singers can use it to record an example from a lesson or to record something during practice that their teacher can then hear in a lesson. It comes standard on an iPhone.

GarageBand by Apple

If you want a great free recorder for iPad try GarageBand. This is great for recording via the built in microphone. Students can also experiment with composing for different instruments and play with loops.

Ask a Voice Teacher: Finding Your Own Voice

I'm often asked the same (or similar) questions again and again by those considering voice lessons, current voice students, and their parents. Do I really need to study voice with a teacher; can't I do it on my own? At what age should my child start lessons? How many lessons do I need? Can you help me sound like a specific singer? Why can't I sing this song? And many, many more. This is the third post in the series and it deals with staying true to one's own voice. Many students come to lessons with very specific ideas about how they would like to sound. They often have a specific singer or song in their minds, but this can lead to problems down the road.

Why can't I sing this song?

I'm very open to students singing pieces that they love and are interested in. It is very rare that I'll tell a student, "I don't want you to work on this song," especially with the options available to move songs to an appropriate key. When I do, it is usually for one of two reasons. Most of the time, when this happens, I want a student to wait until they have improved technical skills for a difficult piece. Perhaps the range is too large, or maybe it requires skill in leaping larger intervals, or it could have very long phrases that require excellent breath control. In these cases, I'll let the student know that we can revisit the song once s/he has acquired the skill necessary.

Sometimes, however, a song is just not right for a singer because it requires a different sort of voice. For instance, I am not a Wagnerian soprano, so that repertoire is off the table for me (not that I mind all that much). In a futile attempt to sing over the large orchestra I would likely damage my voice. Instead, I'm more suited to Mozart and Handel where the orchestra is not as large and my voice can shine over it. It is important for singers to strive toward their own best sound and not try to become something that they are not, which leads to the next question I hear from singers.

Can you help me sound like a specific singer?

The answer is: I can help you sound your best, but that means not reducing your voice to an imitation of someone else's voice. Everyone is physically unique, so no two voices sound alike. Trying to sound like someone else would mean that you have to go out of the way to change your sound. This can lead to vocal injury. Even if a favorite singer has a healthy voice that is in the same voice type (fach) as yours, s/he may be a good role model, but you will never sound exactly alike - and this is a good thing. If we all sounded alike, the world of singing would be very boring. (I sometimes feel like this is happening a bit, but that's another post, entirely.) I try to redirect students' ideas about sound away from imitation and make it more about genre and style. Is your favorite singer Nora Jones? Let's work on some jazz standards. Do you love Luciano Pavarotti? Let's start with some Italian art songs. This way singers can work in a healthy way towards refining their own unique voices.

Do you have a question you've always wanted to ask a voice teacher? Leave it for me in the comments and I'll try to answer it in a future post.

Ask a Voice Teacher: Why Study Voice?

I'm often asked the same (or similar) questions again and again by those considering voice lessons, current voice students, and their parents. Do I really need to study voice with a teacher; can't I do it on my own? At what age should my child start lessons? How many lessons do I need? Can you help me sound like a specific singer? Why can't I sing this song? And many, many more. This is the second post in this series and it is for those who are considering voice lessons.

Do I really need to study voice with a teacher? Can't I do it on my own?

Of course you can study any instrument (including voice) on your own, but the benefits of studying with a good teacher are numerous. In the case of voice, it can be easy to fall into bad habits that can lead to major issues like vocal nodes. You need an expert's ear in order to help you get the most out of your voice, to make the best possible art, and to make sure your voice stays injury free. A voice teacher will also help you find new songs, try out new ideas and develop performance skills that will make you a better singer. Because there are so many things to keep track of while singing (including breath, posture, resonance, diction, interpretation and all the things that go into them), even professional singers check in with a trusted teacher to make sure they stay on track. If you just want to sing in the shower, you probably don't need a voice teacher. However, most people thinking about taking lessons will benefit from them. If you want to improve your singing for a choir, if you want to sing karaoke weekly, if you want to sing solos at church, if you want to sing in community theater you will benefit from lessons. If your goals include professional or semi-professional singing of any style, lessons are a necessity.

 How many lessons do I need?

Singing isn't the sort of task that you can take a 6 month class on and then know everything there is to know about it. Even with a doctorate in voice performance I learn new things about my voice every day. For that reason, lessons are open ended.

Sometimes students have a specific goal. For example, they want to learn a role for a musical, or improve an aspect of their singing so that it is more comfortable to sing a high note in their choir. These goals can often be met in several months. Rather than thinking of building a voice for the long-term, this is a coaching session where the student can sometimes learn some long-term skills, but the focus is on a specific short-term goal. Short-term goals are important (even for long-term students), but when the next role comes along or the next technical issue comes up, these students often don't have the skills to meet the new challenges. As a teacher, of course I would encourage students to aim for a lifetime of lessons, but I find that coaching to meet short-term goals can also give students a taste of what they might be capable of in a more open-ended lesson environment.

Ask a Voice Teacher

I'm often asked the same (or similar) questions again and again by those considering voice lessons, current voice students, and their parents. Do I really need to study voice with a teacher; can't I do it on my own? At what age should my child start lessons? How many lessons do I need? Can you help me sound like a specific singer? Why can't I sing this song? And many, many more. I'll try to answer some of these in a series of blog posts. The first post is for those considering lessons for their children.

At what age should my child start voice lessons?

This is a question I'm often asked by parents of young children who tell me, "She just loves to sing at home! Do you think she should have lessons?" This question is highly debated among voice teachers. Generally, I recommend that students wait until they are at least 10 to start voice lessons. The main concern is that a young child should never be asked to mimic the sounds of a fully mature voice, and a naturally mature and full sound is generally one of the main goals for older voice students. The voice is a complex instrument and requires coordination and a certain level of maturity in order to understand and develop the finer points of singing.

I encourage younger children interested in singing to find a great choir and to study another instrument like piano or violin. This way they will begin to work on the basics of singing (good breath, good posture, basic resonance and diction) and they will learn to read music. It isn't that they won't learn these important skills in voice lessons, it's just that they can learn these skills just as well in a good choir and they will learn other excellent musical skills, which will serve them well in future voice lessons.

There are exceptions to this rule. If a child is regularly singing solos in public, a younger student will often benefit from lessons. Also, if a student is experiencing technical difficulty while singing, lessons may be in order. Additionally, some children mature faster than others and may be ready for lessons earlier. I will always agree to a trial lesson with a young student, so that I can give the best recommendation. Above all, it's important to have realistic expectations for pre-adolescent voices.