The rant of the singing teacher.

In my most recent entry, which was just a scant nine and-a-half hours ago, I said that I was really enjoying my students. Well, I had a very unenjoyable experience today, the kind that makes me want to throw in the towel and just walk away. Firstly, the one who has been ill arrived to say that she has severely infected tonsils and the doctor told her not to sing. So I said not to worry, we would get all her lessons in somehow and that the important thing was that she get better. I also gave her a big hug. But I have something to say, and if any of my students do happen to stumble upon my diary and read it, then this is something they should know but which I haven�t got the energy or desire to actually say to their faces because it might be hurtful:

�Why the hell did you come to university to study music if you are not willing to treat your singing lessons like a proper university course instead of a weekly social hour where you get to learn new songs in funny foreign languages? If you want to learn new songs, you can do that on your own time. If you want to learn how to sing those songs properly, improve your vocal technique and actually make advances on your chosen instrument, then I am here to guide you through the process. I am paid over $60 an hour to teach you how to sing better. You pay a fair portion of that as a differential fee in your tuition. If you think that you can get away with singing the way you always have because it was always good enough for you and don�t understand why I am trying to get you to change certain things and make you think about what you do when you have always done it without thinking, then you are wasting my time and your money. I am a nice person and I am a good singing teacher. But I get frustrated too in the same way a lecturer does when students are not prepared for class, have not done the homework, and look at the material and say,�What do I need to learn this for? I�m never going to use it!� You may burst into tears because you suddenly realize your inadequacies and that correct singing actually requires that you work at it, but I am not going to let that keep me from doing my job. If you do not learn anything in my course, then I will give you a bad mark and recommend that you should perhaps reconsider being at university. After all, this is not high school anymore.�

I hate it when a student cries. All of a sudden she (it�s always a she) realizes that what she�s been doing is not good enough, that she in fact does not know that much about singing and for the first time someone is trying to make her change. She takes it personally. It is not personal. I am not requesting that she change herself, just learn a new skill. But because the voice is part of the body, and the body is who she is, it becomes personal. I am so sick of it. I have students who do everything I tell them to. When something works and a problem is solved, they notice it and are jubilant. But when a student does not even realize that there might be problems, when she is so sure that she is wonderful without instruction and this is just a formality she must undergo to get her piece of paper at the end, then I want to scream and pull my hair out and start wringing necks. THIS IS UNIVERSITY, DAMMIT, NOT HIGH SCHOOL!

Okay. I�m finished now. You may carry on.

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from saucy99 :

Poor you. I think teaching can be one of the most frustrating things. At my school, all the first year students are required to take a quarter long course on leadership taught by second year students. I was nominated to teach the class next year, but one of the reasons I am hesitant is because of the attitudes I see in some of the students this year. I will admit that the class is a bit touchy-feely, it very much teaches �soft-skills� but it does have a lot of other benefits that I think make it worthwhile. Not to mention that the people who teach the class are themselves students, who commit a year preparing to teach this class totalling 20-25 hours per week. This is all in addition to their other classes, extracurricular commitments and career searches. It�s an enormous time commitment. I seriously would like to teach this class, but I worry about some of the snotty, know-it-all attitudes that I know I will encounter. Ironically, the people who bitch the most about this class are the ones who are in most serious need of the skills it teaches. Good luck.

from harri3tspy :

This is so true. As one who is both a singer and an instrumentalist, there is something different about the voice. Criticism feels more personal. And this despite the fact that in general, my violin teachers have been far more likely to make personal remarks. Strangely, I didn�t really feel the same way as a dancer, although I�m sure there are those who do. With ballet, there was always a sense of a mind-body disconnect. Singing feels like it comes from somewhere closer to the soul. That�s one of the reasons why I avoided taking lessons for years. It�s also one of the reasons why one of my friends decided she didn�t need both voice lessons and therapy -- one or the other was sufficient.

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