Beginner

[bwayrunner22]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:18pm

I was wondering, I'm 16 and love to sing. It is my one dream to sing on Broadway but I've never been in real voice lessons... Is it too late. I'm trying to find someone where I live to give me lessons, but is there more I need to do. My friends all tell me I have a great voice and they just make me sad because I feel like it's too late to start, am I wrong?

[GirlforTartaglia]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:20pm

I'm almost 16 and never had a voice lesson in my life, and I just only got my first lead-ish vocal role. People say I have a great voice as well and wonder why I don't have lessons, but I think if you just continue singing and being in shows it shouldnt matter if you have one or not. Not Everyone has voice lessons, and some only start taking lessons in college to fine tune their voices from being in high school shows.. Dontworry about it!

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:20pm

Yes, you're wrong. It's never too late. What you need to do (more than voice lessons), is do some auditioning. Do you have theater in your high school? Do you have dinner theater and/or community theater where you live? Get experience doing shows. You may or may not require voice lessons.

[bwayrunner22]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:26pm

We have a school theatre but, I am not able to join. I am a track star-ish at our school and the musical is the same time as the track season. I am going to audition for our community theatre. I was hand picked in 5th grade to be part of one of the high school's Joseph and the... productions (children's choir) and then was the Oliver u/s, even though im a girl, in 5th grade at our school. Thanks for the help.

[GhettoBway]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:28pm

if you have to take voice lessons to sing you cant sing

[rmposey]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:36pm

I don't think it's true that if you have to take voice lessons to sing, you can't sing. While many possess natural talent, it's important to have training to learn technique and to make sure no damage is being done. I actually believe that taking serious voice lessons shouldn't be done until you're 15 or 16. Young voices change so frequently and sometimes voice lessons when you're very young can do more harm than good. Children can stop sounding like children and can hurt themselves trying to sound like adults.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:38pm

Excellent advice, rmposey.

[bwayrunner22]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 12:53pm

I like the sound of that

[AndiV]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 1:07pm

i think voice lessons are a great idea. they can enhance natural talent, deveolp confidence, technique and style! here is a quote from Sutton Foster about voice lessons:

Sutton shares this. “I’ve had a lot of amazing coaches. I think I had a natural singing voice and talent at about 10, but I never would be where I am without the incredible teachers and coaches. It’s vital. You have to be open and learn to accept criticism.”

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 2:51pm

Hmm...I think you've at least started with the right idea...getting experience in theatre, ect. But i don't think it's nessessary right away to get voice lessons, especially if you can't devote a lot of time to them. it would be better to just do what you want now and worry about lessons when you can really start to focus on your voice.
Good luck!

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 2:58pm

It's cute when your young, annoying when your old.

Take rmposey's advice

[ikmbway]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:34pm

i know carolee carmello never took voice lessons and look at stars on broadway most have taken some sort of voice lesson no it is not too late

[oxdreaminxo]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:40pm

I'm like that too. I'm 14 and have never had a voice lesson. But I do love to act and sing and do drama at my school, we're doing a musical but that's the closest thing to a voice lesson I've ever had. Unlike you guys though, I don't have any natural talent. lol. I keep telling myself that if I made the musical, I have to have some talent...right? lol. But I think it's never too late to start, as long as you have the, I dunno, 'passion and drive' sound corny, but I guess it's that, but I agree with rmposey. And good luck!

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:42pm

Some musical theatre majors at my college have not taken voice lessons before coming here. That said, I think it's important to take voice lessons, and no, it's never too late to start. People have always said I have a natural singing voice, but with voice lessons, I really see improvement in my voice technique-wise and quality-wise. So it's definitely a useful thing to take up.

~Steven

[bobbysworld]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:45pm

I never had a voice lesson in my life before college...but lessons have definetly helped since ive been here!

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:52pm

God knows where I would've been without voice lessons right now.
I did have a very good voice before, but my voice is SO much better with them.

I also wouldn't have a voice, because the way I was singing was extremely dangerous.
But now I can sing the stuff I could before with so much more ease, and higher!

I pray that Carolee is somehow singing correctly. It would be devestating if she lost that voice.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:54pm

Carolee really has never taken voice lessons? Wow, that's incredibly hard to believe! Has she not since becoming a Broadway star? I'd think that she would. Never know, though...

~Steven

[JakeB]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 4:56pm

Simon Cowell said something once that I will remember for a long time. He said that when he asked girls whether they had singing lessons, they proudly beamed back 'No!'. He said if they were serious about a career in singing then they shouldn't be proud about not having them, they should go out and train their voices properly, and I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd be interested to see what percentage of Broadway musical performers have/had singing lessons, I'm willing to bet it's 90%+. You wouldn't give a violin performance without violin lessons, play soccer without coaching, or act without a director. Singing is no different, it needs to be trained and maintained.

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 6:16pm

i completely agree that singing lessons are vital because you need training for proper techniques so you don't hurt yourself. but i also somewhat agree with GhettoBway "if you have to take voice lessons to sing you cant sing" meaning...if you can't sing at all without a voice lesson, then you don't have a natural voice, and therefore have to foundation to build off of. most people have some form of a natural singing voice, but you can't assume that a voice lesson will automatically make you a singer...you have to be born with natural talent that can be trained and worked on.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 6:22pm

Without technique, you won't be singing well for long, especially after doing 8 shows a week of challenging scores.

[bwayrunner22]

Posted: 3/23/05 at 7:45pm

I can't wait to start my lessons. Thanks everyone for the help. Very reassuring.

[AndiV]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 10:07am

I'd love to hear how they go...keep us/me updated. i am a good bit older than you and have been singing in different arenas for a lot of my life, but am getting ready to start lessons myself! we can compare notes! :)

Updated On: 3/24/05 at 10:07 AM

[bwayrunner22]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 10:46am

sounds good!! I'll keep you posted!!

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 10:51am

WTF? if you need voice lessons than you can't sing? Almost EVERY broadway performer takes lessons...you need to keep your voice in condition for all the performing and there is room for improvement in EVERYONE

I started my lessons this year *i'm 18!* and it has been amazing the growth I've showed! it's especially important in you age 16 to about mid or late twenties..your voice will make a significant natural maturity and it's vital to work your singing to get it ready for the maturity that comes with age.

Did that make sense? i hope so!

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 3/24/05 at 11:04am

Updated On: 2/7/06 at 11:04 AM