Customer Reviews

The Private Voice Studio Handbook: A Practical Guide to All Aspects of Teaching

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have enjoyed this handbook by Joan Boytim, a teacher that most classically trained singers recognize immediately as a compiler of many great songs which were previously unknown or too expensive to purchase. I have used this book since it was published and highly disagree with the two previous comments.

Although Boytim teaches with a classical approach, she does not alienate students who prefer to sing other styles. She makes the arguement that other styles of singing benefit from the classical method which promotes a healthy and long career, art, or hobby. The style of music does not even come into play in her approach until the student has learned how to read basic music and is able to sing with a nice tone (good tone being something from which many different styles can benefit).

I have been teaching for 5 years, and after reading this book and trying the methods for a year, my students are better prepared to teach themselves than the 4 previous years. Boytim distinguishes between song teachers and voice teachers. Many students simply want a song teacher--someone to teach them how to sound good on songs they already know or else to teach them the song by rote.

We do our students a disservice when we fail to assess and work on their knowledge of the basics. Do we train singers so they have more options than pop music? I can sing songs with scooping and breathiness as well as art songs and arias; can the pop-trained singer do both as well? Many think that the classical approach is limiting; I feel that I am limiting my students if I don't open their eyes to the amount of _printed_ music that they can discover on their own if they know how to read music.

Boytim clearly states that entering her studio is like walking into a store and making a decision to buy or take lessons based on the goods offered (see pg 66). My store doesn't include popular music because it's too tempting for students to try to imitate the artist instead of developing their own unique and lovely tone quality. Others may offer that product, and that's fine.

As for the previous reviewer's interpretation of page 92, let the reader decide: "There was a lady who merely wanted to pay me to play songs for her that she liked to sing. I soon realized that she was not interested in singing new repertoire, or really learning to sing better. The teacher in me ended this arrangement very quickly."

I recently had a ninth-grade student come to me whose mother simply wanted me to admire her voice. Although she had much potential, the hard work that I required did not appeal to their expectations of me as a paid admirer. Boytim quotes Richard Miller on pg 65 from an article entitled "To Admire or to Teach," saying that "When a plumber is called in, he is not expected to admire the bathroom fixtures, but to repair them."

When students only let their teachers see the stuff they already know how to do, they hinder their teachers from looking behind the fixtures and really working on the voice.

Joan Frey Boytim has had a distinguished career as a private voice teacher. Rather than a manual of how to teach singing, this handbook covers more of the logistical concerns about teaching voice -- where and how to establish a studio, how to teach voice students sight reading, how to establish a curriculum approach, organize recitals, and other concerns.

Most voice teachers will find this type of manual valuable. This is because while most voice majors study the ins and outs of the instrument and pedagogical approaches, very little focus is placed in education on how to organize one's teaching ability into an effective vocation. Boytim's suggestions, while simple at times, can be quite helpful. For instance, when first building a studio, Boytim suggests one teach beginning piano (or any other instrument teachers play) as well as voice in order to fill a studio. Non-voice students can be phased out of the studio as the number of voice students grows.

Boytim also provides an immensely helpful method of teaching sight-singing quickly and relatively effectively. Her literature recommendations are also very sound for young singers. Some of the volumes Boytim recommends have been compiled, of course, by herself, but I highly doubt she's in it for the money. I've used one of her books for baritones and found it to contain many songs which were both entertaining and of musical substance.

Critics may note that Boytim doesn't see much value in taking on students who aren't there to learn and who are "just there to hear themselves sing." While philosophical differences between teaching styles are common, I think voice teachers with a divergent view can easily read those passages with a grain of salt and move on to the more helpful sections. Boytim does have a significant section on figuring out how to comply with U.S. tax law, so voice teachers outside of the 50 states may find the book less helpful.

For the voice teacher within the United States, however, this book has the potential to be an enormous resource. I strongly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book and have found it extremely helpful. I have been teaching for about 7 years but have only fairly recently had an extremely full teaching schedule with students ranging in age from 7 years to about 48 years.
I think that since reading this book and putting many of Ms Boytims ideas on teaching the student to read the music, my pupils are improving more rapidly. I enjoy the exercises she has written out and have been using many of her repertoire volumes for a while.
I find the book has helped me to structure my lessons in a more meaningful way.
The style of this book is very easy to read, it is written almost informally so is really easy to understand.
I disagree that it is only useful to people who live in the USA as I live in South Africa and find it extremely useful.
I would stronly recommend any singing teacher purchase this book although it is slanted towards the classical approach to voice training.

Despite liking this book, I must state that there are some useful things I think it should have but it does not.

No subject index in the end of the book. I constantly find myself having too much trouble looking for some specific topic in this book. There should be a name index also, for example, Boytim mentions a Dame Joan Sutherland anecdote, but once the book is closed, you'll have to search the entire book for that again. With a name index, that wouldn't happen.

No bibliography. Now this is a shame. No other comments.

Now the absence of these important features, which any good book will have, is a big disadvantage. Anyway, this will happen to any/every Hal Leonard book.

This book could be better. Hal Leonard books could be better.

This book is quite good with its information, and it does contain excellent exercises for the voice. One reviewer leveled the complaint against it that it was great for classical singers but of no value to gospel or jazz singers. That is the problem with this country: singing teachers who can't see that the techniques used to produce a great voice, whether singing classical or gospel or jazz, are the same. Vocal style has very little to do with sound technique. Have the sound technique and you can sing any vocal style. Classical style requires the open throat (and so does gospel and jazz to a point), popular require the use of the belting technique, but it is still solidly founded in classical training techniques. Sadly, I never got the impression from the book that the writer really understood that fact herself.

As with the comment about people singing because they want to sing, not because they want a career, I happen to agree with the other reviewer. This book did make it seem that if one is teaching lessons, unless the singer wishes a career you are really wasting your time. In my view, unless you are making royalties off their future performances, or the future careers of your students, what does it matter if they have a career or not. I have taught some truly wonderful ammature singers (who had very professional quality of tone and interpretation, great musicality, etc) who wanted to sing because they enjoy singing, not because they want to become famous. I have found they were the best students to teach, for they wanted to learn because they wanted to learn. They were not concerned as to whether they will be rich and famous in 6 months.

The book is a great book, but you really have to see for yourself how useful it is for you. It didn't give me much I didn't already know (but then, I have been teaching voice for 20 years, and singing professionally for over 30), and it didn't really give me any real insights as to how to try things in a different way. However, it may work wonders for you. Each of us are different with different experiences in life, and with different teaching experiences. What may work for some, may not work for others.

If you are not sure about things, borrow the book from your public library and read it first. Then if it isn't what you need, you aren't out any.

This is a comprehensive book that reviews everything from beginning your studio to filing your taxes. She even refers the reader to different vocal technique and literature books. The exercises in the back of the book are simple and easy for the beginning voice student and the solfeggio worksheets are a fantastic way to help your students learn to sight read.

It is nice to have a book like this for voice teachers who wish not only to teach their students how to sing better, but also teach them to teach themselves by knowing to sightread.

I've used this book to help set up a voice studio in my home and have found this book an invaluable tool. It really helped to get me organized. I found many of Ms. Boytim's techniques and exercises a very helpful aid in teaching my students. It is very well written and easy to understand.

This is an excellent tool for the private studio teacher of high school and/or junior high age. The how to's on setting up a studio are well done and useful. The chapter on the long term adult student was limited and disappointing. Having had a private studio for over 20 years, I might suggest the following for missed lessons. Every student has a copy of the schedule with phone numbers. It is the student's responsibility to arrange an exchange with another student that will accommodate the lesson for that week. I did skip the "letter" question at the beginning of each chapter as it was rather unnecessary. Overall, I highly recommend the book for organization of the studio and practical studio approach - particularly regarding Ms Boytim's suggestions on song literature for the young voice student and the exercises dealing with solfeggio.

Generally, this is a good "starter book" for anyone wanting to open a Voice Studio. It is however, target marketed to the average business novice.. who has very little business skills. If you are already operating a studio, and have done so for quite a while, then i would not suggest it. Furthermore, it only addresses Classical/Oratorio/Art song repertiore. No additional focus on contemporary music or contemporary musical theatre (which is a LARGE portion of singing students today.) Still, if you are a graduate starting out - looking for basic, yet good ideas... this is a good book to start. Still, beautifully written and Joan's chapter on 'vocal techniques' is worth buying the book - for that chapter alone.

A very well planned and well structured book. I found it very useful especially when planning my voice lessons.