Looking for vocal lessons in Den Haag? On this page Boukje van Gelder, vocal teacher in Studio MusicalMente, explains what she thinks is important when you want to start with vocal lessons and why you should even take them.
Looking for vocal lessons in Den Haag? On this page Boukje van Gelder, vocal teacher in Studio MusicalMente, explains what she thinks is important when you want to start with vocal lessons and why you should even take them.
To sing is wonderful to do. We sing under the shower, when doing the dishes, very loud in the car, when we celebrate a birthday, in a choir or even solo. Singing is fun! And because it’s already fun, why would you take lessons in it? There are a lot of reasons to take lessons. You might for example want to reach that top note again in the choir without feeling tense or tight. Or you want to sing your favorite song with confidence, also when your whole family is listening. Or you want, like me, to make singing your job and you need preparation for the conservatory.
Maybe you’re scared to take lessons, because you feel you’re not good enough. Are people starting playing clarinet ever not good enough to start? No. Singing is a skill, you can learn it!
My belief is that vocal lessons can be useful for everybody that likes singing, regardless of the level. The most important thing is that singing is fun and that with vocal lessons it stays fun and hopefully gets even more fun! Because when you learn how to apply vocal technique, singing will be easier and feel freer.
Making music isn’t like sports. You can’t say that someone is the absolute best in singing. This also accounts for teaching: there is not one teacher that for everybody is the best vocal teacher in the world. Many people even benifit from having multiple teachers troughout their life.
What is important in vocal teaching is that the teacher adapts his or her way of teaching to the student’s needs, making the student feel comfortable in doing so.
My lessons
In my lessons I always try to give the student personal input on how he or she can solve a vocal problem. The same solution won’t work with everybody. To accept that as a teacher and as a student is very valuable to move on. There will be another solution that works.
I was taught mostly in the belcanto classical method and had some lessons in CVT. The basics of the technique the same for every method and style: to let the air flow freely, but supported through the vocal folds without any pressure from jaw, tongue and lips. The ways to get there are numerous and that’s the most interesting part in singing and teaching singing
Making music isn’t like sports. You can’t say that someone is the absolute best in singing. This also accounts for teaching: there is not one teacher that for everybody is the best vocal teacher in the world. Many people even benifit from having multiple teachers troughout their life.
What is important in vocal teaching is that the teacher adapts his or her way of teaching to the student’s needs, making the student feel comfortable in doing so.
My lessons
In my lessons I always try to give the student personal imput on how he or she can solve a vocal problem. The same solution won’t work with everybody. To accept that as a teacher and as a student is very valuable to move on. There will be another solution that works.
I was taught mostly in the belcanto classical method and had some lessons in CVT. The basics of the technique the same for every method and style: to let the air flow freely, but supported through the vocal folds without any pressure from jaw, tongue and lips. The ways to get there are numerous and that’s the most interesting part in singing and teaching singing!
I started with my vocal lessons when I was 16, I had no clue about Vocal Technique, altough I sang a lot from a very early age. I also had a good intonation and musical ear, because of my cello and piano lessons. But the instrument itself, my voice, needed to start from scratch.
After some years and some problems with my voice (not caused by singing) I thought I was ready to enter the conservatory. So I auditioned in three places, got rejected in two of them and barely made it to the pre-year in the other. (One of my teachers later said she thought I couldn’t sing when she heard my
BUT I got into the pre-year and since then I was fortunate to work with six wonderful teachers that taught me how to use my voice in the best way. And they and I succeeded in getting my voice out there.
Why do I tell this? Because it illustrates that a good vocal technique is something you can learn!
With musical goals, you can take a new step every time by defining musical goals instead of staying in the same circle every lesson.You will have your musical goals defined and you will have a plan for reaching your goals.
You tell us what you want to learn. You are the starting point. In this way you learn how to give yourself feedback and you can start finding your own creative solutions.
You have your own unique ways for learning and therefore your lesson will be tailored on you to make it a perfect fit. You play and sing music you like and get exercises adapted for you.
You discover how piano playing is more than just pressing the right keys and singing more than singing notes. By knowing you instrument better, you create more variety in music-making and have more tools for overcoming difficult passages in the music.
Your music lesson doesn’t stop at the door of the music room. The way in which you practice has a big influence on your progress and therefore it's not separated from you music lesson. You start your practice session already in the lesson so you won’t go home without knowing what and how to practice.
You want to progress on your instrument. You want to see and hear that you're improving. In Studio MusicalMente you learn how you can keep track on where you are in your learning process. So you have a clear idea of your own musical direction.
In the individual lessons we will of course work on vocal technique, but singing is more than technique and that’s why I also like to work on how to interpret the music and the text. I teach: basic technique all musical genres, advanced technique classical singing and preparation for auditions.
Choirs can ask me to work with them. In the rehearsal I will give technical suggestions that focus on the pieces the choir sings. So the choir can immediatly use it in their vocal practice. This will help all choir singers to learn to use their voice more healthily and that of course will improve the sound of the choir.
When you choose an instrument as a child, you might not think of singing. But the voice is a very beautiful instrument: it can laugh, cry, talk, sing and more. In the vocal lessons for children we explore how to use the voice in different ways, singing songs they like. In the meantime I will also teach them music theory in a way that is fun for them.
I want to talk about coping with your asthma while singing through four questions:
Can I sing with asthma?
Can I sing in a choir with asthma?
How can asthma medication impact my voice?
How can I cope with my asthma during singing?
When we speak we hardly ever think of the length of the words we say. We just say them and usually they’re short.
When we sing this is so different: notes can be very long. In this explanation I will give you tips on how to sing long notes without pressing them. I will give you a technical and a musical path. Both paths reinforce each other.
Why take vocal lessons? 10 Steps you can make with singing when you take vocal lessons You’re on this page because you’re interested in improving
Studio MusicalMente
in Koorenhuis Den Haag, room 1.11
T: +316 36292835 (Boukje)
E: [email protected]
Prinsegracht 27
2512 EW Den Haag
[email protected]
KVK: 73031631
BTW: NL859327619B01
06-36292835 (Boukje)
06-53917314 (Luca)