Voice Teacher or Voice Coach

What's in a name? Knowing the difference could help you find the right fit

What do you do?

For 20 years, I’d say, “I’m a voice teacher.”  

Today, I say, “I’m a voice coach.” If we’re in a deeper conversation… “a heart-centered voice coach.”

Either way, people inevitably ask, “what’s that?” or “what do you mean?”

I used to be surprised when someone questioned; thinking it was obvious. As the years pass by, I’ve thought, no wonder people don’t know… I’m still defining it myself. 
I think there is also the myth that exists that people either sing or can’t and people are often surprised that my profession exists.

There are a myriad of things that can happen under this umbrella of Voice Teacher/Coach.

What is the difference between a Voice Teacher and a Voice Coach?

Once upon a time, I would have defined it this way:

A voice teacher tends to be more technical in how to make the act of singing easier, educating on anatomy while working through repertoire. Voice teachers also teach/coach on musicality, artistic expression and interpretation too. 

A voice (or commonly, vocal) coach tends to be an accompanist (piano player) who is coaching someone preparing for performance/audition. Coaches in the classical/theater world may be giving interpretive/artistic direction, while referring the client to a voice teacher when technical issues arise - like tuning, breath management, etc. 

Voice teachers can be like coaches, whereas coaches in general don’t often have the technical background to teach.

This is how it was explained to me 20+ years ago, and may still be expected (and accepted) in traditional educational settings. 

What about Voice Trainer?

Several years ago, I started trying on Voice Trainer as a job title. It seemed to speak more to the reality of what I did in the studio regarding technique building; similar to athletes. We now know that training singers is akin to training athletes, as the physical act of singing is mostly about the coordination and strengthening and flexibility of different muscle groups in the body. 

Viewing singing through an Arts & Science lens, I think of the artistry coming from shaping the sound for emotional connection. Some of this can include muscle work too; think facial expression, using the face to communicate.

Wendy D. LeBorgne and Marci Rosenberg’s book, The Vocal Athlete, has been a guiding source for those of us training singers in the commercial music field:

The Vocal Athlete was designed to bridge the gap between the art of contemporary commercial music (CCM) singing and the science behind voice production in this ever-growing popular vocal style.

Most of my clientele has come to me over the years because they have needed work on a technical level, and I started viewing that as: muscular. Whether it was the rocker who lost his voice, or the music theater kid whose teacher says they’re belting too loud, those two often have muscle imbalances in common - one set of muscles is overworking paired with a weakness in another area. 

The beginning, or older singer may lack strength in one or more muscle groups and needs strengthening to be heard better, or to stabilize the sound for security.

If you’ve ever had a work out session with a personal trainer, you know that you get a better workout than if you were on your own. The trainer is showing me how to notice my body, teaching me about what is happening and how to do it on my own, tricking me into doing three more reps or 15 more seconds, and encouraging/comforting me that I can do this. This is what it’s like to be in the studio when we’re focusing on technique. 

While people don’t usually get sweaty doing vocal exercises, (I mean, it has happened!) it is common that people find they work a little harder (mentally) than they thought. Part of this work is bringing the subconscious into the conscious. People don’t automatically notice how all the muscles in their body are “supporting” their voice in particular sounds, so bringing that to their attention helps them focus that support to more areas that need it.

Why Coach? 

One of the many things that shifted in 2020, was my approach in the studio. My clients and I were struggling with uncertainty and trying to find some normalcy, so we moved online and acted as if we could still do what we did. 

Some days I was providing exercises and then hearing them sing a song with a karaoke track, and some days I was just listening to their grief and worry and then we’d sing for a little relief, release and connection. 

As I returned to therapy and sought out another coach to work with (actually three with different specialties over 2 years), I started reflecting to my clients what i was getting from my mentors/coaches: 

• Guidance and space to figure things out

• Offering empathy and choice to my clients

• Challenges to my limiting beliefs

I lost my zest for training. I needed more of the heart work, the why we sing, at this time. Being a trainer took a lot of energy, and I was depleted. I was good at it, still am, but desired more meaning out of this work.

Fun? What’s that?

After 2020, I was not the only one who changed. There were still inquiries to learn to sing for fun, or just to sound “ok” while they learned guitar or ukulele. Some people took up making bread, crocheting; my people took up playing. I took up healing. Looks like a lot of people did that too. The inquiries from people who were lost and grieving and looking for healing through singing started coming.

This was the intersection where my heart and spirit were: healing and fun. I was realizing that fun and play were a bit enigmatic for me. I could guide them in healing, and they showed me, reminded me how fun singing could be. 

The client is the hero. I’m Obi-wan. I finally got it. What do they want?

I’ve had to learn a lot about offering choice and guiding, because I used to just tell everything. A coach is asking questions for the client to find the answers - this is heart-led artistry.

In a cosmic collaboration, my clients and I have created this space for all to show up as they are and we go from there. When we gather as a group, they offer the same grace and compassion, empathy and encouragement to each other that they get from me in session. And, we have fun!

Probably the greatest lesson I’ve learned through being coached, is the lesson of the story/parable of the “The Three Perceptives:” 

“Discovering the truth by his own inquiries would be better for all…” and “...it is generally better for people to arrive at truth through what they take to be their own volition.”

Meaning, we learn better, incorporate it and weave it into our lives and bodies when we figure it out, rather than because someone told us.

There are times when I need to teach someone something they don’t know, guide them to increase their kinesthetic awareness; but mostly, coaching is a rotation of hats.

Different Roles, All in one

On any given day, or hour, with any client, I am usually a combo, or all, of these…

• a personal trainer for the voice muscles, coordinating with respiratory muscles and facial muscles. There is strength training and there is muscle unwinding…finding the muscles that are trying to help, but really not needed; sometimes causing an obstacle.

• a teacher of anatomy, explaining how the body works. I teach how the physiological act of singing gets interrupted by the psyche, and even by our own nervous system much of the time.

• a comforter for the nervous system. Instinctively, the body can counter with muscle tightness while singing because it might sense danger. Our fight/flight/freeze response can be set off in trying to make high/loud sounds.

• an encouraging/affirming voice…  Singing is as much a psychological activity, as physical. Our psyche so badly wants to sound “good”. As our nervous system fights us, and we are learning the physical coordination of making the sounds, the psyche is constantly evaluating, but is it good. So, I have to say, this is all as it should be… your body and brain are figuring it out. 

• an investigator/director - when all systems are working, and we get to make artsy decisions about style, and communication, and emotional connection, then it’s exploration time. And, each artist/singer gets to decide how their taste shapes their songs, their voice. So, I guide them, because if I wore my teacher hat here, they would just be singing the way I liked… not the way THEY liked

• an emotional witness - there are days when we can’t even think of singing. We talk, we journal, we stretch, breathe, meditate, moan/in-tone together, find the right nervous system regulation exercise to get aligned, put on a favorite tune and dance (maybe sing along)...often by the end, I hear, “I’m ready to sing a song.” And, it’s always beautiful. 

Heart-Centered Voice Coach

HEART-CENTERED: tuned in to our hearts; what do we desire, how does it affirm us and connect us to others. This is where we find the why we sing, and what we need when we can’t sing.

COACH: Knowing where to guide, where to tell, where to affirm and comfort, where to point, so they, so you, can find your own voice; your most confident voice.

Yeah, no wonder people ask. It’s a complex job. Sure is fulfilling.

I’m an Enneagram 9, fall almost in the middle of every category on the Myers Briggs (ESFJ) and may be an Ayurvedic tri-type, so not surprising that I can wear a lot of hats.

What is your heart calling you to? Do you need guidance to find your path?

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