Learning to sing, as with most other types of learning, has been greatly enhanced by digital technology. Online singing training, in particular, gained in popularity during the pandemic’s lockdowns, with singing teachers delivering lessons via video platforms such as Zoom. While video singing training doesn’t allow in-depth tuition, it fulfilled a need for students who didn’t want to interrupt their progress.

We still offer video singing lessons in our studio and have adapted some other services using digital technology, to benefit your singing training.

In this video, technology developer Matt Godfrey and I give you a rundown of what digital technology we use in the studio and how it can enhance your training and practice.

AirTable: for easy sharing of singing resources, and to track progress

AirTable is a cloud-based collaboration app that works with Gmail, Drive, Slack, DropBox and other software.

We now store the studio’s vast library of sheet music, singing exercises, vocalises and audio files on AirTable, so we can easily and quickly share them with singers.

You know practice makes a big difference to developing your singing skills. And by making it easier to access your practice materials, it’s easier for you to commit to. Many students are grateful for the time saving and convenience of carrying their singing training with them on their phone or iPad.

Using AirTable this way means Kathleen can better help singers, by easily matching their repertoire preferences and skill level. She can search music by degree of difficulty, composer, title, genre, AMEB grade and more. Singers can then make choices of repertoire based on her informed suggestions.

AirTable also keeps records of a singer’s progress, documenting details of exercises, vocalise and songs, to show a history of vocal development. Being able to see the level of exercises a student has reached, Kathleen can determine what to focus on next to help the singer progress further.

Loom: short, sharp video tutorials

Our pre-recorded Loom videos are like ‘flipped classes’, where we introduce new skills to students remotely, to be worked on at their next lesson. These accompany exercise sheets and in the short videos, Kathleen explains and sings the exercises, helping you understand the aims of the exercises. These videos are also shared with singers through AirTable.

Plans for a tailored singing tuition app

In future, Kathleen is keen to develop a mobile app where students can access even more singing tuition tips whenever and wherever they want.

“An app where you can go in and check ‘OK, that’s how that exercise goes, that’s what the aim of that exercise is’ and little tips like ‘look out for what your tongue is doing’. Those little things can really help people focus on what the skill is and what you’re developing,” Kathleen explains.

At our new CBD studio at Creative Spaces, singers wanting to record their songs can access state-of-the-art technology. A full recording studio is available and each rehearsal studio has audio and video facilities for use.

We’re grateful for the support and contribution from the people who helped us set up these technologies: Matt Godfrey, who was behind much of this work and Saoirse Prince for the hands-on work merging song sheets, recording data and adapting AirTable to our needs. Also, our wonderful accompanist Alison, who has recorded many song and vocalise audio files.

Our goal is to streamline your singing training, making it easier to sense the progress you’re making. “That’s ultimately what I want,” Kathleen says.

Browse the studio’s in-person or online singing lessons, tailored to your specific needs. Or call us on 0402 409 106.