Learning to sing is a different journey for everyone – there are so many variables! Age, anatomy, postural habits, mindset, and time commitment, all contribute to your progress as you develop your vocal skills, and discover your strengths and challenges along the way.

Why knowing your singing level matters

Knowing where you sit allows you to set realistic goals, choose appropriate repertoire and access learning resources that challenge but don’t overwhelm. For an overview on song repertoire, read one of our previous articles on what songs suit each singing level.

BEGINNER You may have sung at church, in the shower or at karaoke, but you haven’t yet experienced singing lessons to learn proper vocal technique and performance craft.

INTERMEDIATE singers have had two to three years of training. You have secure control over your breathing, pitch accuracy and tonal sound, adept articulator use, and have started more demanding voice exercises. You’re also testing your growing skills on complex songs, such as those that require singing against an accompaniment without the melody line, and songs with wider intervals. You’re developing your ability to perform with connection to a song and audience.

ADVANCED You have a deep understanding of your vocal capability, and your weaknesses, giving appropriate attention to them. You’re fine-tuning your breath control to sing longer phrases, working on smooth vocal register transitions (chest, mid, head voice), and exploring artistic interpretation of songs.

Anne R performing at our Studio Concert

What does each singing level work on in lessons and practice?

Beginner: Building firm vocal foundations

For beginners, one of the most basic steps is an aligned body. A long, loose posture allows you to explore effortless breathing, which is key to making great sound. You learn to notice small details such as the position and use of your feet, legs, torso, shoulders, and especially, the neck and head.

Beginner singers work with their teachers to determine their vocal range – how high and low you can sing comfortably. You learn about your vocal tract: mouth, throat, tongue and jaw. You learn to open the mouth and throat space on inhalation, to create a warmer, freer-sounding tone. You focus on relaxing the jaw and tongue and, through specific exercises, learn how to use lips, soft palate and facial muscles to shape vowels and consonants when singing.

Low, slow, deep breathing can be a new skill for beginner singers. In our studio, we use the evidence-based Accent Method Breathing. Learning to sustain sounds, and sing longer phrases and wider intervals takes time as you get used to engaging muscles in the torso, back and abdominals to set yourself up for secure and confident singing.

Intermediate: Exploring what your voice can do

Intermediate singers work on expanding and securing the upper and lower ranges of their voice, and blending their sound between upper, middle and lower voice, for a smooth vocal tone throughout their range. For males, using falsetto can be a newfound use of the boys’ voice they once had, and for females accessing those upper notes takes courage, persistence and expert guidance.

At this level, you also work on expanding your breath capacity to sing through long, sustained notes, and more precisely use vowels and consonants to take on more challenging songs. You learn to trust that your ear will find the pitch, to maintain sound flow with secure breath control, and to fine tune articulator use.

To improve vocal agility at intermediate level, we use exercises that target fast-moving passages, moving up and down scale passages, and quickly turning seconds and thirds.

Nick B performing at our studio concert

Advanced: Exploring performance artistry, finessing voice skills

While many advanced singers can sing against a difficult accompaniment, in different languages, and have a good understanding of their voice, at this level, we focus on strengthening your singing through refining key components of vocal development. I’ll introduce complex exercises with ever widening or intricate intervals, to finely tune your breath control to sing even longer phrases, and explore fast-flowing patterns.

By working on blending between chest, mid and head voice registers, you can expand your repertoire to include songs with not only sophisticated compositions but also characters with greater emotional depth. At advanced level, you fine tune your resonance, learning to bring resonant sounds further forward in your vocal tract, or use more back mouth space for different tonal colour, through finely controlled breath and throat adjustments. In your practice routine at this level, you learn to focus on your target skill, and not be distracted by any unwelcome sound.

And if performance is a goal, you also learn how to work with collaborators such as accompanists or band members. Working with other musicians is an important relationship, and stage craft is crucial, as is memorising song lyrics, which frees you up to engage more with a song, your fellow musicians, and your audience.

Now you have a better idea of the steps along a singer’s journey, working together with a singing teacher like Kathleen Connell, you’ll pursue goals that challenge and inspire you.

Explore the Studio’s singing lesson options, or call 0402 409 106. And sign up to our regular newsletter for more singing tips.