Voice Lesson Information


Welcome and thank you for enrolling in vocal coaching lessons with Tamara.
You have taken the first step in learning how to become a better, more confident and more complete singer. It is important that you feel comfortable in order to learn and use your voice most effectively.
Please read all of this information thoroughly.

Where & When
Lessons are 30 minutes or 45 minutes and are offered
Mon-Thur : 12pm-6pm
Fri : 12pm-5pm
Should you need to schedule outside of these times, please call Tamara by phone at 424.333.0355 or at VocalCoachTamara@gmail.com, regarding your specific scheduling needs as the schedule varies from time to time.

Lessons are in Beverly Hills by Tamara or via skype, sometimes I would travel, depending on the situation.

What to Wear & What to Bring
• Please wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing that will not limit your ability to move freely and/or breathe easily. Some of the work we do will include physical movement, particularly in the first few lessons.

What to Expect
• Your most comfortable ‘go to’ song(s), as well as your least comfortable song(s).
• Recording Device – Phones, digital recorders, tablets, ipods are fine, provided they allow you to connect to external speakers for practice.
• Bottled Water
• For more advanced level – come warmed up if possible, so that I’ll be hearing your ‘normal’ voice. We will of course warm up if you are unable, and I will lead you through exercises during the lesson.

Studio Policies & Protocol
BEFORE your lesson…
• Please contact me at 424.333.0355 or at VocalCoachTamara@gmail.com to set up a brief phone interview.
When you arrive…
• Please do not come upstairs early, as the Co-op has strict rules against waiting in the hallway or in the stairwell.
• Questions on the day of your lesson? Lost the address?
I do not take phone calls while teaching, so you won’t get me if you have questions about that day’s lesson. My studio address and phone are listed in the initial email with the first lesson scheduling, should you need them last minute. If you are running late, please send a text message or leave a brief message, as I will check txt messages/voicemail if you are not on time.

• Being on time!
For those traveling from outside of Beverly Hills, I strongly recommend taking traffic and delays in mind to avoid being late. I cannot extend the reserved lesson time or make-up lessons missed due to unreliable traffic conditions. Please come up just before your lesson time not earlier.

How to Get the Most From Your Lessons
• Since your initial phone interview will have been brief, we will talk further regarding your singing goals, previous voice training and experience and any vocal or physical limitations you may have.

I’ll ask you to sing brief songs or excerpts of songs that you feel most comfortable and least comfortable with, listening to how you use your voice in various ranges or styles. It is probably best that you come already warmed up so that I can get a realistic representation of what is comfortable for you, using your current technique. I will then usually ask that you begin a warm-up with exercises that you do most often, and I’ll jump in and give you direction from there, modifying the exercises as you go. If you have not come warmed-up, I will reverse the above steps.

• You will progress from exercises to phrases of songs and then revisit some of what you sang earlier in the lesson as a means of comparison. The length of time spent on technique, on exercises and repertoire will vary from lesson to lesson depending on what your needs are. If you have an audition or something specific that needs to be addressed in any given lesson, please bring it up at the beginning of the lesson so that we can budget your time accordingly.

Directions
• Productive Practice
• Use your recorded lesson at least 4-5 times between lessons. Each time you work with the recording, you are having another lesson – for the price of one! You will be programming your muscle memory as well as receiving the benefits of the exercises. Just as important, you will be internalizing my corrections and will begin to recognize issues on your own and then start to self-correct. This is a great way to empower yourself and begin to ‘own’ your technique.
• Plan
• Treat your lesson as any other professional appointment and try to get a decent night’s sleep the night before, leave yourself sufficient travel time to get to your lesson, and also plan your meals and ‘rushing around’ activities accordingly. Take control of what you can! There are always delays beyond our control, but a steady diet of this will not yield the most productive lessons.
• Prep your recording device
• To avoid wasting lesson time & prevent losing the lesson while we’re recording make sure you have:
• Fully charged your device
• Sufficient memory available
• Extra batteries or your charger handy

Pay Online
Voice Lessons: Please use the web page to pre-pay for your lesson.

‘Pay Now’ buttons will take you to Paypal to pay. You do not have to have a Paypal account to make payment.

Please select the appropriate class/fee and click on the ‘Pay Now’ button.
Lesson times must be scheduled in advance with Tamara.

If you have any questions, or to get started, please feel free to contact Tamara at 424-333-0355, Monday – Friday from 11AM to 7PM.