[Guest Teacher]

Thanks for the responses guys. I’m a firm believer in your hips being higher than your knees when playing, so I’m not keen on having students sitting on sofas and am trying to encourage the use of stools. One in particular that I’ve been looking at is a ‘standing support’ (stool) from Ikea that can be raised pretty high (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/chairs-stools-benches/office-chairs/nilserik-standing-support-white-flackarp-green-art-00279568/). I’ll let you know how it goes!

[Guest Teacher]

Thats great Matthew, thank you! x

[Guest Teacher]

What do you put on your vouchers? Trying to design my first ones!

Also, would anyone mind just listing what they put in T’s + C’s, I wouldn’t want to miss anything!

Steph x

[Guest Teacher]

WOW! I limit myself to 25 hours teaching time a week (granted I’m also rehearsing shows and doing other things) and if I do more than 5 hours in a day I start feeling that tiredness creeping in so I’m not surprised you’re feeling it!

[Guest Teacher]

I don’t necessarily loose range, but the busier I’ve got the more I notice tiredness in my voice. So I’ve tried to switch up my teaching style so that I say and sing less and let the pupil do more (basically just filtering by asking myself “do I NEED to say this comment/do this demonstration?”). Also I’m often guilty of not warming up before starting teaching, which I need to work on.

Also I’d suggest don’t feel embarrassed when pupils can sing higher than you, even if you’re a super amazing soprano. You’re not there to sing better than the pupil, you’re there to get the most out of that pupil. Especially as a male teacher with mostly female students, I’ve had to learn to demonstrate things where I feel comfortable, share the principle and then let the student find it in their range. Hope that helps.