Katrina Nimmo DipABRSM, MA (Performance)
Cardiff Singing Teacher - Vocal Coach
Can anyone learn how to sing?
Of course! Singing is simply heightened speech. Everyone who enjoys expressing themselves will love learning to sing and I’ve never yet met a pupil who hasn’t felt they’ve improved and increased their enjoyment of singing. All you need is a good vocal coach and the right kind of support!
What if I don’t have a massive range?
This is a question I hear a lot, and it surprises me every time. People who have never had a lesson fear that a limited range will stand in their way of being able to sing but this is never the case. With vocal exercises, breathing techniques and singing for pleasure, the range myth is soon dispersed and you’ll be amazed at the noises you can make!
What are the benefits of singing?
For years, scientists have gone on about the physical benefits of singing: reduction in snoring, greater lung capacity, increase in mood and general wellbeing, and as a teacher I have seen this first hand. When I first began teaching voice, a pupil came to me for the sole reason of stopping her panic attacks. She had heard that singing could improve anxiety and decided to find a singing teacher - me – simple as that. But I had no experience in vocal teaching as therapy so I did a lot of reading. And my conclusion was that the approach I ended up taking with her – lots of breathing techniques, short songs and vocal exercises – was the same as I would have had had I not done specific research.
Singing is so instinctive and such a positive means of self-expression that yes, we can focus on the reason you want to have singing lessons, whatever that may be, but the human voice is a universal gift and by exploring your unique instrument, we can improve health and wellbeing in a holistic way. Learning songs is an obvious bonus!
For more information on the benefits of singing, here’s a great article from The Telegraph:
Do I need to learn how to read music?
No. Plenty of well-known artists don’t read music, and it hampers neither technical development nor career. However, there are benefits to learning to read. Firstly, songs are learned more quickly and lessons can go at a faster pace, so if you like quick-fire song learning, you might want to think about it. Secondly, it’s not hard! It’s the only language I know that has no exceptions to rules – what you see is what you get. Learning to read music has also been shown to improve maths, language and literacy skills so is very beneficial to those in education.
I’ve never had a singing lesson – where do we start?
With a cup of tea! We’ll chat about the reasons you want to sing, the music you like, the music you aspire to being able to perform. Your experience is our main starting point – hobbies and interests give me a good insight into how a person will learn best and will often reveal to the pupil that they know a lot more than they thought!
From there, we’ll look at breathing and posture exercises, vocal exercises and songs, moving to scales and more technical exercises gradually.
I have an audition/exam to prepare for – how can you help?
I’m happy to help with one-off lessons or an intensive block to help you prepare for a performance of any sort. We’ll look at the repertoire you’ll be singing, both from a technical and interpretive point of view and briefly touch on exercises and skills that will benefit your singing practice in the future. I’m also happy to share my audition experiences and help you prepare psychologically – after all, I’m sure that’s the most difficult part!
What kind of music do you perform?
I’m studying opera at the RWCMD and within that genre I sing everything from Handel to Harrington. I particularly enjoy modern opera and was very lucky to work with David Harrington on his new works The Pin Drops and Hey, Dolly Dust. I have done years of wedding singing, performing classics like Eva Cassidy’s Songbird and less obvious wedding choices like Beyonce. During my time at Glasgow Music Studios, I collaborated with some other music teachers on live lounge style recordings of pop, rock and folk hits – so I’ve done, and am currently doing, just about everything!