A student who goes to college to learn how to become a professional singer must go to a program that offers a degree in vocal performance or an equivalent in vocal training. The vast majority of those colleges give the student one voice lesson a week, typically an hour long. In some programs where there is a “voice emphasis” the lessons are only 30 minutes long, once a week. Sometimes there is a “voice class” of variable length with a group of students .
Think about that. The MOST IMPORTANT thing that you are attending school to develop is offered less than any other topic.
Why wouldn’t a serious student of singing have a lesson every day? Why wouldn’t a serious student see their primary teacher twice a day or for several hours at a time?
The model that is used was first created at Oberlin in 1934 and then at Juilliard in 1938. They were the first colleges to award degrees in voice. The degree programs were classical in nature and classically oriented programs remained the only formal vocal training available at the level of undergraduate studies until the 1980s. We still use the “one hour once a week” model created in the 30s for voice training at most colleges.
Does that make any sense? What, where, in the 21st century is still the same as it was in the 1930s? Unchanged.
Imagine taking one hour of ballet class per week if you were planning to be a ballerina. How about one hour of tennis if you had plans to become a pro tennis player? One hour of photography if you planned to become a photographer?
But one hour of voice training if you plan to become a professional singer? That’s OK. You can figure the rest out on your own. Or not.
Asking questions causes trouble. Asking questions that have no clear answers is bound to create feedback, but NOT asking questions keeps things stuck in “how they have always been”. Is that the best we can do?