Product Description

A nationally recognized expert in teaching private voice, Joan Boytim has compiled some of the most widely used vocal collections in the US. Her clinics about various aspects of teaching voice, literature, and running a voice studio have been attended by thousands of teachers. Now that professional wisdom has been put into a new book indispensable for independent instructors, The Private Voice Studio Handbook. Its chapters address, in practical detail, topics such as: starting a private voice studio; equipment and space; recruiting and accepting students; ideas for the very first lesson with a student; studio policies, guidelines and ethics; teaching music reading; recommended syllable drills and vocalises; lesson plans; practice procedures; choosing repertoire suitable to students' abilities; finding appropriate sacred solos; accounting and record-keeping; tax, insurance and retirement advice; techniques for teaching voice to children and adults; planning studio recitals; and many more. An excellent resource for college and university voice faculty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101453 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

Good Ideas
This book, as the title obviously depicts, is for the teacher of a private studio. However, I teach at a university and found a lot of good ideas in this book that I plan on using next semester, affecting: recitals, repertoire, sight-singing, memorization, etc.

A crash course in studio techniques
When I was in college pursuing a music education major, there were several courses intended to give students the techniques necessary to succeed as a public school teacher: writing lesson plans, selecting curriculum, etc. In many ways, "The Private Voice Studio Handbook" is a crash course in the skills necessary to start and maintain a private voice studio.

While this book offers little in the way of voice technique material, it includes good information in a wide variety of subjects, including auditioning new students, choosing repertoire, events and organizations to get involved with to enhance your teaching skills, and financial matters related to self-employment. People with experience in any of the topics discussed may find little new information (I, for example, found the financial information to be somewhat dry, since I already work with self-earned income a lot); however, I found that the book did a great job of covering all these areas in a truly accessible way for skilled voice teachers considering running a studio for the first time.

My principal complaint about this book is that at times it repeated a particular piece of information to the point that it came off as an advertisement. Mainly, the singing teachers' organization NATS and Boytim's anthologies of vocal music were both frequently commended in the text. To be fair, though, I believe both to be excellent at what they do, so it may be to new teachers' benefit to be constantly reminded to take advantage of these resources.

Good Ideas
This is an excellent tool for the private studio teacher of high school and/or junior high age. The how to's on setting up a studio are well done and useful. The chapter on the long term adult student was limited and disappointing. Having had a private studio for over 20 years, I might suggest the following for missed lessons. Every student has a copy of the schedule with phone numbers. It is the student's responsibility to arrange an exchange with another student that will accommodate the lesson for that week. I did skip the "letter" question at the beginning of each chapter as it was rather unnecessary. Overall, I highly recommend the book for organization of the studio and practical studio approach - particularly regarding Ms Boytim's suggestions on song literature for the young voice student and the exercises dealing with solfeggio.