Voice and singing lessons in Berlin

A friend of mine is considering moving to berlin and is curious how much voice lessons cost here.
She's had tones of training and is considering going into an Opera training program when she gets home so she needs someone with good qualifications.
Does anyone have any idea how much money shes going to have to spend?

i know a voice teacher based out of berlin and she charges 40€ for a 45 minute lesson, but i also know someone who paid his voice teacher in stuttgart 70€ for a 45 minute lesson.

Most professional opera teachers in Berlin charge 50 euros per hour, plus extra if you want an accompanist. There are some who charge more, but that's not the norm. Most of the coaches charge 30 per hour. If she needs recommendations for teachers, coaches or accompanists, I suggest she checks out the New Forum for Classical Singers, http://www.nfcs.net and goes to the Europe Forum there.

HI'does anyone know where can I find place to learn vocal or singing in berlin? I want to improve my singing. i appreciate any information,from private to public course,or even if theres a church choir that also teaches singing technique,but obviously the english-speaking one,i cannot speak german

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oh god,at least 30 eur per hour?that is expensive >.<

is there anyone that has more information on where can I find singing tutor here in berlin?please message me!

I taught singing lessons to a few people (I am a 21 year old American living in Berlin, I studied vocal pedagogy for 2 and a half years in the states before moving here in January) and I got 30€ for 45 minutes, so I would imagine an accredited teacher would get even more. 30€ an hour is actually quite cheap, I once paid a singing teacher almost $65 for 30 minutes of lesson and she didn't even come to my place!

I am a singer and performer with lots of experience and offer private lessons for around 20 euros. I will also start a choir in the Kreuzberg area in June - and hopefully further field later. My emphasis is on posture and breathing techniques, 'finding your own voice' or improving the one you've already discovered and basically enjoying singing, either alone or in a group. Maybe this is is the kind of thing you are looking for Haleck? All welcome - let me know if you would like to join!

@ haleck

Keep in mind that most professional musicians have trained in their profession for more years than a surgeon! We put thousand of hours and thousands of dollars (or pounds, or euros) into learning our craft. On top of that, not everyone who can sing is also a good teacher. So, any reputable, experienced teacher will have a minimum standard that they charge for lessons.

Personally, as a voice teacher in Berlin, I charge only 30 euros per hour. I think that's very low, but I'm mostly teaching beginning students and people who are doing this for fun, not people who want to be professionals. While I've been teaching voice for over 16 years, I only started an active voice studio in Berlin in the last few months. Once I've developed a reputation in Berlin, and start getting more professional students, or students with professional ambitions, my prices will probably go up accordingly.

That being said, it's not ALL about the money, and if I have a very passionate student who really wants to learn, but can't afford the full cost of lessons, I sometimes work out a trade (I've traded for house cleaning, German lessons and IT/web design so far). But, that has to be worked out on an individual basis.

It's important, when you're looking for a voice teacher, to try out several different teachers, and make sure you find the best match for you. It's a little bit like finding the right doctor. You have to be confident of this person's abilities, but you also need to know that you can communicate with and feel comfortable with them.

You may find that it's more worthwhile to see a teacher who charges 30 euros per hour or more every other week, rather than paying less and having weekly lessons. I don't mean to imply that Shoom might not be a good teacher, but I would be wary of most teachers who undercut the market with super-low prices.

@ Shoom

hi there, I am really interested in hearing more about the choir you are starting Shoom... is it beginning soon??
T

Hi Toady and everyone,

My group singing lessons/choir will start next tuesday (and every tuesday after) from 19.30-21-30 at Wrangelstr in Krezberg. We will be focusing on vocal techniques and singing as a group. There will be a charge of 5 euro each per session. All welcome!

Message me for more details and the full adress.

Shoom

I studied singing for 5 years at The Bel Canto School of Singing in Dublin - I did no scales - I did no vocal exercises there - I learned an amazing different approach to singing which uses a strong emphasis on the pronunciation and interpretation instead of just making sounds and reaching for notes! This makes singing any songs more easy, natural and personal for the listener. I love opera but not the modern day opera singers who are just bellowing and making awful unnatural faces! I learned lots of opera arias from all the old great singers from the early recordings 1900- 1960 and then practised them myself with a pianist in Argentina. I have very little experience teaching singing but I know I am good at it. It's what I want to do in the future as a profession, but not for another 3 years and not in Berlin! However in the meantime I would like experience teaching so I can offer anyone keen a free class and if you like my style and I am interested in teaching you I may continue to teach you for free or for a small fee but this will be more for my own pleasure in teaching than for money. If you are interested in learning to sing really well send me an email! johnrownan at gmail.com or call 0160 9581 3916

might i also add there's a lot more to learning to sing than learning opera or choral pieces!! when I studied most of the songs were from old ballads to popular songs like the kinds from musicals that Frank Sinatra or Judy Garland would have sung for example... As an example of more modern songs that are good to learn i personally love Billy Joel's songs because they have really nice lyrics - singing is about telling a story - portraying a message, not just following a melody... and most importantly - having fun!

I just wanted to add that everyone who is looking for legitimate vocal lessons should read what DivaRae has written above. The danger of singing wrong under less than professional guidance can lead to vocal health problems such as nodes and cysts, which, have serious repercussions on your instrument and are usually irreversible. Please be careful when choosing a teacher making sure she/he are trained SINGERS with proper degrees and qualifications.

the problem that people dont think about is that doing scales and all these crazy vocal exercises are not natural and are bad for the voice hence they force their voices and destroy them! Maria Callas is a plain example - in my humble opinion she was an awful singer, screaming her head off and destroyed her voice when she was in her 20s! There was no sweetness in her singing - she was just about hitting those 'high notes' and making a sound. The only reason why she came to be so famous was because there were almost no good singers from the Golden age of Opera left... the teaching styles started to change in the 1930s and the fine art of Bel Canto has been practically lost... All the fine singers had retired by the 1960s and there was a huge downturn in quality of singing - the only thing that made up for it was a big increase in quality of recording techniques and recording studios could make things sound better than they actually were - especially for entire orquestras which drown out the harsh sounds of the modern singers... I recommend you listen to some recordings of Tito Schipa for example - I found some amazing ones on youtube from when he was in his 70s, singing with such sweetness, charm, and ease! I found an interesting link from an old film where he is supposed to be teaching a student - try these two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX-X4FcKanM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cfCwH2kWH0