Better Lesson Pacing in the Voice Studio

Teacher confession.😬 My lessons don’t always land like this. Even after three decades of teaching, I still have lessons that feel awkward and uncomfortable, and on reeeallly bad days, well, I feel like a fraud.

Lesson pacing is mindful observation, connection, careful planning, and the ability to shift from your plan when things aren’t going in the desired direction. I struggled with young singers in my early years of teaching, as I did not understand the importance of lesson pacing and authentic student engagement.

Lesson pacing is how a voice teacher organizes activities, transitions, instruction, and feedback so students remain engaged while making meaningful progress.

Teacher hard truth: Lesson pacing correlates to student engagement. You can’t have one without the other. Here are some common teacher traps 😲 and simple strategies to improve your lesson flow. 

Tricky Teacher Traps

Repeat after me: “My ability as a teacher is not measured by how fast my students progress.” (Write this on a sticky note and put it on your piano!) 

Many private teachers feel pressure to rush students through the lesson information. However, effective lesson pacing isn’t about moving quickly through information. It’s not about how many songs they sing (or don’t sing) or how fast a student finishes a method book*. Instead, a carefully paced voice lesson allows students to explore their voice and music while enjoying themselves.

Quality not quantity

Good lesson pacing is not packing everything about singing and music into one weekly lesson. While young singers require various activities in each lesson, too much new information can easily overwhelm them. (This applies to adults, too!) Simplifying your instruction and allowing them to repeat activities is a better formula than endless lectures. (Less talking, more singing)

Making connections

Effective pace of learning is different for each student. Getting to know your students and understanding how they best learn and how they wish to express themselves vocally will impact your lesson pacing. Once you have an idea of which activities your student enjoys (and which they don’t), you will be able to organize a productive lesson and find an appropriate pace.

Beware the Curse of Knowledge

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that prevents experts (you) from relating to the beginner experience. We forget that the language of music is complex. We forget how long it took us to master the basics, and we push students through rudimentary exercises because they are simple (or boring) for us. Carefully observing students will help you put students’ needs and learning preferences ahead of your own.

• Reading lyrics and lyric discovery (students of all ages can struggle with reading comprehension)
• Introducing and teaching the exercise or song (break into small fragments)
• When using solfege hand signs. (watch them carefully and copy the speed at which they perform)
• when performing clap-back/sing-back exercises (try different body percussion activities)
• When learning the song with the piano accompaniment (Let them learn the melody without accompaniment first)

Cognitive processing speeds can vary significantly among our students. For more info about understanding processing speeds in children, visit: Is it Possible to Improve Slow Processing Speed in Children (by Learning Works For Kids)

8 Tips for mindful lesson pacing in the voice studio

Less talking, more singing.

The more you let them sing, the more your students will auto-correct. When you ask for adjustments, use a simple statement and allow the student to repeat the exercise before asking for changes. This is such an important topic; we did an entire podcast about it. Listen to episode 212 Less Talking, Better Teaching

Have all materials ready

Have your books, visuals, props, music, backing tracks, handouts, devices, and games ready. Any downtime spent looking for your tools will allow students to disengage from your lesson plan. 

Online lessons: When my student first logs into my Zoom room, I outline the activities and ask students to find all their materials before we get started.  

Have a variety of activities

Teachers working with the kiddos need an extensive teaching toolbox. While you may have a routine for your lessons, you want to offer a variety of activities so students can explore music with all their senses. Offering students a choice of activities will help with pacing and engagement. 

Comprehensive lesson plans

With simple lesson planning, teachers will find opportunities to connect warm-up activities with repertoire. Look at the student’s repertoire and find ways to explore commonalities in the warm-up part of the lesson. Check out our strategies for Wolf in the Forest (🇦🇺 AU song here).

Do all work in the lessons.

Beginners require assistance from a teacher when learning music theory or reading skills. Break this foundational material into small activities, incorporating games and song study into a comprehensive lesson. A quick overview in a short lesson will not transform into effective home practice. Teacher tip: Assigning oodles of homework is a red flag. You may need to reevaluate your lesson pacing.

Fun Fact: We do not recommend completing a FULL VOICE Workbook lesson each week. Go slow and enjoy the learning. We also don’t recommend assigning FULL VOICE Workbook lessons as homework. They need to be completed with the teacher’s assistance.

Review, review, and more review

Progress in learning is never A to B. Learning new information and becoming confident with it requires much repetition and different activities that allow the student to explore concepts in many different ways. Therefore, make time in your lesson planning for students to sing repeatedly and for reviewing basic skills.

Observe your students 

Your students will show you (and sometimes tell you) when they are engaged in the activity or need to move on to a new one. Be flexible in your lesson plans, as modifying activities will keep young singers smiling and singing.

Happy Singing!  

*Students who rush through beginner method books will become discouraged as the materials become more challenging and are likely to quit lessons.

Here’s the twist: lesson pacing isn’t about rushing students from one activity to the next. Sometimes the most productive lessons feel surprisingly unhurried. If that sounds impossible, my blog The Unhurried Voice Lesson might change the way you think about teaching.

Need more inspiration (and exercises?)