When working with a knowledgable vocal coach, doing voice lessons through Skype is virtually the same as lessons in person. As long as your computer is up to date and you have high speed internet, your instructor should be able to hear everything they need to help you build upon your talents.

So what is the difference between skype and in-person lessons? Well, the biggest difference is the time delay.

Just like when you talk on the phone, skype calls have a small time delay. It takes a fraction of a second for a sound on one side to be heard by the listener on the other side. This time delay is very small, but it is enough to affect lessons in a couple of different ways.

First, in a face-to-face lesson, it’s common for a voice teacher to play the notes of a scale along with the singer. On Skype, the teacher only plays a chord or a starting note. Then, the singer must have a strong enough ear to execute the scale without using the piano as a crutch.

In my experience, this is rarely an issue. When it is, I simply adjust the scale to something less complex. Then, I give the singer a recording of the scale to practice for our next lesson.

Second, the student must play their accompanying music on their end. Once again, this is thanks to the time delay. The good news is there are an endless amount of instrumental tracks available on youtube. So thanks to youtube, this is rarely ever an issue.

Finally, if the key of the accompanying track needs changed, it does take a couple more minutes. If time is a factor here, singing the song a cappella is always an option.

After teaching hundreds of skype lessons, I can say those are the two biggest differences I’ve found. Fortunately, both are easy to work around and are small sacrifices to make to work with the right coach.

If you’re interested in finding out more about lessons, feel free to visit our lessons page.

Thanks,
Ken