Frequently asked questions

What happens during a Vocal Trial Lesson?

We will get to know each other. I will ask about your vocal background and goals and give you an overview of the rock and metal techniques I teach. I will provide my analysis on how I think your goals can be best reached. We will go through your routines and discuss what could be a realistic lesson and practice plan. We will do the first exercises together and you can ask me any questions on your mind. In the end we will discuss shortly the practical side with booking your lessons and other relevant details.

Where will the Vocal Trial Lesson take place? I can see my own address at the booking confirmation.

The Vocal Trial Lesson in Person always takes place at the Berliner Rockhaus, Buchberger str. 6, 10365 Berlin.
If you scroll a bit further in the booking confirmation you can see this address too and not just your own!

The Vocal Trial Lesson Online is a virtual lesson via Zoom.

Where do I find you at Rockhaus?

You don’t have to, as I will find you! Just wait at the main entrance (street side) and I will pick you up shortly before the lesson start. This info is also on the booking confirmation- you just have to scroll a bit further!

Should I prepare somehow for the Vocal Trial Lesson?

The best preparation is to reply to the questions asked on the form you fill out when you book the Vocal Trial Lesson -this is sufficient for me to prepare. It’s nice if you remember to bring a bottle of water for yourself. If you forget, I usually have one extra for you. While we often do some vocal exercises, the lesson is quite informal and not an audition-like situation.

Is this a singing competition, do I get judged?

In the reality no one really asked the question exactly this way, but people often tell me about being nervous before their first lesson. It’s normal to feel this way, but I am not here to give you points - the questions I am interested in are only 2: Do you sound how you like? Are you able to reach that sound without discomfort or pain? If the reply to either one of these is “no”, it’s probably worth meeting as I might be able to help you.

I am trans, can I take vocal lessons?

You are warmly welcome to my vocal lessons - I hope it can someday go without saying, but as I get asked about it I want to make my position clear. My lessons with everyone are concentrated on basic and extreme vocal techniques - should you have any specific wishes or challenges regarding your voice I am happy to hear about them and do my best to help. I am not however specialised in gender-affirming voice therapy. This being said, it is a part of my work with all my students to help them reach their preferred vocal sound.

What voice type (bariton, alto…) am I?

In rock and metal vocal style classical voice types are not relevant - they are used to describe the ability to sing classical repertoire in a classical style. The fun news for you are, that most people can learn to do a lot more with their voice than they ever thought was possible.

How long will it take for me to learn X, Y, Z?

Short answer: I cannot say. I know you are not happy with that so let’s go for the long one.

Even the one and same person might learn some things fast and intuitively by chance and with others take longer time and more practice. What I can give you are some kind of averages on which techniques typically for most people are better suited in the beginning and which I recommend later in the journey. I recommend working with both short and long term goals - it’s good to work on small realistic steps to ensure you will have performance-ready songs on your current level and simultaneously we can still learn bits and pieces of techniques that will get you closer to the vocal sounds of your wildest dreams.

If you start from zero, the easiest way to find out is just to start practicing -once you see what you can reach with 2 months of practice at a pace realistic for you, what you can reach in 6 months is approximately that x3. In general when talking about voice as an instrument we always talk rather about months and years than days or weeks of practice.

There are also prerequisites for some techniques - once you can do X and Y, we can start practicing Z. If it’s high and loud and extreme and fast, it typically takes more time, because it is a combination of multiple components of vocal technique at the same time.