Frequently Asked Questions

The NYVC Voice Teacher Training & Certification was created by Justin Stoney, the founder of New York Vocal Coaching and one of the leading teaching talents in today’s vocal community. It is designed for aspiring and experienced voice teachers seeking to perfect their teaching craft. This course equips voice teachers with all the tools they need for a successful, professional vocal studio. Trainees gain a deep understanding of vocal pedagogy as it applies to singers of all levels, backgrounds, and musical styles. Trainees also have the opportunity to observe, study, and practice applying vocal technique in practical ways. Participants develop a diagnostic ear and learn to identify and address a variety of vocal technique issues. Participants also obtain a very detailed and nuanced understanding of their own vocal technique.

Unlike several other voice teacher certifications, the NYVC Voice Teacher Training is not a “method”. Instead, a great multitude of methods, techniques, and ideas from the world of vocal science and vocal pedagogy are explored. Teachers gain a comprehensive understanding of vocal pedagogy and learn a wide variety of technical, physical, and psychological strategies that have been used historically and in today’s modern vocal studios. No sound that a singer can make is considered “invalid”. Instead, participants learn exactly how sounds from all vocal styles are produced and how to teach them successfully and healthfully. Teachers graduate with vast teaching resources and endless possibilities.

Participants in the NYVC Voice Teacher Training are encouraged to view voice teaching as a craft and art form all its own. From this perspective, teachers learn to trust their teaching instincts and “teach to the individual” rather than follow a system of methodical rules. The unique gifts and talents of every participant are cultivated and developed. The result is voice teachers who emerge with confidence in the accuracy of their information, trust of their diagnostic ears, creativity in their teaching strategies, and unrestricted in their potential to help any singer improve. In short, this training develops true artists in the craft of voice teaching.

The NYVC Voice Teacher Training and Certification consists of 6 sections: Lecture, Observation, Teaching, Listening, Mentorship, and Personal Study.

LECTURE

In the Lecture, you will receive comprehensive instruction on all aspects of the voice, vocal technique, and vocal pedagogy. This includes Breathing, Anatomy, Laryngeal Studies, Vocal Registration, Vocal Science, Acoustics, Resonance, Posture & Alignment, Diagnostics, “Vocal Exercise Design”©, Vocal Styles, Phonetics, Singer Psychology, and much more. You will gain a complete understanding of the human voice, practical application of this knowledge to voice students, and will have the opportunity to address any and all questions throughout the course. You will emerge with every tool you need for masterful pedagogy and confidence in your teaching. 

OBSERVATION

In the Observation section, you will observe vocal technique concepts applied to students taught live by Mr. Stoney. These observation sessions are performed in an interactive master class setting during the weekly class time. The observations allow you to witness how vocal pedagogical concepts can be applied skillfully and practically to help singers make fast and tangible improvements to a wide variety of vocal issues. New York Vocal Coaching’s students represent a vast array of styles, levels, backgrounds, ages, nationalities, and interests - allowing for a rich educational experience in diagnostic and practical vocal pedagogy.

TEACHING

The Teaching portion of the course is a practicum that gives you hands-on teaching experience or strengthens the knowledge and experience you already have. During the training you will commit to teaching a student at least once every two weeks and write a reflection on the experience. For new teachers, you will find one person or multiple people who would like to learn more about singing and can meet with you regularly. For teachers who already have a roster, you can simply choose one of your lessons to reflect on. These are sessions guided completely by you and create an immersive experience that necessitates learning how to think and adapt in the moment with a student. Topics and strategies you cover with your student will grow as the course progresses and will change depending on your experience level. Throughout the course, homework assignments and frequent live Q&As provide the opportunity to seek guidance from Justin Stoney on the work you're doing with your student.

LISTENING

The Listening section helps you to train your ears and learn to identify a wide variety of vocal qualities. Analyzing clips from many different artists and styles, you will receive guidance throughout the semester as you explore numerous examples for each vocal quality. Listening assignments mirror the Lecture component of the course, providing a deeper understanding of technical and stylistic topics. This prepares you to have greater confidence in assessing and collaborating with students of all styles.

MENTORSHIP

The Mentorship component of the course is a holistic experience which includes the time with Justin during the lectures, Q&As, Singer Analysis sessions, and homework correspondence, as well as Listening homework correspondence with Andy King. This opportunity goes beyond lecture content to dive deep into your questions, experiences, and current teaching strategies. You have ongoing opportunities to share your thoughts and receive feedback and guidance to ensure that you are understanding, growing, and adapting to what you're learning in the course.

PERSONAL STUDY

In the Personal Study section you will receive a one-on-one Voice Lesson, a Teaching session, and a Business Consultation - all with Mr. Stoney. The Voice Lesson gives you a vocal “blueprint” as to how the concepts covered in the Voice Teacher Training apply to your own singing. Having a nuanced understanding of one’s own vocal technique is vital for helping others. This will develop throughout the course as you apply the concepts to your voice and is then explored more deeply in your lesson with Justin. The Teaching session is a practicum observed by Justin in which you showcase how you've learned to navigate a lesson with a student. As you teach your student, live feedback and guidance is offered with respect to developing a diagnostic ear and understanding how to practically apply concepts from the course. Finally, the Business Consultation allows you to explore what your unique situation is and what actionable steps you can take to either begin or grow your business as a Voice Teacher.

For generations, aspiring voice teachers have been largely in the dark when it comes to receiving practical training in voice teaching. Graduates of university vocal pedagogy programs have a solid grasp of anatomical and scientific information, but often feel that they lack practical application in the vocal studio - particularly when it comes to the needs of contemporary singers. On the other hand, many practicing voice teachers may have wonderful instincts on how to help singers, but don't have a deep understanding of how to achieve certain results or why their methods work in the first place.

Although it seems strange, it’s most often the case that voice teachers have little or no actual training in practical voice teaching or vocal pedagogy. While there are many great voice teachers with formal pedagogical training, the unfortunate reality is that those who tend to have the greatest success have done the necessary research, experimented in the studio, and built their teaching craft totally on their own.

Mr. Stoney compiled and streamlined an extremely broad range of vocal pedagogy resources, vocal methods and approaches, vocal technique books and articles, and traditional vocal ideas. He coupled this with his own 15,000+ hours of work in the vocal studio with thousands of singers from all styles and from 60+ countries. This gave Mr. Stoney the inspiration to pave the way for other voice teachers and to create the NYVC Voice Teacher Training. The Voice Teacher Training condenses this vast body of research and experience into a course that makes extremely advanced vocal ideas simple and accessible for others. Voice teachers no longer need to spend years hunting for answers, guessing, or trying to apply a method. The training and mentorship that so many aspiring voice teachers have longed for is now being made available at New York Vocal Coaching.

The NYVC Voice Teacher Training most often consists of aspiring and experienced Voice Teachers. However, participants regularly come from various fields or experiences relating or not relating to Voice Teaching, such as:

• Performers who are looking to begin teaching alongside or in place of their performing
• Graduates of universities with music or voice degrees who feel they lack understanding of how vocal technique and pedagogy can be applied practically to the varied needs of singers
• Teachers who are familiar with how vocal technique applies to some styles (i.e. classical and opera), but not to others (i.e. contemporary music)
• Music Directors who possess musical or conducting prowess, but who lack understanding of vocal pedagogy
• Speech Language Pathologists who have a thorough background in anatomy and vocal science, but desire a stronger understanding of the needs of singers
• Singers who would like to deepen their craft by understanding their vocal technique on the level that experienced voice technicians do

While these are the most common participants in the NYVC Voice Teacher Training, graduates have also included people beyond those categories. We welcome anyone who is seeking to improve their knowledge of vocal technique & anatomy, voice teaching, and vocal pedagogy.

While we are open to accepting anyone who is passionate about studying the craft of voice teaching, most participants have at least a few years of private vocal studies or some sort of voice-related degree or experience (such as a university degree in music, theatre, speech, speech pathology, or voice, or significant experience as a professional musician). There have been exceptions to this. However, to get the most out of the course, it is helpful for trainees to have some experience related to voice.

The course also involves some basic music theory and application of “Vocal Exercise Design”© that requires a small degree of familiarity with either music theory or a musical instrument, preferably the piano. It is not a requirement for trainees to have any specific piano qualifications to participate in the course. However, we do recommend that participants seek to develop at least basic piano skills for their future success as voice teachers. Piano training for voice teachers is offered by New York Vocal Coaching and can be easily added as a supplement to the course if desired.

The 50-Hour Voice Teacher Training is offered to small groups of voice teachers. Studying in a small group allows participants to work as a team, challenge one another, benefit from many interactive scenarios, and develop a network of voice teachers from around the globe.

Along with the group setting, participants receive personal correspondence with Mr. Stoney to discuss their quiz work and reflections throughout the semester.

At the end of the course, the Personal Study portion is completed privately with Mr. Stoney.

Due to the popularity of the program and to ensure that substantial personal attention and mentoring is possible, we limit the number of participants in each semester.

During the NYVC Voice Teacher Training, the Lectures, Observation, Personal Study, Teaching, and Mentorship are taught and guided exclusively by Justin Stoney. In addition to the 50+ hours spent with Mr. Stoney, participants correspond with an NYVC Associate on the Listening Guide Homework throughout the semester. 

Participants are welcome to have private lessons with an NYVC Associate to complement their training if they would like. However, this is not included in the course.