The Search* has begun.
* Not involving Jamie Theakston, and hopefully not involving multiple schedule changes

Thought I'd blogged about this, but evidently not; I'm now on the hunt for a new singing teacher.

Should be a vaguely easy task, you'd think; there's plenty of singers in both popular and classical styles in any university city of a quarter of a million people, an obviously fairly substantial market for vocal tuition, and while there's going to be a non-trivial popular/classical divide I am ambivalent towards which side my teacher falls (though see also posts passim regarding the pigeonholing tendencies of classical training, and by means of redressing the balance the possible lesser emphasis on sound technique in popular styles implying a greater risk of a bad teacher in that domain). The benefits of being a stylistically ambiguous singer-songwriter, there.

That, however, merely means there are multiple choices. And while it took a while for them to form, they sure have formed now. As of this moment, there are three options.

Firstly, Chris Allinson. Like Gemma, he's a Southampton music graduate; unlike Gemma, he's still in the area. (Also unlike Gemma, he's acquired a Masters, for what it's worth.) Interestingly, very very interestingly, he actually teaches first-year music students, which is rather a vote of confidence in him.

However. He block-books lessons, with a discount for 'buying in bulk'; while his record does rather suggest he is a good teacher, that doesn't mean he'll necessarily suit me, and I am very wary of committing to a block of lessons with a teacher I don't know. More pertinently, miss_bluesky (Oh. I'll just call her Emma from now on) firmly believes I should try out different teachers first: 'make sure you always go for a taster session, don't let them push you too high or low at first, and if anything hurts, tell them. If they don't address it, they're rubbish. Simple as that.' This may not be possible with Chris.

Incidentally, he's a classical singer and teaches entirely in that style; this is a mixed bag as I've said before, and I suspect it makes him a safer bet than a popular-music teacher. It also exponentially increases the probability of being exposed to precisely the same set of constraints I faced with Gemma. (daweaver, remember that diagram? Oh, related irony, one of my former school friends is meeting other students from the conservatoire linked to Central England Polytechnic Birmingham City So-Called University at... All Bar One at Brindleyplace. You could not make it up.)

The second is Rosalind Mizen; doesn't have her own web page, but appears to be a journeyman (journeywoman?) professional singer who works in admin for the university (where she graduated with a Masters in performance just as Chris did) for a steady income (Scroogle turns up a spate of hits for her, one of them mentioning her in an administrative context, most of them mentioning her as a singer). She too is in the classical domain, and if you'd guessed on the balance of probabilities that she was a soprano, you'd have been right. She is apparently busy for the immediate future but can start teaching me probably at the end of the month. No idea of cost yet.

And then there's the strangest twist of the lot. A collection of teachers of all types in the Southampton area emailed me in response to my email on the university's classified adverts on their website (which, incidentally, is how Rosalind contacted me, and where Chris advertised his services). The email mentioned a 10% NUS discount. Now, bear in mind that this email was sent in the complete knowledge I am a student at Southampton University - and then also bear in mind that they are not NUS members, and are fairly well known as such. (Southampton Poly are, but the email was sent knowing I do not study there.) When you add to that the small matter of one of their teachers being a recent Southampton University graduate... it begins to look very odd.

Anyway. The undiscounted price is £24 per hour, with a taster session available for £20. So that's one reassurance, but at a price. I do remember saying somewhere... let me find it... bah, can't find it. Somewhere I said I doubted I could find a teacher I'd pay more than the £18 per hour I paid Gemma. This was before I realised: a) I am probably eligible for more financial assistance than I am claiming; b) there is a non-zero probability of having a career involving the use of my voice, albeit in commentary as opposed to singing.

Usefully, very usefully, not one, not two but three of the singing teachers are also songwriters. (Lyndsay appears to not do individual singing lessons, preferring to focus on musical theatre groups. Oh, and choirs; in fact, she is the musical director of the choir I am joining...) Implication; they will have perhaps a greater awareness of why my intentions and priorities are as they are, as opposed to being the best [insert classical-singing pigeonhole here] I can be, as seems to too often be the priority in classical singing.

For what it's worth, cost appears to not be correlated with quality in Emma's opinion - 'there are some perfectly good teachers charging a tenner an hour, and some much less good ones charging upwards of £60', according to her.

The frustrating thing is the differing time pressures placed by Chris's 25% discount ending next weekend and Rosalind not being able to confirm anything until some time after that. I do hope I can find someone - and it will probably be a music student, just as Gemma was - who can step into the void and at least be open to a trial lesson. Should this go badly or not happen at all, and perhaps even regardless of this, I suspect I will also end up paying the One Geordie for a trial lesson with one of the above group. Laura would be my choice at present; 'hardly conventional, Laura believes in nurturing the aspirations of the student, building confidence, belief and adventure' sounds perfect. Interestingly, the website lists her as a voice teacher, her sub-page does not, and while a separate composition tutor (a role she does fulfil) would be of benefit, the marginal utility of such a lesson is certainly not more than One Geordie. If Laura is not there for vocal tuition, Lucy would then be the next choice.