Vox Academy

I had never taken any kind of singing or voice instruction before so I don’t know what to compare it to, but I thought it was an okay experience. I know one of the employees who told me about the free workshops here, so I dropped by one of those in January taught by Beth. I had always been insecure about my voice and I was surprised to find that I could actually sing a lot higher than I thought, it was a good teachable moment. So then I signed up for the 7-​week Mastery of Voice Foundation I course that costs $ 295, also taught by Beth. I thought for that price I would get a lot more out of it than what I got, I guess. I don’t think the description on the website really described what the class actually was very well, but maybe it’s because I don’t have a singing background so I didn’t really understand all the terminology. Basically, I thought we’d be doing a lot of singing, I pictured us the students being like a choir singing various songs and the instructor giving us pointers of how to sound better. But by the end of the 4^th class we hadn’t really done any singing, we just practiced breathing and posture and vocalizations. The instructor would have us say different words and phrases in different voices and she’d tell us different adjustments we could make in our posture and breathing to have it sound more natural and less strained or higher or lower or louder or whatever. And we learned about the anatomy of how our bodies vocalize and the physics of it. Which is all well and good but I feel like I could’ve taken perhaps a one-​hour lesson with what I learned in those classes. Plus I thought it would be more focused on learning technical information about singing, but it felt more to me like a «healing session», like learning to love your voice and feel good about yourself and let go of past negative things that people have told you about your voice and letting go of your insecurities. Which is great to some degree, but just not exactly what I signed up for. The other 4 students in the class seemed to really embrace that aspect of it though. I felt like it was a little too touchy-​feely for me and not enough progression from class to class. Too much emphasis on having perfect posture. After the 4^th class I just stopped going b/​c I just wasn’t really getting anything out of it anymore. Plus a big part of the class is being asked how the other students sound, and I felt I didn’t know enough about singing to give a really helpful answer other than «It sounds good» (since we weren’t supposed to «judge» the other students). Maybe if I had a music or singing background I would have appreciated it more, but I had a totally different idea of what it would be in my head and am writing this review to help out others who may be in the same boat and maybe save you three hundred bucks if you are on the fence.

My group class had a mix of professionals to beginners and we all learned a lot. I am learning how to use my voice in a totally new way and love the supportive, fun, friendly, and appropriately challenging atmosphere. I have never had any formal singing training, but have loved singing and playing instruments for years. I feel very thankful to have found a place where they work with you where you are to help you get where you want to go.

I’ve been attending for over a year now, and am still having a blast! We had our first ever public performance last night and the house was packed (and no one was disappointed). I’ve seen people have very positive life-​changing experiences in discovering their authentic voice (i.e., that it is ok to be heard, it is ok to be themselves, it is ok to be loud, it is ok to really share their own thoughts and feelings, and discovering that fear had been closing off their voice for years and that they really can speak and sing in front of others.)
I highly recommend the Institute to anyone who would really like to take a crack at singing. We’ve all seen American Idol and Glee, this is an excellent place to learn how to sing well in a healthy, encouraging environment. Even for professionals that have been wounded by the business side of music, come and find some healing and encouragement.