THE "PROJECTION" TRAP IN VOICE TEACHING

Whether they admit it or not, voice teachers project onto students the teacher’s

own experience of singing. I came through a challenging transition from baritone

(pseudo-baritone, really) to tenor and for a long period tended to view voice study

as problem-solving, which it was for me. In the studio, I tended to find problems

in students where none existed, and to try to “fix what wasn’t broken”.

A forceful personality will often try to form the student into the image of the

teacher, to the point of requiring the student to sing the same material and adopt the

same style and interpretation the teacher employed while singing. A teacher who never

encountered difficulty in singing will either not know how to problem-solve or be

perplexed by or intolerant of the student who presents with difficulties or damage.

A great deal of experience is required to overcome the tendency to project oneself

onto the student and to address only the vocal matters at hand.