More About Amusia Lessons

Let me be your ears

until your ears can take over.

The brain is fantastically plastic. That means it can change and learn and it does so constantly at all ages. To develop the brain functions for processing pitch and singing in tune we need this plasticity, produced by a variety of repetitive tasks done with high attention.

How Often Are Lessons?

I suggest two lessons in the first week, followed by one lesson the next week. After that, one lesson per week or fortnight. This process usually takes several months and possibly longer, and you will need to practice. It's best to practice a little and often, when you are not tired.

Not tone-deaf?

We will discover if you truely have tone-deafness at the first lesson, but what if you're NOT tone-deaf? Of course, I can teach you to sing from any level. At the moment I am focused on people with amusia (tone-deafness) but if you are not tone-deaf that's fine, I can still teach you to develop your singing. 

The First Lesson

At your first lesson I will assess your voice for many factors, including your pitch ability or lack thereof. I will ask you many questions about your voice and then run through some simple musical and vocal tasks.

I will make some basic assessment of your vocal health. For a singing teacher I know a lot about vocal physiology but bear in mind I'm not a speech pathologist or medical professional, which you can read about in the Disclaimer.

It might not seem like we've made a start in the first lesson, but we really have. Usually I don't actually seem to teach anyone anything in particular in the first session, but many people have told me they learnt a great deal about singing and about their own voice from their initial lesson.

This means you probably won't have anything to do at home after the first session. That's why the second lesson should be within a few days.

No-one is locked-in to having continuing lessons so if you just want one session for assessment that's OK. You're welcome to have the results (my notes) of your initial lesson.

How is this different

to other learning?

With most learning there is a gradual improvement, right from the start. As you develop knowledge and skill in a new area, for example learning maths, a new language, or the botanical names of plants, you can immediately tell you're already getting somewhere.

Fixing tone-deafness is very different because your brain does not yet have the neural pathways to deal with pitch. Growing these new pathways in your brain is the main focus of the lessons but it takes time for this to happen. It could be two months or more before you notice an improvement. That's when you will suddenly find your musical skills are really taking off.

You will need a lot of patience with yourself, and perseverance.

Equipment

You need to have some sort of pitched musical instrument such as a piano, keyboard or guitar. Understanding music is easier with these kinds of instruments.

Read how I started teaching people with amusia in 1989.

See my blog post about tone-deafness:

Everyone can sing? Maybe not yet if you're tone-deaf

Ages

Though I have a current government Working With Children Check (WWCC) for teaching children of any age, I have only taught people with amusia from age 16 up, and other singers from age 18 up. I teach piano from age 8 up. Soon I will adjust my teaching methods to teach younger people with amusia.

Online

I teach some students in person in the eastern hills area of Perth, Western Australia, but most students have lessons online using Zoom. I will email you the Zoom link so all you have to do is click on it. Download Zoom to your device here https://zoom.us. The Zoom software is free. 

I have a page all about how to set up for Zoom and I'm happy to do a free Zoom set-up session with you a day or two before your first lesson. A SmartPhone or tablet will be OK for amusia lessons but a bigger screen is better.

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