Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.
How much are singing lessons?
Singing lessons cost $50 per hour, on average. Hourly rates can range anywhere from $40-$80. However, some vocal instructors may charge flat rates or offer packages. They may also offer 30-minute lessons for a lower price. Or, they might require monthly tuition for ongoing classes. It depends on the voice coach.
Every voice coach may have a different style of teaching, but here are a few things you'll likely experience during a singing lesson:
Explaining to the instructor what you want to improve on.
Going through a few breathing and riff exercises.
Receiving constructive feedback and criticism from the instructor.
Before your first voice lesson, you can ask your instructor what you should expect and how to prepare.
How many singing lessons do I need?
It depends on what you’re hoping to accomplish with your singing lessons. Consult a highly rated vocal instructor to determine how many lessons you should take — and how often you should take them.
Do singing lessons actually work?
Yes, many students who’ve taken singing lessons say that their singing has gotten better. To find out if voice coaches near you have successfully taught others how to sing, read their customer reviews on Thumbtack.
What is a good age to start vocal lessons?
Whether you’re a novice or experienced singer, it’s never too late to start taking vocal lessons.
If you’re thinking about signing up your child for voice lessons, keep in mind that some instructors recommend waiting until their voice settles after puberty. Talk to voice coaches near you to find out if now's the time for you (or your child) to start taking lessons.
Where can you get singing lessons?
You can receive singing lessons from a vocal instructor or voice coach on Thumbtack. Some instructors offer virtual lessons, while others may require you to come into a studio for instruction.
How can I find a good voice teacher?
Use Thumbtack to find a good, top-rated voice teacher near you. With Thumbtack, you can view the teachers’ profiles, read their client testimonials and check their ratings. To ensure you hire the best instructor, ask them questions about their credentials and success with other students. You should also get cost estimates from at least three instructors before you make your decision.
Reviews for Chicago voice instructors
Thumbtack Customer
I learned more in my first lesson with Janice than I have learned in a year of voicelessons. She is extraordinary!
Chicago Studio of Professional Singing
Vaughn-Shane C.
I wasn’t sure how remote voicelessons would go, but Marcin was awesome at making the lesson feel as natural and normal as being in person! Gave great feedback and he’s super professional and knowledgeable. He helped me figure out different technique tweaks to improve my voice by session one. Highly recommend booking him!
Ezra Entertainment Education
Octavia M.
Lauren has been giving virtual voicelessons to my daughter for over a year now and it’s been great. Lauren is very passionate about her business and always attentive to her students. Because of Lauren, my daughter has been introduced to new genres of music and is actually having fun during her lessons.
LAS Voice Studio
Elizabeth G.
I had a wonderful first lesson with Meg. She is very professional and good at what she does. I can tell already we will work well together and she will help me improve my voice and reach my personal goals with singing!
Online Voice Lessons | Voice by Chelsea
Anuj A.
I was assigned with Andriana and she was incredibly insightful and delightful from the jump! I absolutely loved working with her and the experience was seamless and fun. Sadly, I'll have to discontinue lessons for personal reasons - but I'd highly recommend this studio for anyone looking to improve their voice or their lifestyle surrounding it.
Jacob Burton Studios
Manuel T.
I absolutely recommend TK for voicelessons. She’s so professional and personable. She made me feel so comfortable with her . She’s definitely great at what she does.
You can tell she loves music and teaching. TK spirit is so loving and genuine. Once again I absolutely recommend her for your musical journey.
VoiceTrain by TK Morris
Thumbtack Customer
Margarita is amazing and I have only had one lesson so far. This is so great, I don't even know where to start. I decided to actually have 2 lessons per week already instead of just 1 to see where that takes me because I feel like may be actually do something with my voice with Margarita as my instructor. She knows how to improve the quality of your voice with special techniques and I would actually know because I ran an opera company and I'm a professional pianist. She has a great personality to go along with it, has fun with it and knows how to make you feel comfortable during the session which is what you should want if you are taking lessons. I didn't know what to expect and was nervous before Margarita came but now I'm definitely not nervous anymore. My goal is to be able to play piano and sing at the same time and I will hopefully be able to do that at some point. If you are looking for an instructor, look no further!
Complete Package Coaching/ Pullman Jazz Society
Junyang R.
This is the first ever horrible and assaulting experience I’ve ever on Thumbtack, and as much as I’m usually easy on people , I feel responsible to share my experience with this so-called “Top Pro”, as a warning to anyone who wants to reach out to him and also to himself as a lesson to reflect on himself if he’s really knowing what he’s doing.
Before a quick recap of the entire experiences, quick intro about myself, I’m a data analyst always on a tight schedule, had in-person vocal training back in 2017 until my vocal trainer moved and have to put my vocal lesson on hold.
First Interaction
Back to Bulent, on Aug 2018 I decided to take a chance on Thumtack to find a trustworthy vocal teacher for remote lessons, that way I could not only record the class, but also easy to build up a long-term relationship. And there comes Bulent being the first to reply to my project request, however it did not work out as I was dragged into an unexpected project and was kept crazily busy throughout the rest of 2018 before I can take a breath. So, Bulent another apology here for my disappearance, then here comes the red flag regarding my first interaction with him:
Throughout the communication, he DID NOT EVER proactively ask my goals of doing the vocal training, all the conversations he initialized was to push me schedule, which raised my alert immediately, this discrepancy to the reviews people said about him did not appear to me that he’s the kind of teacher that really cares how to help people achieve their goals.
Second Interaction
Then here comes the second interaction with Bulent. As my schedule is back to normal, so I decided to restart my vocal teacher search and I’m seriously about it as I mentioned above. Bulent showed up again without my realization that he is the same pro back in Aug. As the quote popped up as $45 starting price which is within my budget for a 45mins lesson, so I reached out to him. Then, here comes the assaulting experience, I’ll elaborate with bullets:
1) After checking availability, he replied with $100 starting price at 30mins, up to $200 at 60mins, which is almost 4 times higher than the original quote he provided 4 months back, $30 starting price at 30mins, up to $60 at 60mins. Seeing this huge rally in price, as with most customers, my first reaction was “is this for real?”, so I checked with my friend who worked at Thumbtack doing app functionality optimization, and she confirmed that pros can manually change the price after “check availability”, however when I double checked with Bulent, he replied “it’s system decided price that I did not change manually”, which apparently is lying.
2) Then I responded politely and about to give up due to the budget, but Bulent was trying to convince me back (the conversation was attached to the end of this review). Then I figured maybe I should give it a shot and at least talk about how to achieve my goal with him before deciding. However, Bulent refused to talk through my goal by reminding me our last interaction back in Aug and referenced “there’re a lot of ‘people like you’ who disappears after quotes, the reason to make the price a lot higher is to attract people who’s serious about learning”, apparently this is implying I’m the kind of person who’s not here to learn, but is here to play searching games, which is extremely discriminating, inappropriate and assaulting. But given this many review saying nice things about him and I did disappear in the first place, I still managed trying to clear things up with him by making multiple apologies.
But FYI To Bulent : IT IS NOTED HERE, IT IS ILLEGAL TO RAISE PRICE TARGETING ONLY SPECIFIC POPULATION, PEOPLE FOR ANY REASONS, just a friendly reminder to you understand this is no joke, working with legal and compliance over the years , I’d like to help prepping for the domain knowledge if you need it.
3) Funny thing is he agreed to bring down price to $150 at 60mins in the first place, then after I decided to proceed with that price, he changed his mind and bring the price back $200 indicating I need to pay for the communication time ( wow, how priceless you are mr Bulent ).
4) Then off course as a normal customer, I have every reason to ask why, Bulent replied a bunch a vague comments and rudely accused me of not reading his comments, and not getting his point ( wow, how big of you mr Bulent ). Then he disappeared.
5) In short, the overall experience of the second interaction made me feel like Bulent is playing a game as a revenue for my last disappearance, which is super offending and immature.
6) Throughout the course of communication, he’s all about talking money and how high price course with less frequency can benefit you. And always putting himself in a condescending place. He did not ever make a little effort trying to understand a client’s vocal training goal, if this is the case, how can you really cater your teaching method to each and every single client.
In the end, I hope you’re a real good vocal trainer, but please be respectful of people and don’t preconceive their purpose of looking on Thumbtact, no matter how proud or successful you think you are given the reviews you’ve accumulated over the years. I truly wish you long term success and being able to help more people, but also take some time reflect on yourself every now and then.
Me:
“Thanks for your time, I need to think about it now, tho you seem to be a wonderful teacher
9:38 PM
Him:
You're welcome. In my studio lessons are about quality, not quantity. Meeting about once a month is sufficient. Weekly or frequent lessons are not necessary.
9:42 PM
Me:
That sounds about right for me, let me think about it, would it be possible to have a quick call about my learning goal and study plan?
10:27 PM
Him:
I'd be happy to chat, but I'm already aware of your goals. You had contacted me back in August. We communicated a lot. You were about to start the lessons, then I did not hear back. I think you'd find the initial info I sent (above) helpful. Let's start with that.
10:34 PM
Sunday, Jan 6th
Me:
Aha, I figured the name sounds familiar, finally got to re-start this vocal training project in New year, I remember last the price was not this high!
1:19 AM
Him:
Junyang,
The price went up, but 'this high' does not apply. In terms of the general scene, I'm actually still undercharging. Some top teachers charge around $300 an hour. But ultimately what I teach is a priceless treasure. My students learn in one hour what many people spend years, perhaps a lifetime to discover and learn, spending a fortune, sometimes even losing their voice. See student reviews, especially the one by XXXXX at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
One reason for the lesson rates to go up was to separate non-serious inquiries from the serious ones on Thumbtack. So many people were contacting me, then disappearing or not following up. Depending on developments on Thumbtack, prices may go up or down again. For your records, below is the correspondence back in August. I expected your reply on Aug 16, but the conversation ended without a response.
Best,
Him
Me:
Is it possible to make it cheaper? Then I'll be sure to move forward this time, I feel sorry for the disappearance as I was dragged into an unexpected project and things went crazy after.
Him:
2:54 PM
If you are serious about singing and if it's going to help, I'll slide the scale for you and offer 60 minutes lessons at $150.
If you wish to proceed, please reply to the initial info I sent yesterday.
BÜLENT GÜNERALP ONLINE VOICE STUDIO
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