Academy of Music & Sound

I’m a singer. But I confess… I know nothing about singing. Gasp! I’ve been in a band for a while now and figured it was about time I learnt some tricks to improve my singing and some exercises to strengthen my voice. I found Louise’s number on
and her description sounded like exactly what I was looking for and matched my band’s genre. (Jazz, blues, swing!)
When I phoned Louise to organise a lesson she was so friendly and genuine, I just knew that she was someone I wanted to teach me. So, it was no suprise that I really enjoyed my very first singing lesson! Louise welcomed me to the Academy and asked me questions to start. She was keen to know the history of the band, how it came to be formed, my background in singing and also what I wanted from the lessons. The first thing that she gave me was not a CD of exercises or breathing techniques but rather a list of useful tips on interpretation that I really liked. They were essentially uplifting and useful mantras for singers. This made it clear that comfort and confidence come first and the rest will all come along with that. A nice touch and the list will definitely be pinned to my wall!
Louise then taught me some breathing and vocal exercises. Finally, I sang for her at the end. It was nice that I hadn’t sang straight away and she made me entirely comfortable and relaxed before doing so. She even gave me some more materials and some useful searches on spotify for vocal exercises I can do at home.
I was honest in that I just wanted to build on what I already have and establish better technique with breathing and control and Louise was honest in telling me that a monthly lesson would suffice. I genuinely felt so comfortable with Louise and would recommend the Academy. The Academy were one of the more expensive places that I found online but not by a large amount. I’m definitely glad I choose them! I was let into the building by a man going to the gym in the same building but I think it’s procedure just to press the Academy’s buzzer. Highly professional and I really did feel like a friend was teaching me!