How to Become a Vocal Coach: 4 Key Points

If you’re aspiring to become a vocal coach, congratulations. You’re attempting to join a group of esteemed individuals that help to make up the backbone of the music industry. It’s one of the best ways to earn your livelihood as a singer. So, if you think you have the skill required to teach others how to be as good as you, you’re at just the right place. Here’s everything you need to know about becoming a vocal coach. 

A vocal coach is a pretty unique job simply because there’s absolutely no requirement to become one. There’s no degree or certification that a person would need to call themselves a vocal coach. If you want to become one, there’s literally nothing stopping you.

However, even though it isn’t a requirement, vocal coaches that have formal academic experience in music or singing and any certifications that can support their career are usually more successful than the ones working without them. Education and certification combined are a great way to verify your skillset and credibility as a dependable vocal coach. Having the  credentials means you’ll likely attract more students a be able to charge a higher fee too.

So, to sum it up, you don’t need anything to become a vocal coach. But, education and certifications / credentials in that field will raise the probability of having a successful career.

According to an estimate, a vocal coach in the UK can earn up to £40,695 annually. This number is of course influenced by your pricing, but if you charge the general rates that most UK-based businesses charge, this number is a pretty good estimate of a successful vocal coach.

It’s also important to consider the fact that there are several add-ons to your services that you can adopt which will not only widen your customer reach but also allow you to charge more for your services. For instance, adding microphones and recording equipment to your teaching space will enable you to offer more value like recording your students progress and providing them with these recordings to take home. These additions will act as an extra incentive for your clients, and it’s something that most people will gladly pay more for.

So how much do vocal coaches from around the world make? Let's take a look.

1. The average income of a vocal coach in the United States is $77,000 USD

2. The average income of a vocal coach in Canada is $51,500 CAD

3. The average income of a vocal coach in Australia is $43,000 AUD

4.   The average income of a vocal coach in Germany is €35,200 EUR

5.   The average income of a vocal coach in France is €30,400 EUR

6. The median annual salary for an American voice teacher was around $34k USD to start and can go up to about $75k USD with experience and qualifications

Step 1: Make Sure your Singing Skills Are Up To Scratch

The first thing that is a must-have for every vocal coach is talent. You’re providing a service and your students want to be reassured that you know what you’re doing. You’re exchanging your  precious knowledge and guidance and are getting paid for it. That’s a pretty fair trade. However, that’s not going to happen if you can’t demonstrate a high level of skill yourself. You need to hone your craft, practice music and ensure that every person walking in through your doors leaves that room with the means to become a better singer. Prior to coaching others, coach yourself and learn every intricate detail you can about the role of a vocal coach. You could try our online vocal course, it takes you through the most important steps to becoming a great singer.

If you’re having trouble learning the ropes and understanding life as a vocal coach, you might want to consider hiring a mentor. Mentors are a great form of wisdom and judgment that won’t just help you become a better singer. They’ll help you become a better teacher yourself as well.

Step 2: Get Credible with the Right Training

So, you’re talking the talk. It’s time you walk the walk as well. It’s not a compulsion, but getting some sort of formal training will both increase your confidence and reputation as a vocal coach. People like to feel safe and reassured that you have the skills to mentor them effectively. It shows more value to your students and this alone can provide a better learning experience. Getting some level of professional training will help you get more customers and more importantly - happy customers.

Step 3: Decide a Price

So, now that you have the skills required to become a vocal coach, it’s time to learn exactly how much your classes should be worth. A good rule of thumb is to research competitors similar to the services you’re selling and try to figure out your prices based on that. When you’re conducting your research, we highly recommend choosing brands that are providing similar services. For instance, if you’re not spending any money on fancy equipment, you should match the price of a business that doesn’t have equipment either. It’s extremely important that your prices are a good representative of your services. If you’re charging a premium for mediocre services, you might be setting yourself up for failure.

Step 4: Build a Brand

As a personal brand, there’s nothing more important than your skillset. However, when you’re looking to become a credible coach, it’s important to build your personal brand. People are much more likely to work with a famous but somewhat lesser skilled coach than an incredibly skilled coach with zero branding. Ultimately, your education and certification do not matter if you aren’t integrating it into your branding and letting people know that you are exactly what they’re looking for.

Getting the word of your website out and about is probably one of the hardest things to do as a vocal coach. People have this mentality that if you’re talented, success is automatic. The truth is that marketing and branding are a core part of any independent business. If there’s no hype surrounding your business, there’s no incentive that encourages people to try out your services.

So, we summed up practically everything there is to know about becoming a vocal coach. As we said earlier, it’s one of the best-paying jobs that a person with your skills can employ. The final tip that we’d like to give to all the vocal coaches reading this is that learning a skill isn’t a one-time thing. We’re living in a developing industry with new things being introduced practically every day. If you want to stay relevant and informative for your clients, it’s important that you treat learning as a core part of your process. For more info about becoming a vocal coach, please get in touch with us at Speak Sing Deliver today.