5 Famous Musicians Who Worked With Coaches and Teachers To Improve Their Sound

Musicians, more specifically singers, often don’t just come into their extraordinary gift. Though a person might have an innate talent for singing at a young age, the vast majority of singers are smart enough to know that they need help from an expert in the subject. As is with any craft, if you want to be the absolute best, you have to practice, study, and work hard at it. From famous singers to theatre performers, anyone who performs vocally can improve through lessons with a voice coach. Is it your dream to make it on Broadway? Seek out New York City private singing lessons. Looking to make it as a professional recording artist? Hunt down a vocal coach in Los Angeles. Getting through with just raw talent often won’t be enough, especially if you can recognize areas for improvement in your own voice. Almost everyone has room to grow, even some of the best and most talented singers in the world. These men and women chose to work with coaches and teachers incessantly to improve their sound.

BEYONCE KNOWLES

Beyonce began singing from a very young age. But at 8 years old, she was already working with the now-renowned vocal coach David Lee Brewer, who helped her to realize and come into her full potential and unique sound as a singer and performer. Brewer was a trained opera singer and put his own career on hold when he worked with her and later on with Destiny’s Child, working diligently with her and even living with the Knowles family. He said that even though singing was his talent, teaching is his gift to help others who are working towards celebrity status. Since he was able to work on counseling and coaching Beyonce at such a young age, her voice has been recognized for having a true strength and uniqueness through the techniques that she was taught by Brewer.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Another singer everyone knows who started singing at a very young age was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. He utilized a voice coach when he was recording in his later years during Thriller, Bad and Dangerous. He realized that he needed to work on his sound and practice to keep his voice strong. His vocal coach was Seth Riggs, who also worked with other famous singers including Barbra Streisand and Stevie Wonder. He was impressed with Michael’s enormous range and notes the importance of warming up for him to be “open” with his sound. You can even listen to an actual vocal coaching session between Michael and Seth here. It may sound like some simple warmups to some, maybe even boring. But it is clear that these kinds of exercises are instrumental in working with the voice to improve upon his sound when Michael says “I want to be all open.”

WHITNEY HOUSTON

Whitney Houston has an iconic singing voice, and yes, she also had a voice teacher to help her hit higher notes, widening her vocal range. Her long-time coach has also worked with other famous singers like Seal and Andrea Bocelli. Gary struggled in his teen years with voice teachers and studied mechanics on vocal production to come up with a better way to establish a great singing voice. What he does with his students is known as “voice building” and brings the focus on singing with the throat than the front of the face. Houston worked with Cotona after her voice started to deteriorate, knowing she had to work to fix/change it before she lost her voice completely or damaged it worse. She is noted on his website with the quote:

“I am so excited, I can feel and hear my voice opening up and getting stronger every day and my high notes, too!”

SAM SMITH

A relatively newer breakthrough artist, Sam Smith’s soulful singing has captured and pulled at the heartstrings of many. His voice coach is in the top of the world’s elite. His given name is Anthony Wade, and he worked with Sam Smith at the young age of 15. He states that he viewed Smith’s voice to sound “like a violin” and noted that other singers emulate instruments like Ella Fitzgerald (saxophone) and Frank Sinatra (trombone). Dr. Voice notes that he loves to motivate and inspire his singers, awakening their true potential for their best sound.

STEVIE NICKS (Fleetwood Mac)

Stevie Nicks is well-known for her career with the band Fleetwood Mac as well as her own solo career as a singer, with a husky, strong and distinctive voice type. She worked with the great Olivia Newton-John. Real actually would go on tour with Nicks to work with her every day starting in 1997. She met him through a friend of hers who suggested she work with him when she was sick and worried about canceling a concert, and after she did the warmups with Real, she doubted her voice would be better. She was actually just humoring her friend and didn’t really believe that anything would come of it. But after being able to sing well and NOT have to cancel the concert, she said she would never again go without warming up with Real.

“YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD, HAVE LOTS OF PRACTICE, AND DON’T FORGET TO WARM UP!

The best musicians in the world have the ability to recognize when they need help. Houston went to work with the master of voice building when she realized she had hurt her instrument. Nothing will ever improve or heal without the dedication and work to make it better, and the willingness to invest to make it happen.

To become a serious singer, or serious in any subject matter that interests you or that you have talent in for that matter, the best option for you is to invest in working with an expert. Don’t underestimate the power that practice with a coach can do for you. If nothing more, your coach will at the very least empower you to have the confidence to go for your goals.