@rsl12 I wanted to ask, how did you find your voice teacher ? Were you looking for specific qualifications ? What selection criteria did you use ? How often/how long do you typically meet ? Before deciding on your voice teacher, did you consider any other non-local options, e.g., remote teaching, Singeo, Smule, etc. ? What did your teacher point out after your first evaluation session (if you are comfortable to share) ?
I got a few recommendations from my daughter's choir director, and then I looked for convenience--the one closest to my house. That was about it! The first session we warmed up, followed by her asking "what do you know about singing?" to which I replied "not much" so we went over the basics of breathing.
O.k., sounds good, I understand ... when I researched local vocal coach/teachers, I noticed that some teachers specialize in various categories, for example, opera, voiceover, pop/rock, etc. Some teachers also play an instrument and some don't. And then there is proximity, availability, and of course, $$$. In the end, I identified a voice teacher nearby who also teaches piano/keys, and who has sung in a band setting before. The teacher had published some of her performances, so I could tell that she is able to make an emotional connection to the music. So, this is what I was looking for. The downside was that there is a waitlist of about 4 weeks or so. Thus, my wife and I are now on the waitlist ... my wife's singing sounds fine to me, I am not concerned about her voice. But I am a little anxious about my first evaluation, hopefully my voice can be straightened out 
Speciality was an issue--I couldn't a teacher who had jazz experience. So I'm stuck learning more classical/musical theater voice. But I learned piano doing classical first, and then later jazz, so I figure learning classical isn't a bad way to start.
It sounds like you found someone who could be a good match. And you got your wife to go along??? You lucky dog!
4 weeks is a while to wait. I hope it works out!
Bump! Just listening to your recital submission, and it occured to me I hadn't seen any updates to your journal. Anything new to report?
Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.
Sorry I haven't updated. I'm still taking lessons (with a different teacher, my old one became unavailable) but I have less free time, so I don't practice as much, nor have I had much time to journal. My recital submission marks one kind of pinnacle, but I've also worked on a few other tunes (It Ain't Necessarily So, Yesterday). With the exception of working on lightness, what I'm learning from him is more detail-oriented than my previous teacher (though maybe that's because I've mastered the more general concepts). So when we work through a song, he'll point out the areas that need a small tweak of the vowel pronunciation, for example. Now that the recital is over and I'm going to start learning a new tune, I'll try to update this journal more regularly!
But on the topic of updates, I wonder what happened with @MandM.
He, he, I will update with more detail a little later this week 
Currently preparing for an audition at the Austin Chapter of A Cappella Texas tonight. This is about singing in barbershop style (4 harmonies). "Little Saint Nick" in bass voice is my audition song for tonight, and I worked quite a bit on this over the last couple of weeks My wife has the lead voice (tenor 2) for the same piece. Wish us luck.
A thought prompted by Sophia's comments on your recital piece.
You have very nice stage presence, which is something I need to work on. Any tips? Is it just a matter of getting everything else down pat first? Or do you think about it as another layer of performance, just like playing and singing, and then practice it too?
Enthusiastic but mediocre amateur.
MandM Wow, good luck on your audition! Your wife is in it already? (As a tenor??)
TC3 For "When Words Fail" (journal entries above), my teacher had me spend two weeks before the recital thinking about the performance aspect. I was the singer, so I couldn't hide behind a piano! For many phrases, I came up with an emotion or at least a keyword to inform what I meant by each phrase, and from that I came up with gestures. It was very, very strange and uncomfortable, as I have no acting experience whatsoever!! Independent of my new teacher, I did a similar process for "I am the very model". So maybe some of what you see is leftover from that process. When I actually recorded, my first thought was "relax and stay in character" followed by the normal "what note/lyric/dynamic comes next" thoughts that hounded me for the rest of the performance. So most of my "performance" must be the relics of muscle memory, since I didn't really consciously think very much of my gesturing/facial expressions other than at the very start.
I have (former) stage and movie actors in my family, so I can absolutely confirm what rsl is saying here Smiling and acting naturally doesn't come natural, but can (and must, for a public entertainer) definitely be learned. People feel uncomfortable around a bundle of nerves because moods rub off - so if you manage to learn how to smile, laugh and "have a good time" yourself, your audience will walk away happy EVEN if the performance itself wasn't perfect, or, heck, even if it was only mediocre
rsl12 Sorry, I meant to say that both my wife and I were auditioning (actually a practice run before auditioning) yesterday. So we are both working toward joining the chorus. For me that is in bass voice and for her that is in lead voice. I think barbershop calls it TTBB (Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Baritone, Bass) or alternatively, TLBB (Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass) where the vocal range of Tenor2/Lead and Baritone are similar, but the Baritone weaves around the Tenor2/Lead. I will also update in the other thread in a moment. All the best.
