Building Your Career as a Professional Singer (Coursera)

We’ll discuss various career options and revenue streams for today’s singer and identify the elements needed to create a sustainable career. After completing this course, you will have a roadmap of the skills you want to improve, insight on how to be an effective band leader, and tools to secure gigs.

Syllabus

Welcome to Building Your Career as a Professional Singer!

Module 1

Welcome to the course! In this first module, we will cover all of the details about this course and what you'll need to know to get the most out of your experience.

Lesson 1: What is a Professional Vocalist?

Module 2

In our first lesson, we will start by defining what is the difference between an amateur and professional vocalist. This will help us identify the goals you want to pursue as a singer in the music industry. We will also look at the basics of becoming an entrepreneur and building a resume for vocalist jobs. By the end of this lesson, you will have a list of possible job opportunities, and assessment of your current skill level, and a rough draft of a vocalist resume.

Lesson 2: Getting into the Music

Module 3

For our second lesson, we will begin to look at the musical knowledge you need to know in order to be a reliable and essential vocalist. We will start by learning about common song forms before analyzing song elements to discover how to change a song style to better fit our musical preferences. Finally, we will identify the best keys for your voice and practice writing our own chord charts. At the end of this lesson you will practice taking existing chord charts and change them to a different musical style.

Lesson 3: Leading a Band

Module 4

If you want to be a professional vocalist, it is essential to understand how to lead a band. Your instrumentalists will be looking to you to provide insight on how the music should be played and for someone to lead the rehearsals effectively. In this lesson we will focus on different aspects of leading a band, from conducting to score study to rehearsal scheduling. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify your leadership strengths and weaknesses, practice giving specific feedback to your band, and organize the logistics necessary to have an effective rehearsal.

Lesson 4: Essentials of a Successful Professional Career

Module 5

Now that we have covered the basics of starting a professional career as a vocalist, our final lesson will focus on how to maintain and grow your career. In this lesson, we will discuss vocal health, performance skills, gigging, and management. By the end of this lesson, you will know several vocal warm-ups, how to practice your stage presence, how to book a gig, and understand the pros and cons of hiring an outside manager.