{"id":52,"date":"2021-11-16T16:58:16","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/?page_id=52"},"modified":"2026-03-19T19:23:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:23:28","slug":"teaching","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/?page_id=52","title":{"rendered":"Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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TEACHING<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I specialize in private voice lessons to help you achieve your singing goals, either in person at my studio, or online via Skype lessons.<\/p>

All levels and styles are welcome.<\/p>

I am a highly trained professional with a successful international career, profound education (Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy) and more than 20 years of experience in helping people to express themselves through singing.<\/p>

I teach in three languages (German, English & Serbian\/Bosnian\/Croatian) and have instant access to backing tracks and a huge sheet music library.<\/p>

For more information and to book a lesson just send me an email.<\/p>

Seminars and workshops are announced in the \u201cUpcoming\u201d section.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tFREE SINGING LESSONS<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u00a0<\/p>

ABOUT VOCAL TECHNIQUE:<\/b><\/h2>

1) This is not a goal for its own sake.<\/p>

The vocal technique helps you to:<\/p>

a) improve your performances,<\/p>

b) make sure that you can do the things that you want to do with your voice &<\/p>

c) help you with eventual problems before some of your habits possibly make you land in offices of otorhinolaryngologists and\/or logopedists.<\/p>

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WHAT YOU MUST HAVE:<\/b><\/h5>
  1. Intonation & rhythm \u2013 this is the BASE and this can\u2019t be taught.If you have it \u2013 we can build on it.<\/li>
  2. Good news: the vast majority of people who can speak can sing as well.<\/li><\/ol>

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    BLOCKADES:<\/b><\/h5>

    1) Beware of underestimation of yourself and beware of taking yourself too seriously.<\/p>

    If you would be a neurosurgeon, and if you would need to perform a very risky operation \u2013 the worst thing that could happen to you is your poor patient being dead.<\/p>

    Finito, cut, the end, \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0435\u0446.<\/p>

    If you are a singer and you sing in public \u2013 the worst thing that can (and most probably will) happen to you is that somebody is not going to like it.<\/p>

    Somebody is always not going to like it and this is really O.K.<\/p>

    So you just learn to live with it.<\/p>

    Even if somebody doesn\u2019t like it \u2013 you probably won\u2019t experience rotten tomatoes and eggs being thrown at you.<\/p>

    2) If you love to sing \u2013 it\u2019s a HUGE WASTE to sing only in the shower.<\/p>

    Let the people hear you, they are mostly going to be grateful and happy about it.<\/p>

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    CHOOSING YOUR VOCAL TEACHERS:<\/b><\/h5>

    1) Beware of the vocal teachers who do not sing actively themselves.<\/b><\/p>

    If your vocal teacher is not performing live (or barely did and\/or never did) \u2013 this is a sure sign that they lack the most important experiences they must offer to their students!<\/p>

    Although I do not find music should be competitive, you should make a parallel to sports and think about playing table-tennis, for instance: If my trainer doesn\u2019t bring most of my balls back, why is he\/she your trainer and not the other way around?<\/p>

    2) LISTEN TO THEM, DAMN IT!<\/b><\/p>

    So-called \u201cvoice teachers\u201d love to sweet-talk about their credentials, love to make fancy websites, adore terms such as \u201cphrasing\u201d, \u201cintonation\u201d, etc. \u2013 but if they do not have good intonation and good phrasing themselves (live, on stage, in that very moment you are listening) \u2013 it is most likely that they are not going to be able to teach you that.<\/p>

    If you do not like somebody singing \u2013 just don\u2019t buy it.<\/p>

    3) It is true, that not all great vocalists are great teachers as well <\/b>
    (some of them don\u2019t have the time to teach, some don\u2019t like to teach, some feel that they are too good for doing that and their egos are standing in their way, some don\u2019t know how to teach \u2018cause what they know does not flow, etc.) .<\/p>

    Still, the other way around does not function \u2013 if somebody just teaches and never or almost never sings, it is time to start being suspicious (although I reserve the right to be wrong and I hope to be wrong in some cases).<\/p>

    4) Trust yourself \u2013 <\/b>
    sometimes there are times to move on and learn different things from other people.<\/p>

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    5) Let me put one more thing clear: <\/b>For most of the active performers, teaching is that PLAN B.<\/p>

    This is perfectly cool and honest.<\/p>

    And I am sure that doesn\u2019t apply to every single profession, but I truly believe that in music and in sports you must stay fit by simply doing it.<\/p>

    6) Choose wisely!<\/b><\/p>

    Choose your voice teacher as if you would choose your physician!<\/p>

    7) My personal motivation:<\/b><\/p>

    • a) I\u2019d rather provide good people with good stuff and important information than spend months on tours with bands and\/or projects I dislike and can\u2019t stand for and\/or I am not interested in.<\/li>
    • b) My students help me stay vocally fit myself \u2013 if they wouldn\u2019t exist, I would probably get very lazy and\/or cozy and would not develop and\/or overcome my personal borders & points of view.<\/li>
    • c) Through my students, I learn something I wouldn\u2019t normally learn in other circumstances (for example, I got to know some great music I wouldn\u2019t know without them).<\/li><\/ul>
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      EXPECTATIONS & MOTIVATIONS:<\/b><\/h2>

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      1) If your goal is to be famous instead of creatively expressing yourself \u2013 don\u2019t take them voice lessons; make viral videos and post them on Youtube, train your dog\/cat\/any pet to do something strange\/unusual, make a quality porn video, etc.<\/p>

      2) Your teacher won\u2019t turn you to Whitney Houston during her glorious days \u2013 he\/she IS NOT A MAGICIAN.<\/p>

      If you want to take a few lessons and become Whitney, Aretha, etc. \u2013 NO WAY, JOSE!<\/p>

      This is a hard job and it\u2019s the same as in other professions \u2013 there must be a reason for you not being Roger Federer, Steven Hawking and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel; therefore you are also not Whitney Houston.<\/p>

      3) Now you must forget what you just read ABOVE and realize that you are still exceptional!<\/p>

      YOU CAN ONLY SOUND LIKE YOU, BUT YOU CAN LEARN THAT IT IS TRULY GREAT TO BE YOU!<\/p>

      4) Check your motivation: If you don\u2019t sing because you genuinely love to sing and must sing \u2013 we all can\u2019t help you much.<\/p>

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      WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:<\/b><\/h2>

      1) BE A MUSICIAN, DAMN IT!<\/p>

      Make your own decisions about what you want and why do you want it!<\/p>

      Learn to play other instruments as well!<\/p>

      2) Do not expect that you can just put the flower in your hair and pretend that you are Billie Holiday, Christina Aguilera (or whatever) \u2013 and the rest of the musicians involved (supposing that you do not do all your performances just solo & a cappella) are going to do the rest of YOUR SH*T and YOUR MUSIC for you.<\/p>

      3) YOU NEED TO KNOW:<\/p>

      1. a) WHERE YOU ARE (the FORM!),<\/li>
      2. b) WHEN YOU ARE (the RHYTHM!),<\/li>
      3. c) WHAT YOU ARE (mostly the MELODY!),<\/li>
      4. d) WHY YOU ARE (now this is tricky, it depends on what do you want to do and only you can answer this particular question \u2013 but it can be the COMPOSITION, the INTERPRETATION the INTERPENETRATION, etc.),<\/li>
      5. e) WHAT ARE YOU SAYING (the LYRICS, if applied \u2013 or not, it may be something else, equally important),<\/li>
      6. f) WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF YOUR IMPACT (the HARMONY),<\/li>
      7. g) HOW YOU ARE GOING TO CONVINCE SOMEONE TO BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY (the PHRASING),<\/li>
      8. h) HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO (the ARRANGEMENT),<\/li>
      9. h) WHAT ELSE HAPPENS AROUND YOU AND SOMETIMES (UNFORTUNATELY) APART FROM YOU (the BAND, the INSTRUMENTAL SET-UP, the SOUND, the VENUE, the AUDIENCE, etc.)<\/li><\/ol>

        4) There is nothing worse than students expecting you to make their decisions \u2013 if you want to sing, you should at least know what you want to sing and not expect from me to choose out of whole music history for you!<\/p>

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        VOCAL HYGIENE:<\/b><\/h2>

        1) Drink more water.<\/p>

        1) Try not to smoke as a chimney, drink as a skunk and do not take drugs except (I do not exactly know why, but here still illegal) marihuana.<\/p>

        Even if you smoke & like pot it will do you good to NOT be completely stoned on your lessons with me and my colleagues and\/or on your gigs (out of several reasons I won\u2019t mention right now).<\/p>

        2) Avoid drinking carbonated beverages & eating acidic foods in the evening.<\/p>

        3) Sleep well & enough (not just 5 hours as the legend says about Margaret Thatcher).<\/p>

        4) Enjoy life and don\u2019t stress yourself.<\/p>

        5) If you are a teacher in some school fighting for the presence of your voice in the classroom full of puberty \u2013 don\u2019t try to overyell them, but buy yourself a football whistle, \u2018cause it\u2019s louder than 30 of them teenagers and\/or kids.<\/p>

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        PRICES:<\/b><\/h2>

        1) You must decide \u2013 what is it worth to you?<\/p>

        2) And you need to research carefully because some teachers offer nothing for much.<\/p>

        3) Do value this work of ours.<\/p>

        4) My personal understanding of social justice and empowerment:<\/p>

        Single moms & dads, very talented but broke teenagers, handicapped persons, and socially vulnerable people are going to pay less than you \u2013 and this is beyond any discussion.<\/p>

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        CANCELLATION POLICY:<\/b><\/h2>

        1) If you get sick I have compassion.<\/p>

        Do not come to your lesson, transmit your disease to me and my class and make us all incapable of singing and\/or teaching for the next few weeks.<\/p>

        2) Do notify me about your cancellation or any changes by 24 hours before your scheduled lesson.<\/p>

        Otherwise, we lose time and you must pay for that time.<\/p>

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        PERSONAL PREFERENCES:<\/h2>

        1) If I say to you that I do not have time for teaching you \u2013 this is mostly the truth.<\/p>

        2) If I don\u2019t like a student \u2013 I won\u2019t teach him\/her (it would cost me much time and energy to pretend that I do).<\/p>

        3) If you don\u2019t appreciate my work \u2013 please do not approach me for lessons because I value my aesthetic and technical criteria quite high.<\/p>

        4) I love my students to do something with their music and their lives in general \u2013 there is a time where they should move on and make entrance examinations, create great bands, write music they don\u2019t need me for, move to more interesting cities and\/or countries, do beautiful performances, etc.<\/p>

        This is what I ask from all of you \u2013 love what you do, don\u2019t stop doing it, create great music and move on INDEPENDENTLY.<\/p>

        Thank you.<\/p>

        Lots of love, good vibes & strength from me,<\/p>

        Irina<\/p>

        \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        TEACHING I specialize in private voice lessons to help you achieve your singing goals, either in person at my studio, or online via Skype lessons. All levels and styles are welcome. I am a highly trained professional with a successful international career, profound education (Master of Arts, Doctor of Philosophy) and more than 20 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-52","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6512,"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/52\/revisions\/6512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irinakaramarkovic.com\/irina\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}