How Often Should You Have Singing Lessons?
By Sam Marlow, City Vocal Coach
The easy answer is once a week. And for most people, that’s right. But the honest answer is more interesting than that, and it starts with something most singing schools won’t tell you: how often you have lessons matters less than what you do between them.
What a teacher is actually doing in the early stages
Before we get to frequency, it’s worth understanding what lessons are for, because it changes how you think about how many you need.
In the early stages of learning to sing, a teacher is doing several things at once. Introducing techniques one at a time, in a specific order that builds a solid foundation. Explaining what each technique should sound like, what it should feel like, and what’s happening anatomically inside the body. And then, crucially, reminding the student of those techniques, because in the beginning most of the work is repetition and reinforcement rather than introduction of something new.
This is also why learning from YouTube alone has limits. It’s not just that you don’t get feedback, though that’s important. It’s that nobody is building a progression for you, deciding which technique to introduce next and in what order. A good teacher brings structure to your development that you can’t replicate by picking videos at random, however good they are.
That structure is most valuable, and most fragile, in the first ten to fifteen lessons. Which is why frequency matters most at the beginning.
Weekly: the right answer for most people
Weekly lessons are the standard recommendation for a reason. They’re frequent enough that the techniques from one lesson are still in the body when the next one arrives. The teacher can build on what was covered last time rather than spending half the lesson reminding the student what they were working on. Momentum builds, and the foundation forms properly.
For beginners especially, weekly is worth committing to for at least the first few months. The early stage of learning to sing involves a lot of reminding as much as teaching, and the longer the gap between sessions, the more of that repetition time gets used up just getting back to where you were.
Fortnightly: a legitimate choice, not a compromise
Fortnightly lessons work well, and it’s worth saying that plainly rather than treating them as second best. For students who are singing regularly between sessions, two weeks is not a long gap. The techniques stay in the body, the momentum holds, and the longer gap can actually give the voice more time to absorb what was introduced.
Fortnightly tends to suit students who have found what we call their why: a reason to sing that creates its own practice. That might be songwriting, an upcoming performance, a recording session, or simply being part of a community of singers that keeps them engaged between lessons. When the why is there, the practice happens naturally and fortnightly lessons are entirely sufficient.
It’s also worth saying that some fortnightly students progress faster than weekly ones, not despite coming less often but because they’ve chosen a rhythm they can actually sustain. A student who commits to fortnightly and keeps to it will almost always develop faster than one who signs up for weekly lessons and starts cancelling.
Some of our students do a hybrid rhythm: one in-person lesson at the Hoxton studio and online lessons for the other weeks, keeping regular contact with their teacher while varying the format.
More than once a week: for deadlines, not the long term
There are moments when more frequent lessons make sense: an audition coming up, a recording session booked, a performance a few weeks away. In those situations, two lessons a week for a short period can accelerate preparation significantly.
It’s not the right model for the long term. The voice needs recovery time, and the absorption of new techniques needs space between sessions as much as it needs repetition. Intensive preparation followed by a return to a regular rhythm is a better approach than sustained high frequency.
Our Open Mic Ready course is a structured version of this: five sessions of 2.5 hours over five weeks, building towards a live performance at one of our east London open mic nights. It’s designed to create exactly that intensive burst with a clear outcome at the end.
What doesn’t work: monthly or less for a beginner
Monthly lessons for someone just starting out are hard to make work. The gap is long enough that most of what was introduced in the previous session needs to be revisited before anything new can be added. Progress slows significantly, and the experience of each lesson can feel repetitive in a frustrating rather than productive way.
If monthly is the only option financially, the Open Mic Ready group course at £32 per contact hour is worth considering as an alternative. It provides regular structured contact with a teacher at a fraction of the one-to-one rate, and the group format creates its own momentum between sessions.
The real driver of progress: finding your why
Here’s what sixteen years of teaching has shown me more clearly than anything else. Frequency is not the main variable in how quickly a student improves. Singing is.
Students who find a reason to sing between lessons, whether that’s working on their own songs, preparing for a performance, being part of a community that keeps them engaged, or simply singing more around the house, progress faster than students who come weekly and do nothing in between. A student who has lessons every two weeks and sings regularly will almost always develop faster than one who comes weekly and doesn’t.
People have busy lives and it can be genuinely hard to make space for practice. That’s real and I don’t dismiss it. But in my experience the barrier isn’t usually time. It’s not having a reason compelling enough to create that time. When a student finds their why, the practice follows. It might be an upcoming open mic that gives them something to work towards. It might be a song they’re writing that they can’t stop thinking about. It might be joining a community of singers who make them want to show up.
At City Vocal Coach we try to create the conditions for students to find that why: the open mic nights, the showcases, the songwriting community, the group courses. The lessons are one part of the picture. The rest of it matters just as much.
What happens if you take a break
Students sometimes stop lessons for a few months, either because life gets in the way or because they’ve hit a plateau and lost momentum. What I’ve observed consistently is that when they come back, there’s often a noticeable improvement, sometimes more than if they’d kept going without a break. The time away, particularly if they’ve kept singing, seems to give the mind and body a chance to absorb the techniques properly. The plateau that felt stuck turns out to have been consolidation happening underneath the surface.
So if you’ve had a break from lessons and are thinking about coming back: don’t be discouraged. You haven’t lost what you built. You may have given it time to settle.
Consistency matters more than frequency
If there’s one principle worth taking from all of this, it’s that consistency beats frequency. Regular lessons at whatever interval you can sustain, combined with a genuine reason to sing between them, will get you further than intensive periods followed by long gaps.
Start with weekly if you’re a beginner. Move to fortnightly when the foundation is in place and you’ve found your reason to sing between sessions. Add more sessions when you have a specific deadline. Take a break if you need one. Come back.
The individual singing lessons and beginner lessons at our Hoxton studio in east London are available weekly, fortnightly, or in whatever rhythm suits you. Online lessons are available for students who can’t always make it in person and are priced the same as in-person sessions. Full pricing details, including block booking discounts, are in our 2026 price guide.
You can also read about what actually happens in a first lesson and whether singing lessons are worth it for you before you decide.
The best first step is a free fifteen-minute discovery call, a relaxed conversation about where you are and what rhythm of lessons makes most sense. No audition, no commitment, no singing required. Book one here.
FAQ
How often should a beginner have singing lessons?
Weekly is the right starting point for most beginners. The early stages of learning involve a lot of reinforcement as well as introduction of new techniques, and weekly sessions mean the teacher can build on what was covered last time rather than spending half the lesson revisiting it. Commit to weekly for at least the first few months before considering a longer gap.
Is fortnightly often enough for singing lessons?
Yes, for the right student. Fortnightly works well for people who sing regularly between sessions, whether through songwriting, performing, or simply singing more at home. Some fortnightly students progress faster than weekly ones precisely because they’ve chosen a rhythm they can sustain rather than overcommitting and dropping out.
What happens if I stop singing lessons for a few months?
Students who take a break and come back often find their voice has improved rather than regressed, particularly if they kept singing during the gap. The time away can give the mind and body a chance to absorb what was learned. Don’t be put off returning after a break.
Does practising between lessons really make that much difference?
Yes, significantly. A student who sings regularly between lessons, for any reason, will progress faster than one who only sings in the lesson itself. The most effective thing a student can do is find a reason compelling enough to make singing a regular part of their week, whether that’s an upcoming performance, a song they’re writing, or a community that keeps them engaged.