Train Classical/Sacrifice Singing Outside of Lessons?
TL/DR: my voice teacher does not want me to sing outside of lessons, but I love singing in everyday life and I am wondering if I should find another teacher whose style supports my lifestyle of singing for fun and training classical.
For context, I am 25, have played music for most of my life but never took it seriously as a career because I was focused on medicine. In the past year I have realized that medicine just does not do it for me and my real passion is in music. I’ve played violin since I was 9 and had a private teacher from age 12-17, played percussion in school bands and am self taught in guitar, a little piano, and voice. I arrange and write my own songs, and never formally trained voice but I would love to be a professional singer. My goal is to go back to school for a degree in vocal performance, but since I have little to no formal experience in voice I decided to start training with a private teacher.
Just had my first lesson with her last night and I kinda barely sang for the whole lesson (it was 1 hour long, I may have actually sang for 10 minutes collectively). I understand I am starting from bare bones scratch, I never sang opera before! Many times she would stop me to correct my singing, that is fine. But she told me she doesn’t want me to sing outside of lessons at all, and she estimates that it will be this way for approximately 3-4 months depending on how my voice develops. This is so foreign to me because with violin or guitar, the more time I dedicate to practice the better I become. I understand that she doesn’t want my vocal placement to be altered between lessons only for us to have to correct over again at the next. But it is very difficult for me not to sing, it‘s an everyday part of my life. It is how I regulate my emotions and express myself, or relieve stress at the end of the day.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose sacrificing a few months of singing however I want in the interest of developing strong technique and skills is worth it, but I am wondering is this the only way to train classical?Should I find someone else with a different teaching philosophy? And really the only reason I am looking to train classical is because I think it will aid my strength and stamina in singing any style and also will help me be accepted into a program. You could say there is a huge gap in my “musical resume” from the time I graduated high school to now, so I know I have to start building SOMETHING, I just have nooo idea where to start or what is the right move. Thoughts?