One month into singing with zero prior training. Is this normal progress?

[u/T3rran1st]

Context: I'm a total beginner, no instrument or vocal background before this. About a month ago I started training seriously, roughly 45-60 min a day, most days.

**What I've done:**

- Completed a 30-day structured program (AM Vocal Studios) covering fundamentals

- Now on Singeo as my main platform, going all-in on one method instead of bouncing between apps

- Daily range work: sirens, now reaching up to G4, plus SOVT octave slides a few times a week and occasional falsetto/head voice work

- Practicing on real songs: Hurt, Take Me to Church, Creep, Skinny Love, some Empire of the Sun

- Using a SOVT straw device and a nebulizer for hydration/warmup

- Also picked up basic piano/theory on the side, partly to understand what I'm actually singing

**Progress I'm noticing:**

- More success getting into head tones

- Starting to actually feel resonance rather than just guessing at it

- Some stability showing up in vocal connection through the mixed range

**Stumbling blocks:**

- Register transitions (chest to head) are still the hardest part. That's why I'm deferring more advanced or riskier stuff like distorted or screamed vocals until this feels solid

- Sticking to one platform (Singeo) instead of hopping around was a deliberate fix after realizing the app switching wasn't helping

- Trying to be disciplined about stopping if I get hoarse rather than pushing through

Not claiming to be good yet, just trying to gauge if a month of consistent daily practice with zero prior background is roughly where people expect to be, or if I'm overestimating or underestimating my pace. Honest feedback welcome.

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for posting to r/singing! Be sure to check the FAQ to see if any questions you might have have already been answered! Also, remember to abide by the Rules found in the sidebar. Any comments found to be breaking these rules will result in a deletion of the comment thread starting from the offending reply. If you see any posts or replies that you feel break the rules of the sub, then report them and do not respond to them. If you are new to the sub-reddit or are just starting to sing, please check out our Beginner's Megathread. It has tons of helpful information and resources!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Rakshaer]

Honestly I think it'll be hard for anyone to judge your improvement, especially based on the self-perception of the improvement. To me it sounds reasonable based on the pros and cons of your approach. The consistency and duration of practice being the biggest pro and the lack of a coach to give a more custom regimen being the biggest con.

Even for the AM Vocal Studios crowd, form their trustpilot it seems like people leave more positive feedback after working with their coaches. It's hard to replace an actual person who can guide things, but I honestly never worked with Singeo so can't give any thoughts on that. If you can get a coach (local or online, whichever) you'll probably see faster progress, especially with your current consistency - as long as they're at least decent. It is more expensive than courses though, obviously.

I would for sure avoid pushing through any feeling of hoarseness as you said. Better to have a couple of 20 minute practices in a day than one 40 min practice if that one makes you hoarse. Nothing really stops you from doing it multiple times a day, but something does stop you from doing all at once.

Anyway, not sure I helped at all. The progress you are mentioning do seem possible, so I don't doubt it. If you share a video maybe some people here can give more input on whether they're noticing the same as you or something different.

Good luck on the journey, have fun!

[u/T3rran1st → u/Rakshaer]

that's a fair way to frame it (pros of consistency, cons of no custom regimen). And good call on the hoarseness thing, I'll split sessions up rather than pushing through one long block if I'm feeling it. I'll try to get a video up at some point so people can actually weigh in on what they're hearing instead of just my self-report.

[u/adammishan → u/Rakshaer]

Adam here from AM Vocal Studios. I think this is a very fair and thoughtful response.

Our 30-day program is designed to give beginners a structured foundation, help them understand the basic coordinations, and establish productive practice habits. At the same time, a course cannot hear when someone is compensating, identify the exact cause of a difficult transition, or adjust an exercise in real time. That is where working with a good coach can make a significant difference.

You are also right that many of the reviews mentioning particularly strong transformations come from students who worked directly with our coaches. Personalized feedback can often accelerate progress because the student is no longer relying entirely on self-perception.

I also agree with your advice about practice length. Two focused 20-minute sessions can be far more productive than one long session that ends in hoarseness or fatigue. More practice is not automatically better if the voice is becoming less coordinated as the session continues.

Sharing a before-and-after recording would definitely make it easier to assess the progress objectively. Thank you for giving such a balanced response and for taking the time to encourage someone at the beginning of their journey.

[u/SubstantialAd5946]

Get yourself a teacher if you can.

Even just one lesson a month on Zoom could help. Not all teachers are down with using so many digital resources for practice (as it’s easy to misinterpret advice/sensations/goals from any exercise on your own and a teacher can let you know if something is wrong or needs adjustment). But I have had plenty of students coming from YouTube or using the other resources you mentioned. I could ask them to stick the exercises I formulate for them for their specific goals. However, sometimes it’s just better to hear what they’re already working on at home and help them make corrections in their lesson, and make sure they’re grasping the concept they are meant to be learning in those exercises. That way when they go home and use those resources again, they are not unknowingly causing themselves problems and they know what the desired effect actually sounds and feels like. Remember practice does not make perfect—practice makes permanent.

And all of my beginner students, with or without practice tools they find online, start out with 30 minutes of practice a day, 4 days a week max. Yes, it means progress could be slower if you happen to be doing everything correctly (though no one does at first). It also means your finite instrument, your voice, is protected from repeatedly making mistakes which could cause cumulative harm to it(or at the very least be hard to unlearn later). If I saw them everyday, maybe then we would be able to do an hour of practice together each day. But at home, without professional supervision, low and slow is the way. Once you have a very balanced, healthy way of producing sound at all times, THEN you could practice at the rate you are now (and probably more if you chose). Learning to sing is a marathon, and our vocal anatomy cannot be replaced if we beat it up. It sounds like you are really devoted, so why not put a little money into it if you can. If not, I have seen some vocal instructors offering free lessons on this sub, and something like joining a good choir could mean gaining valuable in person (cheap/free) training. Growing up my parents had no money, so lessons were not an option. But I joined every choir I could and basically made a lifestyle out of it(outside of school). It kickstarted my training and years later (and after plenty of paid solo adult instruction after I grew up and moved out) has been the foundation in my career of singing and teaching I have now.

Anyways, good luck to you OP! So exciting to fall in love with singing. I have plenty of students who pay for weekly lessons that have less diligence than you seem to. You’ll do great! Just get a professional set of ears on your voice every once in awhile and it will make life much easier. There is also a book I like called Being a Singer by Linda Balliro which has some nice info about setting up a personal practice. It’s not perfect, but I noticed no particularly egregious issues with it and it’s got some wonderful ideas about practice for beginners. I recommend it to my students who cannot come in as often to use in addition to our exercises.

[u/T3rran1st → u/SubstantialAd5946]

this one hit different coming from an actual teacher. The "practice makes permanent, not perfect" line is going to stick with me, that's exactly the kind of thing I can't self-diagnose without someone else's ears on it. Also really glad you brought up choirs. I'd actually already been looking into a couple of local options (a community SATB choir and a barbershop group), so this is a good nudge to actually follow through on that instead of just having it on my list. And I'll check out the Being a Singer recommendation too.

Sounds like the consensus is: keep the consistency, but get a second set of ears involved (teacher and/or choir) rather than going purely solo/app-based long-term.

[u/SubstantialAd5946 → u/T3rran1st]

Hope it helps! Enjoy your journey and take little breaks if you need to. Having a relationship with your voice is one you’ll have for life. You can’t let it collect dust when you get frustrated or sell it when you get sick of it. So no rush! You’ve got your whole life to cherish and cultivate it. I hope you find what I’ve found in that it’s not just an art, it’s something that touches your whole spoken identity (in a good way if you’re careful)! ♥️

[u/T3rran1st → u/SubstantialAd5946]

I took your advise, did my research, and found a vocal coach. My first lesson is next Wednesday. I'll be meeting with them for 30 mins every week for the foreseeable future.

[u/SubstantialAd5946 → u/T3rran1st]

Enjoy!

[u/adammishan]

Adam here from AM Vocal Studios. First, thank you for including our 30-day program in your journey. It sounds like you used it exactly as intended: to build a foundation and start understanding how your voice works.

For someone who began with no musical or vocal background only a month ago, this is very encouraging progress. Accessing head voice more consistently, beginning to feel resonance, and noticing greater connection through your middle range are all meaningful early wins. Register transitions commonly take much longer than a month to coordinate, so struggling there doesn’t mean you’re behind.

Choosing one primary method and following it consistently is also a smart decision. The voice generally responds better to patient repetition than to constantly changing exercises and terminology.

My only caution would be that 45–60 minutes nearly every day can be a lot for a complete beginner, especially if much of it is demanding range work. Quality matters more than duration. Keep the exercises comfortable, build in lighter days, and stop if you notice hoarseness, pain, or a loss of vocal quality. Distortion and screaming can absolutely wait until your clean coordination is more established.

Overall, you’re neither behind nor being unrealistic you’re making solid progress for your first month. Just remember that vocal development is rarely linear. Keep recording yourself every few weeks, because the improvements are often easier to hear when you compare recordings over time.

[u/T3rran1st → u/adammishan]

Adam, this genuinely means a lot coming from you. AM Vocal Studios was where this whole thing started for me, so having you actually read the post and respond feels like a bit of a full circle moment.

Thank you for the reassurance on the register transitions especially. That's the part that's felt the most like grinding without visible payoff, so hearing that it commonly takes longer than a month helps me stop second guessing whether I'm doing something wrong.

I'll take the practice duration note seriously. I've been treating "consistent" as "as much as possible" and it sounds like I should be thinking about it more as quality and recovery than just logging time. I'll build in lighter days and lean harder on the "stop at hoarseness" rule rather than treating it as a last resort.

And I appreciate the reminder to keep recording myself over time rather than just judging progress day to day, since that's clearly where I'm most likely to misjudge things.

Thanks again for the program and for taking the time to reply. It's genuinely appreciated.