Sing around the house and everywhere and you’d like him/her to sing with proper technique so his/her voice doesn’t get hurt?

Love singing but just a bit shy to do it in front of people?

Have a lovely voice and you’d like to see how far he/she can go with singing?

Love singing but never had training and doesn’t know where to start?

Words not clear/weak pronunciation?

Running out of breath when singing?

Wobbly voice?

Breathy/weak voice?

Weak high notes?

Singing out of tune?

Voice feels sore after singing?

Voice too soft/loud?

Voice lacks projection?

Don’t know how to warm up the voice?

Feeling tensed in the throat?

Not feeling confident/feeling very anxious when singing in front of people?

Dear parent,

My name is Benny Ng.

I’m a contemporary singer, songwriter and singing teacher/vocal coach. I’ve been teaching singing lessons in Sydney, Australia since 2011 (for over 11 years).

I’ve released rock music under my artist name, Shadowary.

I have 4 university qualifications in music (two of those were postgraduate degrees). I graduated from the renowned Sydney Conservatorium of Music with a Grad Dip in Vocal Pedagogy (for teaching singing).

Complete List of My Qualifications:

• Graduate Diploma in Music (Vocal Pedagogy) – Sydney Conservatorium of Music
• Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) – Australian Catholic University
• Bachelor of Music (Performance) – Australian Music And Performing Arts Academy
• Diploma in Audio Engineering and Sound Production – JMC Academy

I’m accredited with NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority), Department of Education (DEC Full Approval), a member of APRA|AMCOS with a Working with Children Check clearance number.

I’ve worked as a music teacher at Amity College, Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design, Mackellar Girls School, Freshwater Senior Campus and Killarney Heights High School. I’ve taught classes from Kindergarten to Year 12.

I’ve conducted choirs at the ICC Centre, Darling Harbour and Sydney Town Hall.

I’ve also taught group singing classes at the Northern Beaches Community College (Mosman & Narrabeen).

My origin story:

In 2007, I moved to Australia to study a Bachelor of Music (Performance) course. Born and raised in Malaysia, I didn’t get much vocal or music training.

So, the learning curve was steep. Imagine going from primary school to university. That was how I felt.

Culture shock and pressures of life made it difficult for me to focus on my studies.

I had a great singing teacher but he moved to another state halfway through my course.

Singing didn’t come naturally to me. I’d overthink things and my throat would get sore very often. I felt lost and confused.

Our voice is inside of our body. We can’t see or touch it.

How was I supposed to learn to play something I couldn’t see or touch?

This was like learning to play the piano in the dark… while standing 5 feet away from it!

For the next 2 years, I fumbled through the course and barely passed my final performance exam.

Instead of feeling joy and pride, I felt like I had hit rock bottom. That wasn’t what graduating from a university should feel like.

But I wasn’t going to give up.

I decided to take things into my own hands. I wanted to learn everything I could about the science and art of singing.

I enrolled in a postgraduate course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

I spent countless hours in the library, poring over textbooks and research journal articles.

I wanted to learn all I could about how the voice worked.

I bought or borrowed every single textbook that was recommended by my lecturers.

And I studied them all.

It was then that I discovered the holy grail of singing.

It was an underlying concept that made all vocal techniques worked.

I went into the practice studio to try out the things I learnt.

I was shocked by how quickly I improved.

I could now sing higher than I ever did before.

I was singing in tune most of the time. And singing felt a lot easier.

I was one step closer to fulfilling my dream of becoming a rock singer.

I started to learn how to belt and do metal screaming… but the mechanics of those advanced techniques were so different.

My throat would hurt after belting and screaming.

I went and did more research. I even took screaming lessons that cost $300/hour.

I discovered I actually had low level performance anxiety. Deep down, I was afraid of people judging my voice.

I’d feel insecure whenever I made mistakes while singing. I was afraid of what people might say about my voice.

This self consciousness affected me more than I knew.

Using psychology and meditation strategies, I managed to overcome my performance anxiety.

I can now belt a high G5 when I sing. I now have a 3-octave vocal range. Metal screams come easily to me.

When I perform rock songs, I feel more authentic because I’m in the moment. There’s a sense of freedom when I’m channeling my emotions through my voice.

I even started doing live online music shows for my fans.

After ‘finding’ my voice, I feel more confident as a person.

Singing is now a source of pride and joy that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

Posture

• How to stand/sit in the correct way to sing
• How having a good body posture can release tension and increase vocal freedom
• How having good internal posture (inside the throat) can make his/her voice sound stronger

Breathing

• Learn about the different kinds of breathing techniques (and which one to use he/she is singing)
• Breathing exercises to build body-mind connection (so that he/she doesn’t have to think about it when singing)
• Understand what parts of the body to control for efficient breath support (hint: it’s not just the diaphragm)

Phonation

• How to always sing in tune – increase pitch accuracy
• Extend vocal range both ways – sing higher notes, sing lower notes
• Develop a more resonant/clearer/stronger vocal tone

Resonance

• How to project the voice so the audience can hear him/her
• Develop a variety of vocal tone colours (dark, bright, round, twangy etc)
• Develop a balanced, resonant tone throughout the range (blending the voice)

Articulation

• How to enunciate consonants and vowels to make singing easier
• Strengthen your articulators (tongue, lips, jaw) for clearer articulation
• Tongue, lips, neck, jaw exercises and self-massage to get the voice warmed up

Song-Learning

• Song learning method to accelerate the song learning process
• Songs to build up his/her repertoire (teacher choice or your child’s choice)
• How to deliver songs using appropriate stylistic interpretation, gestures and facial expressions

Stagecraft

• Develop stage presence
• Microphone technique
• How to move on stage

Repertoire

• Develop a repertoire of songs he/she can sing well
• Choose songs that he/she likes
• Sing songs that bring out the strengths of his/her voice

Inner Game of Singing – Strategies to Overcome Performance Anxiety

• Intellectually understand what anxiety and performance anxiety is
• Learn and apply practical strategies from psychology and mindfulness to overcome performance anxiety and sing with confidence

• I plan each and every lesson to help your child be the best singer he/she can be
• I see every student as an individual with their own strengths and weaknesses – I plan your child’s lessons according to what works for him/her and get rid of what doesn’t
• I make singing easy to understand – helping your child understand the concepts quicker and therefore improving quickly
• He/she will get my years of experience as a singer/vocalist and my keen ears to monitor your child’s singing: so we’re always on track
• I know about vocal anatomy and make singing easy to understand by using visual aids and mental imageries: your child will get better quickly
• I’ll give him/her practice tasks at the end of each lesson – reminding your child what to practice for that week
• I teach your child about how the voice works in simple and easy to understand terms: he/she will get better quicker
• I care about your success: he/she gets undivided attention to achieve singing success
• I can always find good things about your child’s voice: increasing his/her confidence in singing
• I will help him/her gain self-monitoring skills for singing, so that your child can adjust and control his/her instrument (voice) even when I’m not there to give him/her feedback (i.e. when practicing at home)
• I change up exercise routines to keep things fresh: increasing enjoyment of lessons
• I’ll give him/her exercise tracks to practice at home
• I’m flexible with lesson times: you can reschedule lessons for your convenience and for free (with a 24-hour notice)
• Supportive learning environment: your child will feel relaxed and more open to discovering his/her voice and singing his/her heart out

You can pay as you go or get the Package Deal.

Cash, bank transfer or credit card (fees apply) accepted.

Taking singing lessons can be a daunting experience, especially if it is your child’s first ever lesson.

I firmly believe that if you can speak, you can sing. Everyone’s voice is different due to genetics, prior training or even sheer passion. What’s important is that you take the first step towards improving what you have. Under expert guidance and a keen listening ear, I believe that your child will definitely sing better if he/she is willing to put in the effort.

It’s very important to me that your child enjoys his/her singing lessons. That’s why I insist that he/she tries one lesson for free. I want him/her to feel 100% sure before continuing. If he/she is not happy for any reason, just walk away and never hear from me again.

Would your child’s singing voice improve if you do nothing about it?