Becoming a SLS Instructor

Becoming an instructor of the “Speech Level Singing” Vocal Technique takes a lot of time, dedication and a strong commitment to staying teachable.  Our teacher trainers, known as the IMT (Instructor Management Team) are an impressive group of individuals who are literally the “who’s who” of vocal instructors:  these are the people teaching the grammy winners and major recording artists, tony award winners, top Las Vegas acts and Metropolitan opera singers.  The instructors that Seth Riggs has entrusted to pass on the torch of his technique have earned this privilege after many years of teaching and collaboration, taking this method to it’s most effective level possible.

SLS is the fastest growing group of instructors in the world and the only vocal technique where there is a combination of an effective scientifically proven vocal technique and a highly trained and skilled group of instructors with a unifying and cooperative vision of how to teach the human voice!  When I began my own discovery of the SLS method there were roughly 40 instructors around the world teaching this technique.  Eleven years later I’m excited to say that there are now over 700 instructors of this method worldwide and growing!  There are a steady number of colleges and performing arts schools in the U.S. and the U.K. that are now hiring and training their vocal instructors exclusively in the SLS method.

Being a member of the SLS community also brings the advantage of having access to a network of individuals who bring with them connections to key music industry, representation, business and management  professionals – giving our students an advantage not only vocally but professionally.  www.myslsworld.com and www.endoora.com are both SLS social networking sites that many television and record label representatives are already using to search for new talent.

There are 5 levels of certification to be gained as an SLS instructor, beginning with a Pre-Certification Level (one year minimum).  From there, each level requires a minimum of two years of training followed by testing to move on. Once a teacher retains Level 4 Certification they must be invited by the IMT if they wish to achieve Level 5 Certification (although a teacher may choose to certify up to Level 3 and stay there indefinitely).  Here are the minimum requirements in a year of training for SLS instructors:

• 5 points earned through: private lessons with a higher level instructor, attending training seminars, attending the annual teacher’s conference or observing a higher level instructor teaching
• 2 half-hours of having an IMT observe you teaching
• 2 half-hours of having an IMT teaching your students
• 6 hours of private study (developing your own voice and honing your teaching craft)

In order to reach Level 4 or Level 5 Certification an instructor must pass rigorous panel testing in which they have 18 minutes to transform a voice they’ve never worked with before, as a panel of all seven IMT observe.  They are then required to defend the lesson they taught and show that they had a clear plan for that particular voice and have that student experience improvement in their most prominent vocal dysfunctions.  The students used for the testing situation are often veteran SLS trained singers so an instructor’s ear must be finely tuned to hear the most minute of vocal anomalies.  An instructor who passes to these levels will have dedicated the last two years to preparing for this event.  It is a momentous accomplishment to achieve this level of understanding of the science of the human voice.

I am currently at a Level 4 Certification.  If you are interested in joining our amazing community of vocal instructors around the world please contact me for more information on how to get started.