The Vocalist Studio Review (AKA The Four Pillars Of Singing)

The Four Pillars Of Singing is considered the most comprehensive self-study learning-to-sing program ever made.

The author of The Four Pillars Of Singing, Robert Lunte, is also the founder and owner of The Vocalist Studio.

In fact, the Vocalist Studio is centered on the teachings in the book, but expands on them with tons of workouts, exercises and quizzes.

It also includes extras like a very active worldwide forum and unheard of support from Robert himself.

Clearly this is the best vocal training program out there, right?

Well, it depends.

For some it is undoubtedly the best, but not for everyone.

In fact it is only our second favorite online singing course. But it is very close and we highly recommend The Vocalist Studio.

Let’s take a closer look.

 

The 4 Pillars Of Singing Review

 

Vocalist Studio Course Overview

This program is a comprehensive course that does not stick to one school of though, but teaches both speech level singing and strength building. It was created by singer and vocal coach Robert Lunte.

Here is a brief overview of the course. After the overview, we’ll go into much more detail, beginning with Robert Lunte himself.

 

Price

• Course: $199
• Course and Book: $299

 

Content

13 Modules made up of 175 video lessons.

 

Who Is It For?

Great for singers of every level.

 

Who Is It Not For?

• Those with a limited budget
• Those who have a hard time motivating themselves and setting their own schedule
• Those who are not sure yet if they want to become singers

 

Who Is Robert Lunte?

Robert Lunte is the founder of The Vocalist Studio, which you will often see abbreviated as TVS. TVS is a complete voice training school and is recognized internationally in 175 countries.

TVS not only teaches singing vocal techniques, but also public speaking, teacher training, accent training and training for various vocal related events.

In addition to founding and running The Vocalist Studio, Robert also authored The Four Pillars Of Singing. This critically acclaimed book and online singing course still forms the basis for The vocalist Studio. It sold over 10,000 copies.

He is also involved with Fire-Up Training, where he holds the Master Trainer designation. Fire-Up is a sales training company that focuses on helping corporate sales teams and corporate speakers give more effective presentations. Robert runs Fire-Up’s accent training program, which helps students improve their English speaking skills.

Through TVS, Robert has hosted more than 65 singing masterclasses in 12+ countries and has reached an estimated 100,000 students all over the world. Those students learn to sing via a proven method that ensures they have all the musical knowledge and practice techniques they need to develop a great singing voice.

In addition to all of his teaching and course creation activities, Robert is also still an active vocalist in the Seattle area where he lives. He works as a session singer and on original projects.

He also teaches privately, in person and online, and is an active member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing, The Grammy’s and The Voice Foundation.

 

The Vocalist Studio Philosophy

What makes the Vocalist Studio unique is that it does not focus on a single philosophy. The two primary methods that are currently used to teach singing are one that focuses on mix singing and one that focuses on building up vocal strength.

The mix singing method emphasizes techniques for bridging the gap between chest voice and head voice. This is also sometimes referred to as using the middle voice.

The other camp sees singing like weightlifting: you have to build up your vocal muscles to make them as powerful as possible.

In his The Four Pillars of Singing book, Robert’s philosophy is to combine these two (usually opposing) camps into one well-rounded training program. The two methods balance each other out, with the strengths of each filling in the weaknesses of the other.

As such, The Vocalist Studio has exercises designed to take advantage of each of these teaching methods. Let’s take a look at what’s inside the program.

 

The Four Pillars Of Singing: Course Content

The entire program is split up into 13 modules and contains 175 video lessons with over 500 hours of content. They are all created by Robert himself, but he enlists the help of female voice coaches to provide instruction to female students for any lesson where gender-specific instruction would be advantageous.

The modules included in this product include (but are not limited to):

• Preparing for your Study and Training
• Techniques and Myth Busting
• TVS Methodology
• Onset Lectures
• Physical Modes
• Acoustic Modes
• Vocal Effects
• Training Warm-Ups
• Training Onsets and Sirens
• Training Intermediate Demonstrations
• Training Advanced Demonstrations

There are different types of videos for different purposes. Lectures teach you the theory behind the singing. Some of the topics can be quite complex, but Robert manages to break them down so that anyone can understand them. He makes use of text and visual aids to further help explain complicated concepts.

The other types are actual exercises and training routines. This is where you get real singing practice, while Robert practices right along with you in the video.

Quizzes help solidify everything you learn and workouts help you practice. The workouts are available in three speeds and, as mentioned, many of them have separate workouts for male and female singers.

When you sign up, you get access for life. That is great for two reasons. One, you don’t have to rush through the course to try to avoid having to pay the next monthly fee. Because there is no monthly fee. Instead you can take your time and move at your own pace.

Two, there are constantly new updates released for the course. With lifetime access, you get instant, free access to any future updates.

As mentioned, there is also a world-wide Vocalist Studio community. With over 17,000 active students, you always have plenty of help and support along the way.

There is an active forum where you can get advice and share ideas and techniques with fellow students all over the world. You can also get your performances reviewed and critiqued and you can occasionally enjoy group lessons with various vocal trainers, as well as Robert himself.

Finally, the customer support is amazing. Not only can you ask for help or advice at any time via the chat function, but Robert himself is often the one answering queries directly. I know of no other online singing course where the founder makes themselves this available to their students.

 

What Makes The Vocalist Studio Great

The Vocalist Studio is the most comprehensive online singing program available. Where other products teach you using one method, this program takes the best parts from multiple methods.

It also has many kinds of content, including separate exercises for male and female singers, whenever doing so makes sense.

Because it is such an established and popular course, there are thousands of other students, many of whom frequent the active forum. You can always get help and support when you need it.

Not only that, but Robert is very accessible himself. Feel free to contact him via the chat on his site. He is always willing to help singers out.

Finally, the actual layout of the course is excellent. Most courses are very basic, but they put a lot of thought into the user experience for this one. Everything is well-organized and easy to find.

The course costs more than many others, but it is well worth the money, if you have the budget for it.

 

What I Didn’t Like About The Vocalist Studio

There is not much wrong with the Vocalist Studio. The high price might be a problem for some, but you get so much for your money that it is actually a great value.

The primary issue I can see is that some people simply don’t like Robert’s personality or his singing and/or teaching style. His course also lends itself primarily to rock singers.

I definitely recommend checking out some of his videos before buying to see how you feel about Robert and his teaching style. If it doesn’t suit you, go with a different course.

Here is a sample video to check out:

Apart from that, there are no real negatives that aren’t also negatives of any other online course. You obviously have to work on your own and motivate yourself and you do not get direct feedback from a teacher.

Robert actually offers a solution to that last part: he sells private classes conducted through Skype, where you can get direct input and feedback. This is a great addition to the course, if you can afford it.

As for working on your own, the course is laid out in a good order for you, but there is no set schedule. I actually prefer this, but some do not work well, unless everything is strictly scheduled and laid out for them.

The no-refund policy is a bit of a disappointment. I understand the reasoning for it, but still prefer a generous refund policy, because it removes the purchase risk and also signals the creator’s confidence in their own course.

 

The Vocalist Studio Vs. Roger Love Singing Academy

These are our two favorite programs by far. You can’t go wrong with either one. Your best bet is to check out a few videos of both Lunte and Roger Love and see whose style you prefer. Then go with that course.

The primary difference is that Roger Love focuses on what he calls “the middle voice.” This is the voice between chest voice and head voice.

Robert also has lessons on bridging the gap with your mixed voice, but it is only one part of the course. In other words, the Vocalist Studio is more comprehensive. It also offers more support via the active forum.

On the other hand, Roger Love is probably a slightly better teacher. Not that Robert is bad, but his style is more controversial, so more people will have an issue with it. He also aims more toward rock singers, while Roger Love has lessons for all major styles.

All else being equal, we slightly prefer Roger Love’s Singing Academy, but it is very close. Both programs also get great reviews. It should come down to how you feel about each teacher and his teaching style.

Check out our review of the Singing Academy here.

 

The Vocalist Studio Vs. Singorama

If the Vocalist Studio is outside your budget, Singorama is a great alternative that costs far less. It goes for $97, but is sometimes on sale for as low as $67. Naturally, there are sacrifices.

The main one is that Singorama is audio only. That said, the audio files are very high quality and the vocal instruction is excellent as well. The course is also quite comprehensive, far more than you’d expect given the low price.

The instructors are all female, which may be a concern for some male singers.

The nice thing about Singorama is that they have a mini-course available that actually teaches you a lot of information. It is a great way to get a feel for the course to see if it is a good fit for you.

Melanie Alexander, the creator, also offers a full 60-day money back guarantee, no question asked, which is obviously much more generous that The Vocalist Studio’s “no refunds” policy

Check out our full review of Singorama for more.

 

Vocalist Studio Review: Summary And Recommendation

The Vocalist Studio is the most comprehensive online singing course available. For less than you’d pay for a single lesson with a live instructor, you get a complete singing program that teaches using multiple methods and philosophies.

The result is that you get the best parts of each of the most popular teaching methodologies and the strengths of one fill in for the weaknesses of the other.

You also get access to Robert Lunte himself via chat (it’s not a promised part of the course, but he is generally very available) and you get access to a forum of thousands of other students worldwide.

The main potential issue is Robert himself. Some people simply do not like his singing and teaching style. If that is the case for you, then this is not the right program.

Otherwise, the Four Pillars of Singing / Vocalist Studio is our second favorite online singing course we reviewed and it is only slightly behind our favorite. That is why we give it a Musicaroo rating of 4.9 out of 5.