And, Only ✱ I ✱ Can Teach you…

If you know me, you can hear me do my “theatre school voice” in that title.

Welcome to 2026. We will just leave it there.

If you follow the lunar calendar, it’s time to purge and shed (I’m doing that - I really am!) and get ready for the horse and movement and momentum.

And as we purge and shed, and get rid of the people-pleasing and the old paradigms of pedagogy and pedagogical dynamics in the studio, let’s truly look deep within, and deep into the mirror.

You, teacher are not the ✱ only ✱ one who can teach. You are not the only one who KNOWS. And frankly, none of us knows everything. It’s okay to say that. “I don’t know but I will find out” or “I don’t know and that’s not my wheelhouse so let’s find you someone who does know”. How refreshing would THAT be?

The teaching of yore, and the “my way or the highway” is long gone.

Every teacher has a purpose. Every teacher has a lane. That does not mean that every teacher knows everything for every student. I know we’ve spoken about this before, but it bears repeating. It bears conversation. It bears self-reflection.

And, every singer needs to know what they are doing in the studio. What are you there to do? What is your expection? Are you realistic? If so, what is that realism? If not, what are your expectations and why?

As a teacher, guess what? You don’t know everything. You aren’t supposed to. You are expected to be aware of what you offer, and how you offer it and send the singer onward when you cannot do anymore.

The “only I can teach you” mentality is gone. I mean, it’s still living in the minds of some teachers, and some singers who fall for it, but it is becoming less and less important, and less and less tolerated. If you are stuck in that vice grip - extract yourself from it. Nobody has agency over you. Only you do.

The space in a voice studio needs to be collaborative. That collaboration has different dynamics and balances, depending on the singer’s ability, experience, and pursuits. And teachers who believe in hierarchy in the studio, hear me out. Collaboration is not the same as being equals. A singer is there to learn something; A teacher is there to teach something; TOGETHER they communicate to see how those two can connect - if they can!

What do you offer the space between the singer and teacher to benefit the other? From both sides? THAT is the collaborative energy. It’s about communication, discussion, discovery and more.

Yes, teacher, it’s YOUR space initially until you invite someone in and create together within that space. That singer is leaning in for your expertise. How well do you know what you say you know in order to translate effectively for that singer to glean knowledge, understanding, and effectiveness? And singer, how clear are you in what it is you are looking for, needing, and staying open to receive?

So, as we purge old paradigms that simply do not work, are not healthy, are not tolerated anymore, may we explore the “ONLY I” and release the ego. Perhaps the “ONLY I” can change to “Only I can make changes to this space of learning to embrace the singer who enters”.

Release the ego, and embrace the work. Discover more, recover more, uncover more! Create more!

My studio is FULL of what many of my singers affectionately call “Susan-isms”. The “studio pedagogical terms” that emerge through teaching in the present moment, and through the singers that trust that space. If you know, you know!

And as we begin this new year, I will share the newest ism inspired by a recent session with magical unicorn,

Nathan Nolen Edwards: pre-futz. Release your pre-futz. Quit futz-ing and release that pre-futz.

You figure it out for yourself!

with fondness & fierceness,