I have been taking lessons for about 3 years now - and am loving every moment of it. It has made a huge difference to my voice and to how I sing folk songs.

My teacher is fantastic, but does NOT teach folk songs. She teaches either via show songs or via classical (including italian) repertoire. The classical stuff uses the best possible technique - and I can then use what I want of those techniques as I see fit in the folk repertoire.

SO - I think that the fact that you are doing Italian art songs is not in itself a cause for concern. What does seem to be a cause for concern is the fact that you feel you are getting nowhere.

Learning to sing properly is a long process, and it can take a while for the quality to come across from exercises into the songs - how long have you been at it? It might be that you need to give it a bit longer.

Have you spoken to your teacher about the way you are feeling? If not then I really think you should. Perhaps your teacher will be happy to change the repertoire to something you are more comfortable with. Some Italian songs do have english translations (though I think they lose a bit of their singability in translation).

Your teacher may have a different view on your progress than you have, and might be able to point out improvements that you have not noticed yourself. If the teacher is any good then they would not continue to teach you if there is no improvement. Do you record your lessons? If not then perhaps you should try taping (or even better mini-discing) the lessons so that you can have something to compare over time. I have always found that improvements happen in the exercises first, and only gradually does the quality come over into normal singing.

I guess the bottom line is - whether there is any improvement in your ability to sing the songs you like to sing. So perhaps you should be making periodic recordings of yourself singing your favourite songs at home & see if there is improvement over time.

You could perhaps try a single lesson with a different teacher, to see whether someone else's teaching style would suit you better. My teacher freely admits that she suits some people and not others - so there's no disloyalty in shopping around a bit.

One very good idea is to go by recommendation. Ask around & see whether other people have an opinion on your current teacher or any other local teachers.

That's all I can think of for now. Best of luck - and don't give up!

Kris