Learn Singing Through Online Courses?

In the past, your options for learning how to improve singing were pretty straightforward:

1.  Hire a vocal coach and head over to his/her den of singing

2.  Get a good book and/or audio CD course and follow it

3.  Sing along in the bathroom and car until you magically get better (not recommended...though it can help if you first do one of the first two options)

One interesting option of recent years is hiring a vocal coach...over the Internet.  This might sound ridiculous, getting a virtual coach, but can work surprisingly well.  For one thing, modern technology has come a tremendous distance.  There are plenty of good free programs for teleconferencing, so that you can easily speak/sing to your coach over the 'web even while make eye contact and see any props that he wants you to have access to.  For higher-quality work, you can easily record yourself singing to MP3 and e-mail it, and the teacher can pass whatever materials you need over the same medium.

If money were no object, I'd stick with face-to-face coaching...but the online option gives a good compromise for someone who wants that personal touch and guidance, while not having to pay an exorbitant amount of cash.  I'd recommend checking it out if you're either looking for a low-cost start to coaching or are a generally mobile person who wants the coach to follow you to whichever city you visit.