Certificate In Vocal Pedagogy, The ‘What, Why And How’ Of Vocal Pedagogy with Voice Scientist Kerrie Obert

While this course delivers the most up-to-date information available, it is Kerrie's greater hope that you leave with a better sense of how to analyse new information and changing processes so that when changes come (whether they be in the form of new styles of singing or new scientific information)— and they will come - that you will remain relevant in a changing world.

Spring immersive course

 

Mondays and Wednesdays: 4th March -15th May 2024

Time 3:00pm - 5:00pm London Time

  • Fully online
  • 11-week course
  • Live classes led by Voice Scientist, Kerrie Obert
  • Accredited by The Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (ITOL)
  • Upon completion of the course, you will receive an official ITOL-accredited certificate, a badge for your website/social media and a profile on our student page

Overview

We are offering a 10% Early Bird Discount on this course until 30th November 2023. Please use code EARLYBIRD10 at checkout.

Welcome to Voice Study Centre’s course for teachers:  A Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy for the Modern Voice Studio.

Twenty years ago, voice teachers were expected to be proficient at teaching music from the Western Classical tradition with the occasional extension into the Golden Era of Musical Theatre. People who sang music outside these genres often did not take voice lessons or were encouraged to learn “traditional ways of singing” in the hopes that the skills learned therein would somehow transfer to whatever style they preferred. Today’s students know better and expect more. My name is Kerrie Obert, and I am the course instructor for this neatly designed ten-week course.

I was one of those students many moons ago; a musical theatre major who was expecting to learn to sing the music of the stage. But my first college voice teacher insisted I only sing classical music. I should have known upon spotting the ancient Lilli Lehmann voice placement chart amidst the mounds of Schubert and Donizetti scores that I wouldn’t be singing Sondheim anytime soon. I switched studios after my first semester and might as well have committed murder in the building. That voice teacher never spoke to me again.

My new voice instructor, Julie Fortney, was modern, motherly, and she had studied with Berton Coffin and “knew stuff” the others didn’t. Words that were mostly whispered in the night, words like “belting” and “growl,” were suddenly legitimized in her studio. She retired after teaching more than forty years; still modern, still motherly. When I think about what made her modern, even in her final years of teaching, it was her incredible passion for life-long learning. She was and is a breath of fresh air, and she remains one of the most important figures from my life.

Being a modern voice teacher is less about knowing every genre of singing and more about understanding how to deconstruct the latest timbres and styles in order to reconstruct them into a meaningful teaching methodology. The deconstruction process requires knowledge of how the body works, perception and acoustics. The restructuring process includes integration of teaching methodologies spanning neuroscience, psychology, and body mapping. In this course I hope to cultivate curiosity within the voice community by sharpening eyes and ears and words—all in the service of helping others.

While this course does deliver the most up-to-date information available, it is my greater hope that you leave with a better sense of how to analyze new information and changing processes so that when changes come (whether they be in the form of new styles of singing or new scientific information) - and they will come - that you will remain relevant in a changing world. Your students need you and I want you to succeed.

This course is fully accredited by The Institute of Training and Occupational Learning (ITOL).

Upon completion of the course you will receive an official ITOL branded certificate to confirm your accreditation.

Mondays and Wednesdays: 4th March - 22nd May 2024

Time 3pm to 5pm London Time


Syllabus

The course syllabus is shown below - timings and content may change slightly 

Week 1

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 4th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 1, 2, and 3

Course Introduction

Evidence Based Vocal Pedagogy

The Brain

  • Basic anatomy of brain regions and cranial nerves
  • Explicit and implicit memory
  • Bottom up and top down (sensory/cortex)
  • Sustained attention, arousal, the role of rest and use of stimulants
  • Emotional regulation
  • ALBA emoting technique
  • Embodied cognition
  • Motor learning

 

Wednesday 6th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 4 & 5

Science of Sound

  • Compression and rarefaction
  • Period, frequency (sine tone)
  • Amplitude, wavelength (pitch & loudness, dB SPL)

The ear

  • Ear anatomy and physiology (outer, middle, inner ear, eustachian tube)
  • Auditory nerve and auditory cortex
  • The auditory connection to dementia and motor learning
  • The role of the audiologist and hearing tests
  • Hearing loss prevention and types of hearing loss (conductive, sensorineural, mixed, ear infections)
  • Ear protection for the musician
  • Pitch matching and poor-pitch singers -Is it an ear problem or a motor production problem?

Week 2

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 11th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 6, 7 & 8                                                 

 

Phonation

  • Complex waves
  • Non-linear myoelastic-aerodynamic theory of voice production
  • Vocal fold oscillation
  • Transient theory of voice production (Julian Chen)
  • Steady-state theory of voice production/Source-Filter Theory (Gunnar Fant, Ingo Titze)
  • Harmonics
  • Formants (Peterson & Barney)
  • Singer’s Formant (Johan Sundberg)

Psychoacoustics

  • Absolute spectral tone color (Ian Howell)
  • Auditory roughness

Wednesday 13th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 9 & 10

The respiratory system

  • Respiratory anatomy and physiology (nasal passage, larynx, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, lungs, diaphragm, ribs, related muscles of respiration)
  • Physics of breathing & relationship to the laryngeal valve
  • Differentiating subglottic pressure and flow
  • Standard respiratory measures

Breathing methodologies

  • Appoggio/Low abdominal (tracheal pull)
  • Clavicular/High
  • Relationship to larynx height
  • P.L.A.T. (Janice Chapman)
  • Accent Method (Svend Smith)

Week 3

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 18th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 11, 12 & 13                        

Laryngeal/pharyngeal anatomy and physiology

  • Endoscopy
  • Laryngeal cartilages, hyoid bone
  • Laryngeal joints and differences in joints
  • Laryngeal/pharyngeal muscles
  • Vocal fold layers & body cover theory (M. Hirano)
  • Length, mass, tension (pitch, loudness, open/closed quotient, laryngeal height and pharyngeal constrictors as they relate to pitch)
  • Theories of vibrato and normative values

Vocal fold onset and mass

  • Glottal, smooth, and aspirate onsets
  • Vocal fold mass conditions
  • Laryngeal registers
  • Spectrographic representation of onset and mass

Vocal health

  • Hydration (humidity/environment, drying medications, steam/nebulizer)
  • Caffeine
  • Throat clearing/coughing
  • Vocal load
  • Vocal hyperfunction

Wednesday 20th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 14, 15, & 16

Vocal Tract Shaping

Part 1-Velum

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • Velum positions (low, mid, high, super high)
  • Considerations for singing styles
  • Vocal health considerations
  • Mask resonance/forward resonance
  • Nasalance versus perceived nasality
  • Spectrographic representations of velum

Part 2-Larynx height

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • Larynx height positions (low, mid, high)
  • Considerations for singing styles
  • Historical perspectives
  • Height and medical perspective
  • Spectrographic representation of larynx height  

Part 3-Pharyngeal constrictors and pyriforms

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • Pharyngeal constrictor positions (neutral, narrow-LMN)
  • Singer’s formant theories (Sundberg/Bartholomew, Obert)
  • Considerations for singing styles
  • Historical perspectives
  • Pharyngeal constrictor and medical perspectives
  • Spectrographic representation of pharyngeal position

-

Week 4

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 25th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 17, 18, & 19                                                 

Vocal Tract Shaping Continued

Part 4-Tongue

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • Front of the tongue positions (high, mid, low)
  • Back of the tongue positions (high anterior to posterior narrowing, low anterior to posterior narrowing, no anterior to posterior narrowing-APN)
  • Considerations for singing styles
  • Historical perspectives
  • Tongue and medical perspectives (lingual frenulum, lingual tonsils)
  • Spectrographic representation of tongue positions
  • Singer’s formant revisited

Laryngeal Shaping

Part 1-False vocal folds

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • False vocal fold positions (compressed and released)
  • Longitudinal pharyngeal constrictors and their relationship to the
  • FVFs/pyriforms/low pharynx
  • Impact on loudness
  • Style considerations
  • Spectrographic representation of false vocal fold positions
  • Glottal onsets and false vocal folds
  • Hyperfunction and medical perspectives (muscle tension dysphonia)

Part 2-Thyroid cartilage (tilt)

  • Anatomy and physiology
  • Thyroid cartilage positions (tilted, vertical)
  • Controversy
  • Style considerations
  • Spectrographic representation of thyroid position

Wednesday 27th March 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 17, 18, & 19

Posture/alignment

  • Anatomy and physiology of cervical spine/neck, torso, hips/pelvis, lower extremities
  • Medical/physio perspective regarding “good posture”
  • Pedagogical perspectives on good posture
  • Identification of postural positions (normal, kyphosis, flat back, swayback, forward head)
  • Discussion of neck/jaw positions

Body-based methodologies for posture/alignment

  • Alexander
  • Feldenkrais
  • Somatic voice work (J. Lovetri)

Using Emotion and body-based movements in coaching

  • Science of emotion
  • Alba (neutral breath, effector patterns)
  • Michael Chekhov

-

Week 5

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

No class 1st April 2024

Wednesday 3rd April 2024

Course Workbook Chapter 20

Diction

  • Linguistic detail and fluency strategies
  • International phonetic alphabet
  • Style considerations
  • Into the mixer Linguistic detail and fluency strategies
  • Into the mixer: Identifying the recipe components of voice qualities

Week 6

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 8th April 2024

Course Workbook Chapter 21

  • Setting goals with your clients
  • The role of student autonomy
  • Safeguarding your students and yourself from abuse                                
  • The critical response process (Liz Lerman)

Wednesday 10th April 2024

Course Workbook Chapter 22

Standards of practice

  • Establishing a safe practice for you and your students
  • Setting boundaries
  • Standards of professionalism
  • Identifying your teaching type (Know Thyself)
  • Staying in your lane (legal and ethical considerations)
  • Goal setting
  • Fee structure and knowing your value
  • Tools of the trade

Week 7

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 15th April 2024      

Course Workbook Chapter23               

Identifying opportunities for change and making a plan                                                                                 

Wednesday 17th April 2024

Identifying opportunities for change and making a plan                                                 

Week 8

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 22nd April 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 24 & 25

The laryngeal exam

  • Vocal fold zones
  • Tissue health
  • Types of light sources                               
  • Reflux (LPR)

Stroboscopic assessment

  • Symmetry
  • Mucosal wave
  • Amplitude of vibration
  • Closure
  • Common organic pathologies

Wednesday 24th April 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 26 & 27

The laryngeal examination-Part 2

  • Functional disorders
  • Neurological disorders
  • Psychiatric disorders

Vocal hygiene

  • Hydration
  • Caffeine
  • Laryngeal irritants (smoking, chemicals, vaping, inhalers)
  • Medications that can impact the voice

Warm-ups and Cool-downs

  • SOVTs
  • Sirens

Week 9

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVITY

Monday 29th April 2024

Course Workbook Chapters 28 & 29

Acoustic registers

  • Defining acoustic registers
  • Differentiating them from laryngeal registers
  • Acoustic registrations
  • Methodologies (Bozeman, Howell, Titze)

Acoustic strategies

  • Vowel shaping/vowel modification
  • Second formant tuning
  • Passive and active vowel migration
  • Jaw/mouth shapes
  • Style considerations
  • Methodologies (B. Coffin, Doscher, Titze)

Extended vocal techniques

  • Types
  • Methodologies (Complete Vocal Technique, C. Sadolin)                            

Wednesday 1st May 2024

-

Live interactive coaching sessions with volunteers

Week 10 / 11

DATE READINGS TOPICS GROUP ACTIVY

No class 6th May 2024

Wednesday 8th May 2024

-

Live interactive coaching sessions with volunteers

 

 

Monday 13th May 2024

-

Live interactive coaching sessions with volunteers 

Wednesday 15th May 2024

Wrap-up class with time for discussion and Q & A

We are offering a 10% Early Bird Discount on this course until 30th November 2023. Please use code EARLYBIRD10 at checkout.


Assessment

Assessment:

The assessment will consist of a written portfolio and a video of your teaching. The portfolio will consist of a rationale for the exercises included in your video. You will receive feedback on your teaching with further follow-up work where needed.

Qualification:

You will receive a Voice Study Centre certificate and website badge to boost your credentials.

Can I work towards the MA?

Yes, if you complete the course and then continue to the full MA programme, we will discount the cost of the course from the MA fees. For more information on the fees and assignments please view our MA page. Do not forget to check out our student stories.


Course Details

Where will the course take place?

Online

What time will the course take place?

You will be part of a cohort and you will be encouraged to work together.

Although consistent attendance is encouraged, you will be able to watch sessions on playback.

Course Dates: Mondays and Wednesdays from 4th March to 15th May 2024 (excluding UK bank holidays)

Class Times: 3-5pm London Time

Cost: £995

Class Instructor: Kerrie Obert, MA., CCC/SLP, E: Kerrie@voicestudycentre.com

Kerrie Obert is one of the world’s leading experts in voice training and pedagogical practice. An internationally acclaimed speech-language pathologist and singing voice specialist with over 25 years in clinical and private practice, her love of teaching voice and witnessing the remarkable responses from her clients/students/patients has been the driving force to her success.

Part scientist and part performer, Kerrie’s unique perspective on singing and the voice has always included a combination of research and clinical practice in conjunction with onstage experience. After completing her M.A. in speech-language pathology at The Ohio State University (OSU), Kerrie joined their clinical staff and worked alongside some of the top laryngologists in the country, performing thousands of endoscopies, and collaborating in research as a part of the voice and swallowing disorders division. She helped launch the singing health specialization at OSU and served as the director of medical arts for the program.

As Kerrie transitioned from full-time clinical work to adjunct status to expand her private studio, she began traveling extensively as an invited lecturer, helping clients achieve their singing and teaching goals. As a performer, Obert sang in bands, music directed stage productions, conducted choirs, and worked as a soloist. While maintaining a private studio, she taught contemporary commercial voice at Capital University Music Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio, coaching students through the challenges that come with performing live and in recordings.

She continues to collaborate on several research projects with the OSU Department of Otolaryngology and Speech and Hearing Science and is noted for her ground-breaking discoveries on twang quality and tongue root. Her research has included collaborations in Japan, Greece, and across the United States. She is published in peer-reviewed journals such as Logopedics Phoniatrics VocologyThe Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal, and Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, and has co-authored four books on voice, including The Owner’s Manual to The Voice. A frequent public speaker, she gave the keynote address for the 2019 Voice Geek Conference in Colchester, England, and was a featured guest for the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s NATS Chat.


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