Do you practice what you preach? Strategies for optimal practice
Tuesday 28th October 2025, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (London Time)
“Best practices.” “Practice makes perfect.” “Practice what you preach.” There are many popular phrases about practice that people toss about in conversation – but what is practice anyway, how does it work, and what is the relationship between practicing, learning, and performance?
This course will examine current evidence from motor learning research on how we learn motor skills like singing. We’ll define practice, learning, and performance, and the importance of distinguishing learning from performance in how we practice. Next, we’ll look at the different kinds of practice and how they impact learning and performance. We’ll look at examples of each kind of practice and when we might want to use them. Then, we’ll consider how what we know about practice might impact how we structure a lesson, how we prepare for a recital/stage role/gig, and how we warm up immediately before a performance.
We’ll also talk about goal setting, weekly practice reflections, diaries/journaling, and performance road maps, and how they can help us better track our progress and detect trends in our practicing. We’ll also talk about the role of technology in assisting our practice.
There will be ample time for questions and sample materials you can use in improving your practice and that of your students.
🏷️ Price £30 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available
Professor John Nix
John Nix is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy and chair of the voice area at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His mentors include Barbara Doscher...
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.
Thursday 19th February 2026
8:30 AM - 10:30 AM
(London Time)
It’s not a virus! Reconceptualizing and De-pathologizing Music Performance Anxiety
Rebecca Herman
Performance Anxiety is one of the most widespread and debilitating challenges facing musicians across all ages, nationalities and musical genres. Despite decades of research and the development of numerous interventions, we do not yet have an established way of supporting performers experiencing performance anxiety. Aimed at performers, teachers, researchers and students, this presentation will first summarise the current state of play in performance anxiety research, before exploring alternative ways to think about performance anxiety, drawing on new research outside of performance psychology...
Thursday 19th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 26th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
(London Time)
Performing Pain: Vocal Health in Emotional Roles!
Louisa Morgan
How connected are acted emotions to our real-life emotions? Are they expressed differently? Do they feel different in the body? This 2-part course with Louisa Morgan looks at the potential impact of acted emotion on vocal health, why we should consider it as voice practitioners, and how to care for our performers needing to work with it.
Tuesday 24th February 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Incorporating CBT principles within vocal health and voice care
Dr Luke Aldridge-Waddon
Join Dr Luke Waddon as he introduces the principles and techniques within cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in relation to the voice and voice care. He will discuss psychological factors relevant to the development and maintenance of voice disorders and how these might be approached from a cognitive-behavioural perspective. He will describe theoretical concepts and therapeutic components often used within CBT and consider how these might be applied when working with voice users.