Short Courses & Events / Archive

Embedding Motor Learning into Voice Training with the Motor Learning Classification Framework

Tuesday 4th March 2025, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM (London Time)

Motor learning is the process of acquiring the capability for producing skilled actions. Motor learning is a lifelong process that occurs from the moment we’re born to the end stages of our life.  Just as we learn to control physical movements of our limbs and body functions, so too we learn to control our voice.

The principles of motor learning have been studied in huge depth in the field of exercise and sports science. In the last 20 years, these studies have now extended to investigate how we can facilitate and enhance learning voice skills.

This presentation will review the basic principles of motor learning, how they apply to voice training, review the evidence in published studies and how they might be applied by teachers who train vocalists across numerous contexts.

The Motor Learning Classification Framework will be reviewed in detail to provide participants with a clear conceptual outline they can use to reflect and improve their understanding of the components required for learning voice motor skills.

Participants will be also introduced to the latest tool to self-evaluate their own use of these principles in their teaching practice.

🏷️ 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

Cate Madill

Associate Professor Cate Madill, PhD, BAppSc (Hons), BA (Hons) CPSP, is a speech language pathologist, university educator and researcher specialising in assessment and management of voice disorders.

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Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

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Sorry, 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.

Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues
Tuesday 5th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 12th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 19th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 26th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 9th June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues

Dr David Cane

Voice pedagogy has advanced significantly in the last decades in relation to knowledge of the vocal apparatus (anatomy and mechanics), acoustics, and performance psychology (to name just a few subfields) – this is a wonderful thing! Nonetheless, musicianship and the foundations of music theory are still relevant to the teaching and coaching of singers and this course aims to empower voice teachers and coaches with skills to support the fundamental musicianship development of their students.

Staging A Coup: History meets science for the coup de la glotte!
Tuesday 19th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Staging A Coup: History meets science for the coup de la glotte!

Kourtney Austin

Historical vocal pedagogy, voice science, voice health, and performance practice come together in this presentation from Kourtney Austin! The session addresses the historical context for teaching the onset as a fundamental skill, along with a review of a recent publication examining the acoustic effects of different types of onset, and practical studio implementation of onset training. The aforementioned publication is the first known research to objectively measure the acoustic implications of the coup de la glotte, and delineate it from the hard glottal attack.

Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!
Thursday 21st May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!

Louisa Morgan

This 2-hour interactive session is designed to help you make more deliberate, expressive choices in your speaking of the written word. It will involve plenty of practical exploration and will cover tips and techniques for working with the voice to lift the text off the page. Work with me to refine nuance, precision, and expressive range. We’ll explore a variety of text samples to cover a wide range of real-world situations, so you can get a feel for the different styles and approaches. If you want your spoken text to sound purposeful, engaging, and unmistakably yours, this session will invite you to play with some tools to do just that.