Short Courses & Events / Archive

Group Singing As A Complex Adaptive System (CAS)

Thursday 7th July 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

In this short course, Dr Dave Camlin will outline some of the implications of understanding group singing as a complex adaptive system (CAS).

While perhaps hundreds of psychological, biological, social, and behavioural mechanisms might be implicated in the experience of singing together, how we understand such complex intra-actions presents an epistemological conundrum.

Participant reports of ‘magic moments’ point toward group singing as the experience of an ‘entangled state’, whereby our understanding of causality is radically altered.

As well as troubling our understanding of what we ‘know’ about it, thinking of group singing as a CAS also invites us to consider what we ‘do’ with it, and how we research it.

Drawing on perspectives as diverse as vitality dynamics (Stern, 2010) and quantum theory (Barad, 2007), the course will explore the complexity of issues surrounding group singing as it relates to health and (mutual) recovery; interpersonal attunement and entrainment; performance (of relationships and values as much as musical works), addressing such questions as:

  • What does it mean to think of music (specifically group singing) as a complex adaptive system (CAS)?
  • What human (or posthuman) values are ‘performed’ during group singing, and how might they be fostered?
  • What is a ‘healthy public’, and how does group singing support such development?
  • How might we connect the act of singing together to issues of sustainable global development?

Dr Dave Camlin

Dr Dave Camlin’s musical practice spans performance, composition, teaching, socially-engaged music practice and research. A singer / song-writer by trade...

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.

Navigating Vocal Aging for Singers
Thursday 9th October 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

Navigating Vocal Aging for Singers

Karen Brunssen

As singers approach their senior years, they can benefit greatly from a voice teacher who understands the normal changes involved as they navigate vocal aging. This course will focus on the realities of aging voices for senior singers and what can be done to address vocal production and peripheral issues that can affect the activity of singing.

Introduction to Vocal Acoustics for Spoken and Sung Voice
Friday 10th October 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Monday 13th October 2025
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)

Introduction to Vocal Acoustics for Spoken and Sung Voice

Gökçe Kutsal

This course is designed to break down the fundamentals of acoustics for both spoken and sung voice in a beginner-friendly, accessible way — so you can easily understand and apply these concepts to your teaching or research.

Water Resistance Therapy and Semioccluded Devices for Voice Training
Monday 13th October 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Water Resistance Therapy and Semioccluded Devices for Voice Training

Dr Marco Guzmán

Several voice devices to perform water resistance therapy (WRT) and some oscillatory positive expiratory pressure devices (OPEP) (e.g. Acapella Choice, Shaker Medic Plus, New Shaker) are now commonly used for both voice training and voice therapy. Are these devices truly good for voice training? Are these devices the treatment by themselves? and how much evidence currently supports the use of these devices?