Short Courses & Events / Archive

How Teachers Can Utilize Motor Learning Feedback to Accelerate Learning

Thursday 12th December 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

Communication is possibly the most important single aspect of training a singer. Feedback is an essential and quantifiable aspect of instructor-student communication. The research in the emerging field of evidence-based voice pedagogy has been directed primarily to the technical aspects of voice training, i.e. respiratory management, registration, and resonance. However vital these elements of teaching are, the method in which these are taught is as essential to the process of the student’s ability to learn and retain skills. Singing is a motor skill which involves the coordination of respiratory, laryngeal, pharyngeal, and articulatory muscles. Motor learning is a process that leads to a relatively permanent change in coordinated and skilled muscle movement. This change is an increased proficiency for skilful movement. Feedback is essential to improve the efficiency of skilled acquisition of motor skills. The timing, frequency, and content of feedback can allow a student to acquire skills more proficiently.

In this course, we look at how the mind and body acquire the skills to become proficient in singing and how teachers, through their communication, can best facilitate the rate and retention of motor skill acquisition.

🏷️ 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

Dr Colin Johnson

Dr. Colin B. Johnson, bass-baritone, is a dynamic educator, performer, and researcher. Dr. Johnson enthusiastically teaches private voice lessons in a variety of genres including both classical and contemporary commercial music.

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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.

Certificate in Acting Approaches for Singing Teachers
Tuesday 5th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 12th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 19th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 26th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd September 2025
1:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday 9th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 16th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
(London Time)

Certificate in Acting Approaches for Singing Teachers

Louisa Morgan

Are you a singing teacher looking to elevate your students’ performances? Join our very own Louisa Morgan, as she takes a deeper dive into acting approaches that singing teachers can use to integrate powerful acting techniques into singing lessons. This 8 session course is perfect for those who want to help their singers connect deeply with the story behind the song. Gain practical tools and techniques that you can immediately apply in your teaching! Come along live for an interactive experience, or watch on playback at your leisure.

The Cannabis Question: What Voice Practitioners Need to Know!
Thursday 18th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

The Cannabis Question: What Voice Practitioners Need to Know!

Dr Dann Mitton

As cannabis use has become more common, socially accepted, and legalized, voice professionals are increasingly fielding questions about its effects. This two-hour session with Dr Dann Mitton offers a clear, research-informed overview of what we currently know about cannabis and the singing voice. The session is built around real-world questions voice teachers and singers are asking: Does smoking cannabis dry out the vocal folds? Is vaping safer than smoking? What should I know if my student uses cannabis for anxiety or pain? Could some voice types be more at risk than others?

How to Put the Perceptible Breath at a Singer's Disposal
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)

How to Put the Perceptible Breath at a Singer's Disposal

Tanya Aspelmeier

Join the renowned Tanya Aspelmeier in this breath-related workshop specifically designed for the singer and singing teachers. Participants will learn exercises based on Professor Ilse Middendorf's therapeutic breathing method "The Perceptible Breath". This somatic discipline trains a person’s skills of perception to learn about their individual breath, body and nervous system and how they can regulate it by harnessing their own mental powers.