Hyperadduction: A Preventative and Therapeutic Approach to Voice Teaching
Tuesday 9th January 2024, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (London Time)
“Hyperfunctional vocal behaviours are considered to be a primary cause of the most common voice disorders: throat discomfort, vocal fatigue, nodules, polyps, oedema, inflammation and haemorrhage of the vocal folds.” – Freeman and Fawcus
Speech pathology has long been the therapeutic route for treating hyperadductive speakers. Other practices like physical therapy, The Feldenkrais Method®, Alexander Technique and yoga practices have also assisted practitioners in the alleviation of hyperfunction in the body.
This workshop is designed to provide voice teachers and professionals with strategies to counter hyperfunctional vocal behaviours (such as constriction and overexertion of the muscles around the larynx) and thus enable ease of vocal fold functioning. Self-awareness, muscle-release lengthening and awareness stretches, laryngeal massage, neck-release and alignment, athletic-aspirated onset, silent inhalation, and SOVT exercises/practices are the chief tools for addressing this ongoing vocal trend.
As vocal pedagogy evolves, we must challenge ourselves to constantly grow and adjust to the modern expectations of the different genres we hope to be qualified to teach. Utilizing an approach that puts health and longevity before aesthetic is a good way to begin the journey of embracing diversity within our scope of instruction.
Dr John Seesholtz
Dr. John Seesholtz, baritone, is the cofounder of the Canciones project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of Latin American music throughout all stages of academia and former Director of Vocal Pedagogy at the University of Colorado.
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.
Monday 20th October 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Pop Pedagogy
Kim Chandler
Some successful pop stars are celebrating career lengths of over sixty years, having been around since the 1950s when pop music emerged and diversified from jazz, so pop singing has been in existence sufficiently long now that, for teaching purposes, we can observe and analyse what type of approach serves it best.
Tuesday 21st October 2025
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Develop Convincing and Respectful East and Southeast Asian English accents!
Jenru Wang
Join Jenru Wang for a practical accent workshop designed to develop convincing and respectful East and Southeast Asian English accents—specifically a Mandarin-influenced English and a Tagalog-influenced Philippine English. This session is intended for actors, dialect coaches, speech-language practitioners, and anybody else who wants to embark on the journey of ESEA Accents learning!
Tuesday 21st October 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Establishing a Jazz Voice Curriculum
Dr Tish Oney
As the jazz voice major represents a relatively new program of comprehensive singing study in higher education, it most often absorbs the course requirements of other related majors with which it is grouped. Join Dr Tish Oney for a short course that will reach across a multitude of program requirements in three academic contexts: grouping jazz singers with jazz instrumental majors; grouping jazz singers with voice majors; and grouping jazz singers with commercial music majors. Tish tackles this topic with the authority of one who has pioneered the way for student jazz singers while teaching in jazz departments, classical voice departments, and commercial music departments!