Mastering Vocal Vibrato: The Science of Production and Perception
Tuesday 24th June 2025, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Vocal Vibrato: Production and Perception
Is vocal vibrato something that can and should be consciously controlled? What makes a ‘good vibrato’ and is there such a thing as ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ vibrato? Vibrato is a common musical feature, and yet it remains a controversial topic amongst pedagogues and singers.
In this session you will learn how vocal vibrato is produced and its acoustic properties. The history of vocal vibrato will be briefly explored, alongside current theories of vibrato production and how it is perceived. We will consider how vibrato has been studied and ways it can be analysed, revealing how vibrato is utilised in different contexts and in different musical genres to achieve different goals. In particular, different performance environments can impact vibrato, it can become an acoustic necessity, but also utilised as a stylistic tool. All these factors also change how we perceive vibrato, which can even influence our perception of tuning. The extent to which vibrato characteristics are a defining feature of an individual’s voice or a learned and controllable artistic tool will be considered in the context of how parameters of ‘good’ vibrato, including its regularity and extent have been identified and might be challenged. Ongoing research into the potential adaptation of vibrato when multiple singers ‘blend’ together will be shown with a discussion of how this might shed more light on our understanding of vibrato as a fundamental and powerful feature of the singing voice.
🏷️ 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 Helena Daffern
Helena is currently a Professor in Music Technology in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology. She completed her PhD in Music Technology in the School of Physics, Engineering and Technology at the University of York in 2008 and obtained a Masters degree in singing performance from the University of York before training as a postgraduate at Trinity College of Music.
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.
Tuesday 17th February 2026
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
(London Time)
Simultaneous Singing and Dancing in Musical Theatre: A Cross-Disciplinary Evidence Review
Debbie Winter
Dr Claire Thomas
This short course invites participants to critically examine the latest cross-disciplinary evidence on the physical and vocal demands of musical theatre performance. Drawing on a comprehensive literature review conducted by Debbie Winter and Claire Thomas (Voice Study Centre, University of Essex), the course explores research from voice science, dance medicine, sports science, and performance pedagogy.
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.