One More Time with Feeling; The Use of Emotion for Training Singers
Tuesday 1st September 2020, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (London Time)
How does emotion affect the voice, and can it be harnessed as a tool in Western classical vocal pedagogy? Eminent voice pedagogues do use emotion as a pedagogical tool and have described their experience of its usefulness anecdotally (Bozeman, 2013 and 2017; Chapman, 2007; Williams, 2019). Scientists have striven to measure emotionally produced acoustic changes in the voice; these changes can be heard and even accurately perceived by the listener (Scherer, 1986). Muscular changes occur with emotion (Scherer, 1986) in all three components of the vocal apparatus; breathing, vocal folds and vocal tract (Sundberg, 1987), and these changes affect voice acoustics (Laver, 1980). Research shows these emotional effects on vocal acoustics to be comparable in both the speaking and singing voice (Scherer, 2015). Scherer (1986) predicted these changes in his Component Patterning Model of Vocal Affect Expression and subsequent research has largely proven his model which predicts the acoustic result of an emotion based on physiological responses.
This 1 hour webinar will outline;
- Darwin’s phylogenic theory of emotional effect and his theory of the early origins of vocalised emotion.
- Historical use of emotion and its description in the early singing treatise.
- The emotions used anecdotally by pedagogues
- The work of Professor Klaus Scherer and his early predictions of the effect of emotion on voice acoustics based on; his own emotion model of physiological response and, the work of phonetician Professor John Laver who described the acoustic change for different muscular actions of the vocal apparatus. Scherer went on to ‘prove’ his predictions with his own and other scientists research on acoustics of vocalised emotion.
- Current research on the singing voice and the effect of emotion on acoustics; how does the research compare to the emotions used by pedagogues in the studio?
- Interesting correlations with vowel use and emotion.
- Possible ways to elicit emotion in voice teaching; tips from the scientists.
- Kate will present a diagram she has compiled based on a two dimensional model of emotion with the results of the latest acoustic data, the emotions studied, as well as the emotions used anecdotally by pedagogues.
Katrina Sheppeard
Katrina Sheppeard is one of the UK’s most exciting up and coming dramatic sopranos. Since moving from Australia to London in 2008...
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 12th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Tuesday 13th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Wednesday 14th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Thursday 15th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Tuesday 20th January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Wednesday 21st January 2026
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
(London Time)
Level One Certificate in Accents and Phonetics
Louisa Morgan
Are you a voice, acting, or singing coach looking to expand your expertise and add accents and phonetics to your teaching repertoire? This 6-session course covers essential topics such as articulatory, acoustic, and auditory phonetics, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), and ethical approaches to accent and dialect coaching. By the end of this course, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and practical skills to start to bring phonetics and accent coaching into your coaching and provide more comprehensive support to your clients.
Monday 12th January 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Emerging and Developing Voice: Singing and Speech
Karen Brunssen
How does the singing voice influence the speaking voice? How does the speaking voice influence the singing voice? When is there a disparate relationship between the two? Can they help each other? Can one harm the other? How can we use them positively in the voice studio. During this short course we will consider the voice as we sing and as we speak. The acquisition of language is a very interesting journey from birth through old age. We will broach the topics of “lexical” which refers to learning words, and “semantic” which is how we use words in the context of language.
Monday 12th January 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Perfectionism: A Theoretical & Clinical Overview
Dr David Juncos
What exactly is meant when we label ourselves or someone we know a perfectionist? It is a good to be this way? Or are you setting yourself up for failure? Can a performance psychologist or a other performance-related practitioner help you if you’re a perfectionist? In this short course, you will learn how perfectionism is defined according to popular models in clinical psychology, and whether it is maladaptive or adaptive. You will also learn how perfectionism impacts on music performance anxiety, in addition to other areas of importance for performing musicians, like work-related stress and burnout, and procrastination with one’s practice.