Short Courses & Events / Archive

Parallels in learning to talk and sing: Social mechanisms of vocal learning in baby humans and songbirds

Tuesday 7th May 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

How do babies learn to talk? Despite the immense variety of sounds we associate with the animal world, the ability to learn a vocal repertoire is a rare phenomenon, emerging in only a handful of groups, including humans. To gain a better understanding of the development and evolution of vocal learning, we will examine the processes by which birds learn to sing and human infants learn to talk. A key parallel in the vocal development of birds and babies is the social function of immature vocalizations. The responses of adults to the plastic song of birds and the babbling of babies create social feedback that guides the young towards mature vocalizations. I will present experiments demonstrating how the immature sounds of young birds and babies regulate and are regulated by social interactions. The form and timing of these interactions have strong influences on the development of mature birdsong and language. The difficulty of measuring rapid social interchanges organized by immature vocalizing has led many to overlook their importance and assume that young songbirds and human infants learn by passive exposure followed by motor practice. My data indicate that vocal learning is an active, socially-embedded process. By creating feedback that is both inherently informative and socially relevant, structured social interaction boosts the salience of acoustic patterns in the input and facilitates learning of speech and song.

🏷️ 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

Michael Goldstein

Michael Goldstein is a Professor of Psychology and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University.

CPD Course Logo

Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

Learn More

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.

Soul-Training: Riffs, Runs, & R&B Singing
Tuesday 2nd September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Soul-Training: Riffs, Runs, & R&B Singing

Lisa Popeil

In this interactive workshop, participants will have an opportunity to explore an extremely popular vocal style known as soul singing or R&B (Rhythm & Blues). Lisa Popeil will share with singers, voice teachers, and anyone interested in this powerful vocal style some little-known techniques in producing this rich, emotional, and satisfying sound!

Unpacking the Mind-Voice Connection in Occupational Voice Users!
Thursday 4th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Unpacking the Mind-Voice Connection in Occupational Voice Users!

Dr Cantor Cutiva

Join Dr. Cantor-Cutiva as she explores the Mind-Voice Connection, a holistic framework that considers how psychological traits, stress levels, and sleep quality interact with vocal health, particularly in occupational voice users. Through a multidisciplinary lens, we will examine how personality dimensions such as extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness influence not only vocal behaviour but also the perception and reporting of vocal fatigue.