Short Courses & Events / Archive

Perceptual-Motor Learning In Voice Training

Thursday 28th July 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

This course will provide an introduction to fundamental theoretical and empirical issues in perceptual-motor learning with specific applications to voice training.

The review covers the past 50 years of essential work in the motor learning domain, much of it garnered in sports psychology, and  now emerging as a critical framework for the way we approach voice training and therapy.

A fundamental distinction that will be used to organize this body of literature has to do with a distinction between declarative and procedural learning and the cognitive mechanisms involved in each.

New research will be presented from my lab that challenges one of the assumptions in the existing body, and that has to do with the conclusion that an external, outcomes-oriented focus of attention facilitates learning in the motor domain over an internal, biomechanical focus.

Dr Kittie Verdolini Abbott

Katherine Verdolini Abbott, PhD, CCC-SLP, Mdiv, is Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Linguistics and Cognitive Science at the University...

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.

Do you practice what you preach? Strategies for optimal practice
Tuesday 28th October 2025
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
(London Time)

Do you practice what you preach? Strategies for optimal practice

Professor John Nix

“Best practices.” “Practice makes perfect.” “Practice what you preach.” There are many popular phrases about practice that people toss about in conversation – but what is practice anyway, how does it work, and what is the relationship between practicing, learning, and performance? This course will examine current evidence from motor learning research on how we learn motor skills like singing. We’ll define practice, learning, and performance, and the importance of distinguishing learning from performance in how we practice.

A neurodiversity-affirmative approach to the voice!
Wednesday 29th October 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

A neurodiversity-affirmative approach to the voice!

Hilary Davies

In recent years, the music therapy profession has begun to consider the application of the neurodiversity paradigm to music therapy practice, in particular In relation to autism, and an increasing amount of literature embracing this perspective has been published. This lecture, delivered from a lived experience perspective, will provide an explanation of the key concepts around neurodiversity - particular consideration will be given to the use of the voice, both one's own but also to the neurodivergent individual’s particular ways of using language, song and vocal sounds.

Creative Articulation
Thursday 30th October 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Creative Articulation

Annie Morrison

Most of us have little idea of HOW we speak, or what to do to make speech more muscular. Join Annie Morrison (creator of the 'Morrison Bone Prop') for this two hour session on Creative Articulation, a holistic and haptic approach to the touchings and feelings of the articulators in the dance of speech. Seeing articulation as a purely mechanical skill is detrimental to an actor's process: it is crucial to understand what language is doing on a biological level.