The Gospel Choir Sound: A Practical Pedagogical Exploration
Tuesday 30th April 2024, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (London Time)
'The Gospel Choir Sound: A Practical Pedagogical Exploration' is a course that is meant to help all types of singers and voices understand some of the essential methods behind the gospel choir sound in the African-American church and to hopefully have the ability to access and make use of these tactics and techniques in a tangible and efficient way.
In this course, we will discuss some of the basic terminology and history of the gospel choir in the African-American church while exploring basic pedagogical facets that can help clarify how gospel choirs sing. We will also explore how some words that are often used in the gospel choir setting can sound and be more familiar than you think. We will take a look at how these similar terms can help demystify the bridge of separation in terms of musical and vocal production between this genre and other genres.
Additionally, we will examine how these pedagogical facets are sometimes adjusted due to regional or aesthetic differences as well as define the different voice parts, the theoretical phonatory production of these parts/sections, and how these parts can slightly differ from the traditional system of voice classification.
..and, if time allows, we may even formulate a gospel choir during the course and learn a small portion of a song in the logistical and environmental settings that many gospel choirs typically learn music in.
Jaron M. LeGrair
Jaron M. LeGrair is a singer, voice researcher, voice teacher, music director, professor, educator, author, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, he founded the Jaron M. LeGrair Studio, an international studio that specialises in providing voice training and goods for vocal health for singers and speakers.
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.
Wednesday 14th October 2026
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
(London Time)
Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Female Voice Change
Dr Bridget Sweet-Manternach
Join Dr Bridget Sweet for this 2 hour session as she unpacks this fascinating topic. The purpose of this course is to bring attention to adolescents who experience an estrogen-dominant voice change and to encourage new and holistic ways of thinking about [assigned at birth] female voices. While considering physical changes during adolescence, we will unpack basic vocal anatomy and physiology and then discuss what happens to the vocal mechanism during voice change for females vs. [assigned at birth] males.
Monday 19th October 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 20th October 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Introduction to Vocal Acoustics for Spoken and Sung Voice
Gökçe Kutsal
This course is designed to break down the fundamentals of acoustics for both spoken and sung voice in a beginner-friendly, accessible way — so you can easily understand and apply these concepts to your teaching or research.
Tuesday 20th October 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Practical Magic*: The Art & Science of Balancing Voices with SOVTs and VFEs
Melanie Tapson
Through live demonstrations, group practice, and peer coaching, you’ll learn how to teach SOVTs and VFEs with clarity and precision, integrate their principles to support vocal health, recovery, and stylistic flexibility and troubleshoot challenges and adapt exercises for individualized results.