Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Female Voice Change
Wednesday 15th January 2025, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (London Time)
The purpose of this course is to bring attention to the adolescent [assigned at birth] female changing voice and to encourage new and holistic ways of thinking about 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. Physiological considerations will also include the implication of hormones on the adolescent female voice during puberty, especially as adolescence is when females [typically] begin a menstrual cycle. While time will prevent us from going too far beyond discussion of adolescent females, we will briefly contemplate the larger implication of hormones on voices of people who experience a menstrual cycle at different stages of life and what that means for those of us teaching female voices across the life cycle. We will consider historical misconceptions about the female changing voice and briefly examination voice classification systems and other foundational ideas in choral music education. Importantly, we will explore more recent research on adolescent female voices that provides new food for thought about working with our singers and talk about practical approaches that support female adolescent singers in multifaceted ways.
Dr Bridget Sweet-Manternach
Bridget Sweet-Manternach is Professor of Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. She wrote the books Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School and Beyond (2016) and Thinking Outside the Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change in Music Education (2019); she co-edited the book Motherhood in the Music Education Academy (2025).
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
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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 28th July 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
“Too Much, Too Little, Just Right!” - The Balancing Act Model
Robert Edwin
The Balancing Act Model encourages singers to explore the extremes of singing, and from those extremes, establish their most efficient (balanced) voice and performance techniques. Join the renowned singer/actor and author Robert Edwin as he covers many aspects of the singing process including breathing, phonation, resonation, articulation, and attitude. If you’re involved in music theater or opera, you’ll find the Model to be especially helpful in developing character voices for roles such as Nathan and Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. If you’re just looking to find out what your body and voice can do, The Balancing Act Model can provide many answers!
Thursday 30th July 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS | Person-Centred Singing Teaching
William Leigh Knight
Only around 3% of the population fall into the category of amusia while over 17% consider themselves ‘tone-deaf’; and this does not account for non-singers, a wider group sometimes described as ‘tuneless’. So, who are ‘the voiceless’? Join William Leigh-Knight as he unpicks this question and considers the purpose of training a voice, when it is considered such a natural human attribute, and he expands on the principles that drive his own practice, which may be summarised as ‘person-centeredness’
Monday 3rd August 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Tuesday 4th August 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Wednesday 5th August 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 6th August 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Friday 7th August 2026
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
(London Time)
Level Two Certificate in Accents and Phonetics with Louisa Morgan
Louisa Morgan
Build on your foundational knowledge of accents and phonetics in this week‑long lunchtime course designed specifically for voice teachers. Whether you have completed our Level 1 Certificate or already possess a basic working knowledge of phonetics and accent work, this Level 2 course will help you deepen your skills, sharpen your analytical ear, and expand your practical toolkit for teaching.