Thinking Outside The Voice Box: Adolescent Voice Change In Music Education
Thursday 5th May 2022, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
The goal of this workshop is to encourage new and holistic ways of thinking about the [assigned at birth] female and [assigned at birth] male adolescent changing voice.
We will step away from typical considerations of voice change and explore the experience within the bigger picture of adolescence.
Conversation will include topics of physical development during adolescence, including the body, brain, and auditory system; vocal anatomy and physiology in general, as well as during male and female voice change; the impact of hormones on the adolescent voice, especially for female singers; ideas of resolve and perseverance that are essential to adolescent navigation of voice change; and the influence of a voice change simulacrum that influences societal thinking about the voice change phenomenon.
A brief examination of voice classification systems and other foundational ideas in choral music education, as well as emerging considerations of adolescent voice change beyond classification systems, provide new food for thought about working with the adolescent changing voice.
Dr Bridget Sweet
Bridget Sweet 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).
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.
Tuesday 13th January 2026
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
(London Time)
A Critical Overview of Perceptual Motor Learning: Coaching Implications
Michele Capalbo
Perceptual motor learning (PML) theory is characterised by the convergence of perception and action. PML focuses on how we teach, not what we teach, in order to optimise learning and ultimately, performance! This short course will outline strategies for teaching and coaching with both long- and short-term goals in mind. These strategies have been adapted for the voice from motor learning theory and the Alexander Technique.
Tuesday 13th January 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Vocal Health in Children and Young People
Olivia Sparkhall
Children’s vocal health, and issues affecting their wellbeing, is a subject which is now benefiting from increased scrutiny and research. Teachers, vocal coaches, choir leaders and musical directors are aware that this field of study exists, but where is all of this information condensed into one session that covers what they need to know? This short course is designed to provide you with exactly that – an up-to-date overview of the issues and how you can help the young people you work with, answering their questions with age-appropriate vocabulary.