‘U Can’t Touch This’: Consensual Touch in Teaching Singing
Thursday 6th March 2025, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
As we continue to navigate the expectations of the use of touch in today’s social climate, the conversations of how we ethically integrate this into our pedagogical approach of teaching voice are alive and important areas of consideration.
Practitioners are required through educational institutions to respect personal space and uphold principles of content around physical touch, often at odds with historical and cultural practices in teaching singing education. This workshop aims to create a space to explore a harm-reductive toolkit that allows singers to benefit from the use of consensual touch in singing lessons without their bodily autonomy being compromised.
As practitioners, we are increasingly aware of how physical contact can positively influence a singer’s teaching and learning experience. From anatomical accuracy to the efficiency of assessment from one unique voice to another, the results can be transformative.
Key areas of investigation include:
- Impact of touch or physical contact in teaching Vocals at Further & Higher Education as well as private practice.
- Boundaries around tutor/student physical contact in the teaching and learning of singing.
- Considerations of how consent interacts with these findings.
This workshop considers how consent practices can be integrated into learning spaces, what that means for voice teachers and how it can empower both the artistic and individual voice in the craft of singing and communication.
🏷️ 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
Lucinda Allen
Lucinda has more than 15 years of experience as a voice, singing, and MDH breathing coordination coach. Her private coaching practice, Voice Unlocked, serves clients including performers from West End shows as well as touring artists such as Grammy award winner Lalah Hathaway and UK artists Kelli-Leigh, Newton Faulkner, JP Cooper, and Skin (Skunk Anansie).
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, 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.
Tuesday 5th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 12th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 19th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 26th May 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday 9th June 2026
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
(London Time)
Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues
Dr David Cane
Voice pedagogy has advanced significantly in the last decades in relation to knowledge of the vocal apparatus (anatomy and mechanics), acoustics, and performance psychology (to name just a few subfields) – this is a wonderful thing! Nonetheless, musicianship and the foundations of music theory are still relevant to the teaching and coaching of singers and this course aims to empower voice teachers and coaches with skills to support the fundamental musicianship development of their students.
Thursday 14th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Friday 15th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
The Vocal Health Challenges for Actors and Singers!
Leda Scearce
Two part course! Vocal health principles are inextricably and symbiotically linked with singing and acting voice pedagogy: Good vocal health allows the singer and actor to more easily and effectively achieve their technical and artistic goals, and good teaching reinforces vocal technique that diminishes the risk of vocal injury. We now also recognize the necessity for singers and actors to understand how their instruments work, how to take care of their voices, and what to do when something goes wrong. Singing and acting teachers are indeed on the front lines of vocal health!
Tuesday 19th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Staging A Coup: History meets science for the coup de la glotte!
Kourtney Austin
Historical vocal pedagogy, voice science, voice health, and performance practice come together in this presentation from Kourtney Austin! The session addresses the historical context for teaching the onset as a fundamental skill, along with a review of a recent publication examining the acoustic effects of different types of onset, and practical studio implementation of onset training. The aforementioned publication is the first known research to objectively measure the acoustic implications of the coup de la glotte, and delineate it from the hard glottal attack.