Short Courses & Events / Archive

Using Acoustic Registration to Train Range, Laryngeal Registration, and Passaggi

Friday 17th October 2025, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)

There are acoustic vocal registers as well as laryngeal registers. Acoustic registers correspond to the historic Italian categories translated by this author as: voce chiusa (close timbre), voce aperta (open timbre), and voce piena di testa (roughly equivalent to whoop timbre).  There are additional, lower levels of acoustic registration within open timbre.  The physical mechanism of acoustic registers is based on the relationship between the inherent harmonic set of the sung pitch and the first resonance of the vowel being sung.  Since first resonances lie from just below the bottom to the top of the treble clef and vary per vowel by as much as an octave, the locations of acoustic register transitions also vary per vowel by as much as an octave.  Fortunately, acoustic register locations and migrations are predictable by vowel and voice type.  Vowel tone color, auditory roughness (buzziness), and locational somatosense necessarily migrate across range, especially at acoustic register transitions. Knowledge and awareness of the timbral and somatosensory migrations of vowels at each acoustic register change is useful in training efficient range negotiation and forms a productive basis for strategies that address transitions through passaggi. Levels of registration that occur within open timbre lie in the bass clef and provide useful “training wheels” experiences at easier pitches for non-treble voices, preparing them for the more challenging, higher transitions from open (aperta) to close (chiusa) timbre that lie between the clefs. Clarifying the sound and sensation migrations of the transition from close timbre into whoop timbre, most of which occur in the top half of the treble clef, is similarly useful for training upper range success of treble voices. This talk will chart, describe, and play examples of these transitions, and offer pedagogic approaches that facilitate their training.  (Given the complexity of this topic and the need for multiple video examples, this is best done with a 45-minute slot in order to include a longer Q & A).

🏷️ 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

Ken Bozeman

Kenneth Bozeman, BM, MM,Professor Emeritus of Music, taught at Lawrence University for 42 years where he chaired the voice department and from...

CPD Course Logo

Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.

Learn More

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.

Music Theory Fundamentals for Voice Pedagogues
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.

Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!
Thursday 21st May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Letting the Text Live: Reading Aloud with Expression!

Louisa Morgan

This 2-hour interactive session is designed to help you make more deliberate, expressive choices in your speaking of the written word. It will involve plenty of practical exploration and will cover tips and techniques for working with the voice to lift the text off the page. Work with me to refine nuance, precision, and expressive range. We’ll explore a variety of text samples to cover a wide range of real-world situations, so you can get a feel for the different styles and approaches. If you want your spoken text to sound purposeful, engaging, and unmistakably yours, this session will invite you to play with some tools to do just that.

Exploring Group-Voice for all Ages and Stages!
Tuesday 26th May 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)

Exploring Group-Voice for all Ages and Stages!

Cynthia Vaughn

Teaching group-voice classes is an exciting and fun way to teach singing. It affords the singer and teacher opportunities to experience many different aspects of singing in ways that are not possible when working one-one. Join Cynthia Vaughn as she explores the many benefits gained from working in a group, such as opportunities for each student to participate and hear others, chances to experiment with different techniques, styles, and sounds, guided learning from peers, increased awareness of vocal efficiency and effectiveness, and more confidence (and less self-consciousness) in sharing and performing.