What Every Singing Teacher Should Know About Vocal Health: Fact-finding and Myth-busting (Part 2)

Singing teachers are on the frontlines of vocal health.

As vocal athletes, singers are at a higher risk for developing voice disorders. Singing teachers are in an optimal position to educate students about vocal health. Informed, evidence-based education can help prevent students from developing voice problems. However, spreading misinformation can perpetuate vocal health myths and possibly contribute to developing voice problems and/or delaying appropriate voice care.

As expert monitors of sound, singing teachers are also often the first to identify a possible voice problem in a student. Knowing the signs of a voice disorder and making appropriate referrals is another way that singing teachers can make significant contributions to vocal health.

With this role comes great responsibility: it is incumbent on the teacher to make sure the vocal health information they are passing on to their students is accurate and up-to-date, and not based merely on hearsay or opinion. Singing teachers can play a major role in dispelling common myths and misinformation about vocal health.

This workshop will cover a number of topics related to vocal health education, including:

• What the singing teacher should know about voice anatomy, physiology, and the basics of voice disorders
• Vocal hygiene
• Medical factors and the voice, including upper respiratory infections, pulmonary conditions, allergies, laryngopharyngeal reflux, long COVID, musculoskeletal injuries, temporomandibular disorder (TMD), and others
• Optimizing efficiency of the speaking voice
• Vocal pacing:
  • Balancing voice rest and vocal conditioning
  • When to recommend complete voice rest
• The singing teacher’s role in identification of dysphonia and making appropriate referrals to the vocal health team:
  • Ending the 'blame game': abolishing the concept of 'vocal abuse'
  • Working with singers who have or have had a voice injury
• Common vocal health myths and how to dispel them

Full course dates and times:

Thursday 7th March 2024 (5:00 PM - 7:00 PM UK time)

Tuesday 12th March 2024 (5:00 PM - 7:00 PM UK time)