What every singing teacher should know about vocal health: Fact-finding and myth-busting (2-part course)
Monday 21st October 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Tuesday 22nd October 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
Singing teachers are on the front lines 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 perpetual 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 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 joint disorder, 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
Dates and times
Part 1: Monday 21st October 2024 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm UK time.
Part 2: Tuesday 22nd October 2024 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm UK time.
Leda Scearce
Soprano Leda Scearce has been featured in leading roles with the National Opera Company, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Long Leaf Opera Festival, Triangle Opera...
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.
Thursday 24th October 2024
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
The Race of Sound – Why Do We Think We Can Hear Race Vocally?
Nina Eidsheim
Why and how do we make assumptions about a person’s race, gender, or age based on the timbre of their voice? We will examine historical precedents for racialized listening to voices as well as contemporary realities, utilizing a framework for critically interrogating the racializing processes embedded in vocal and listening practices.
Tuesday 29th October 2024
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
(London Time)
‘Disarming’ Performance Anxiety: Re-engaging the joy of performing by becoming more resilient in our innate vulnerability
Dr Mark Seton
In this workshop, Dr Mark Seton will offer practical, playful and holistic strategies to ‘dis-arm’ three factors of being human that can impact our capacity to perform: doubt, shame and trauma.
Thursday 31st October 2024
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Dosimetry Measurement of Vocal Demands in Contemporary Musical Theatre
Celia Stewart
Singers are highly skilled vocal athletes who master specialized vocal requirements when cast to perform in a musical theatre production. Their participation is physically, vocally, and emotionally challenging.