Dr Shannon Coates is with us for part two of this discussion on building neurodiversity inclusive voice studios and we're picking up just where we left off last week. Shannon is a singer, voice teacher, and educator who began developing training and educational resources specifically for independent voice teachers. She works with smaller groups of teachers in an eight-month training called the VoicePed UnDegree that runs each year. This week, Shannon helps us to understand the terminology of neu...
Apr 09, 2024•42 min•Ep. 156
Dr Shannon Coates will be keeping us company over the next two weeks to help us understand how we can build neurodiversity-inclusive voice studios. Shannon is a singer, voice teacher, and educator who began developing training and educational resources specifically for independent voice teachers. She works with smaller groups of teachers in an eight-month training called the VoicePed UnDegree that runs each year. This week, Shannon helps us to understand the terminology of neurodiversity, and we...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 155
In this episode, Alexa dives into the common struggles of imposter syndrome, low confidence, and feeling overwhelmed that many singing teachers face. As an experienced voice instructor and singer herself, Alexa shares personal stories and insights on managing these challenges in your teaching career and life. Learn how to overcome negative self-talk, build your confidence both in and out of the studio, and avoid burnout through self-care and planning. "Sometimes, I am completely overwhelmed by t...
Mar 27, 2024•37 min•Ep. 154
Joining Alexa this week is Nic Redman, who has been working with the spoken voice for almost 20 years and who is the author of the best-selling book ‘On the Mic’. Nic has featured across the BBC, Times Radio, The Guardian, Irish Times, and The Metro. She offers one-to-one coaching for voice-over artists, narrators, podcasters, and speakers to master their speaking voice, working with the likes of Peloton and comedian Sarah Millican. KEY MOMENTS ‘I had this like, ping of this feels nice. This fee...
Mar 20, 2024•44 min•Ep. 153
Alexa Terry talks about vocal related terminology with BAST founder Line Hilton in Ep.152. Line explains some of the anatomical terminology a singing teacher may encounter in a medical or voice science setting this includes anatomical terms, register names, support and resonance. She and Alexa play a register names pop quiz to see how many of the 107 names they know. Line emphasises the importance of understanding and using terminologies in a flexible and adaptable manner, considering the contex...
Mar 13, 2024•44 min•Ep. 152
Vocal coach Kerrie Obert joins Alexa to discuss the technique of twang in singing—what it is, how to find it, and how to apply it in a healthy way across your range. We bust myths about twang and larynx position, examine impactful but overlooked research, and learn exercises to develop this bright, forward resonance while avoiding excess tension. For all singers looking to understand the mechanics behind great country, rock, and belt singing, this is an episode you won't want to miss. KEY MOMENT...
Mar 06, 2024•50 min•Ep. 151
It’s part two of our chat with West End Musical Theatre performer, lead singer of a London Big Band, and Clinical Osteopath, Jennie Morton. Today Alexa and Jennie will be picking up right where they left off talking about the importance of teachers finding their neutral for their own postural health in the teaching room. KEY MOMENTS ‘The body never lies, you know, you can tell it perfectly’ ‘Symptoms in the body are like a course correct, the body's going, you've deviated from your path, get bac...
Feb 28, 2024•45 min•Ep. 150
West End Musical Theatre performer, lead singer of a London Big Band, and Clinical Osteopath, Jennie Morton joins Alexa on Singing Teachers Talk for part one of a two part episode. This week the pair will be discussing how you can help your singers find their best posture and alignment. Listen in for some great exercises you can use with your students to improve their posture. KEY MOMENTS ‘Structure governs function’ ‘Our bodies are kind of like Plasticine, whatever you do habitually becomes hab...
Feb 21, 2024•47 min•Ep. 149
It's Mitch Jarvis from Singing Demos joining Alexa this week. Mitch has been recording vocal reels since 2011 with the mission to help performers stand out from the crowd and get that all-important invite into the audition room. Mitch is here to help us understand the benefits of a vocal reel and how the singer can get the best out of their recording. Make sure you listen all the way until the end for a special offer. KEY MOMENTS ‘If you’re less confident, a reel can help you get past the first ...
Feb 14, 2024•35 min•Ep. 148
It's Claire Delaney who joins Alexa this week to give us a tour behind the scenes of working on the ITV show ‘Mamma Mia! I have a dream’, the search for Sophie and Sky. Claire is a vocal coach with a private business and also teaches at UK Drama School Italia Conti. She initially trained in Opera, performing at the likes of the Royal Albert Hall, and now works with singers of all skill levels from beginners to West End professionals. To celebrate the winners of ‘Mamma Mia! I have a dream’ and th...
Feb 07, 2024•40 min•Ep. 147
Are you a vocal coach who has been avoiding vocal acoustics, you know that topic with words such as formant, harmonic, spectrogram and frequency? Maybe you just aren't sure how it applies to teaching singers, or maybe you've tried but it just seems too much to get to grips with. This week Alexa Terry is joined by Ken Bozeman, who is here to help you understand and apply vocal acoustic pedagogy. KEY MOMENTS ‘If you have no flexibility to explore options your body will move towards efficiency’ ‘We...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 146
Alexa delves into Style Vs Technique with Kaya Herstad-Carney. A Norwegian powerhouse based in the UK since '99, Kaya is a singer, songwriter and vocal coach, blending creativity and technique. Join us to unravel the secrets behind her success in artist development and vocal education. KEY MOMENTS ‘Good vocal techniques are the ability to create the notes that you hear in your heart and your head’ ‘Style is the artistic lengths of which we deliver the song depending on the genre’ ‘Finding a good...
Jan 24, 2024•43 min•Ep. 145
This week it's Rush Dorsett who's keeping Alexa company. Rush is a voice coach, performing artist, and founder of the Embodied Voice Academy. She has earned accolades in voice science, psychology, and sound healing. Rush is passionate about weaving together spiritual tools with vocal awakening practices to access a singer's highest potential. She is here to discuss the benefits of sound healing for singers and busy teachers like us. KEY MOMENTS ‘Being a part of a community really built my confid...
Jan 17, 2024•55 min•Ep. 144
To help us kickstart the year Alexa is joined by VocalizeU’s very own Big Billy Clark and Elliott O’Connor who were here to help us and the singers we work with navigate the music industry. VocalizeU is a 10-day immersive artist program offering a 360° music education with performance, identity, production, songwriting, theatre, and management. KEY MOMENTS ‘There’s a lack of artist development at major labels which is why artists are forced to do it themselves’ ‘No matter where you are as an art...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 143
For our final episode of 2023, Alexa is joined by sought-after choral director and vocal coach, Mark De-Lisser. He has worked with the likes of Ariana Grande, Jessie J, and Beverly Knight. He has also been involved in TV shows such as "Our Dementia Choir" with Vicky McClure and "The Masked Singer." Mark made the arrangement of "Stand By Me," which was performed by the Kingdom Choir at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. This performance has been streamed over 4 million t...
Dec 20, 2023•50 min•Ep. 142
Voice scientist Aaron Johnson joins Alexa to discuss laboratories, rats, the ageing larynx, and wearable devices to detect vocal fatigue. Aaron has had a career as a professional classical singer and teacher and is now a researcher and speech-language pathologist specialising in vocal habilitation and rehabilitation. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, is the co-director of NYU Langone Voice Center, and le...
Dec 13, 2023•56 min•Ep. 141
BAST founder Line Hilton joins Alexa to discuss the best vocal exercises for pitch accuracy training. You’ll find lots of helpful information on perceived tone deafness, singing and the premenstrual voice, navigating matching pitch, whether being ‘pitchy’ is a thing, props you can use in your lessons, and of course, some amazing vocal exercises you can use with your singing students. KEY MOMENTS ‘I really object to the fact that when someone says they can’t sing in tune they’re labelled as tone ...
Dec 06, 2023•39 min•Ep. 140
Founder and CEO of Full Voice, Nikki Loney, is keeping us company this week with a teaching career spanning over three decades. Nikki works with music education specialists, children's composers, and musicians to create music education resources for young vocal students. She hosts her own podcast called "Full Voice" and is a member of NATS and the Speakeasy Cooperative. Nikki joins me to discuss the success of play-based learning and how we can make singing lessons fun. KEY MOMENTS ‘Even though ...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 139
Joining Alexa this week to chat about the Alexander Technique is Patrick Ardagh-Walter, a professional singer who has worked with the likes of the Royal Opera. He's a trained Alexander Technique teacher himself and is an assistant at a training school for teachers of the Alexander Technique in Paris. Patrick is here to tell us where the technique originated from, how it can benefit singers, and he also shares with us an exercise that we can try out for ourselves and use in the studio with the si...
Nov 22, 2023•41 min•Ep. 138
Joining Alexa today is Professor of Performing Arts Pedagogy at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Roberta Wolff. As well as teaching on the Guildhall PGCert programme, she provides professional development on teaching skills to teachers across the performing arts disciplines. Roberta is also a workshop leader, coach, and piano teacher. In this episode, we will discuss how to create optimal learning environments to serve children and young adult singers. KEY MOMENTS ‘I love it when students ch...
Nov 15, 2023•56 min•Ep. 137
Nate James is an independent soul artist with a successful career to date, having sold over a million albums, received MOBO nominations and urban music awards, and he has headlined festivals across Europe. He has also toured with the likes of Amy Winehouse and John Legend. Nate joins Alexa today to fly the flag for the music industry's LGBTQIA+ community, sharing his own personal story, including how his school teacher supported him in his early years. He discusses the response to particularly g...
Nov 08, 2023•33 min•Ep. 136
We first welcomed Kate Valentine to the Singing Teachers Talk podcast back on episode 85. But now, Kate is back with us in episode 135, to tell us all about Valentine Voice Care Lewes, a centre for vocal wellness development, prevention, and rehabilitation, which she has built in East Sussex KEY MOMENTS ‘It felt like hell, I was so lonely and felt so stripped of my identity because of my vocal injury’ ‘This shrinking pool of opportunities means everyone is anxious’ ‘Feel the fear and do it anywa...
Nov 01, 2023•39 min•Ep. 135
Back in 2019, teenager Eddie Cortez went viral for a letter that he wrote to his teacher, explaining why he didn't do his homework. In that letter, he said, "I don't want to do school work over the weekend because it's a stress-free time to go out with friends, watch TV, play games. I don't do it also because it makes me very mad and unhappy. I do what makes me happy because I want to be happy. Homework is not a real thing in the real world, so we should not have to do it in school because it's ...
Oct 24, 2023•47 min•Ep. 134
To continue our discussion on the juicy topic of "belt," Alexa is joined by voice teacher and trainer of musical theatre and CCM, Amanda Flynn. Amanda has performed in shows like "Wicked" and "Mamma Mia" and has held the position of Production Vocal Coach for "The Lightning Thief" and "Be More Chill" on Broadway. She is the author of "So You Want to Sing Musical Theatre," the updated and expanded edition, and is here to chat about mastering belt in musical theatre. KEY MOMENTS Belt is the most c...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 133
Joining Alexa this week to discuss all things vibrato is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy and Chair of Voice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, John Nix. John is a voice researcher himself, and his mentors include Barbara Doscher and Ingo Titze. John has produced 50 published articles and eight book chapters, co-chairs the Voice Science Advisory Committee, and serves on both the Journal of Singing and the Rowman and Littlefield/NATS book editorial boards. KEY MOMENTS ‘Vibrato extent...
Oct 11, 2023•51 min•Ep. 132
Want to understand research papers but find them dull and impenetrable? Kate Cubley, dynamic voice researcher and vocal coach, is here to help. In this episode, Kate shares her passion for research and demystifies how to efficiently extract useful information. Learn her cheat sheet for navigating papers, focusing on the abstract, conclusion and applicable gems. Discover where to find studies, how to assess their legitimacy, and why collecting options beats seeking definitive answers. Kate also e...
Oct 04, 2023•31 min•Ep. 131
If you've been listening to the Singing Teachers Talk podcast and have been wondering how you could start your own to support your business, then stay put. We are celebrating International Podcast Day right here with podcaster Kane Baron, who also runs the UK's largest podcast agency, Progressive Media. Kane joins me to give expert advice on how to get set up and create content, as well as how podcasts can be monetized. KEY MOMENTS ‘Podcasts don’t compete with any other platform’ ‘You are consta...
Sep 26, 2023•48 min•Ep. 130
Singing teachers and vocal coaches, are you yet to build your business website, or, like Alexa, have been meaning to update it for months but just lack the inspiration for it? Well, stick around because website designer Taylor Rossi from Nicole Ricardo Media is here with me for this week's episode, dishing all the goods on this very topic. KEY MOMENTS ‘The point of having a website that converts is that it will actually help you get more business’ ‘Make it super easy for someone visiting your we...
Sep 19, 2023•43 min•Ep. 129
This week's guest is a teacher of voice, movement, and wholistic expression. Jeremy Ryan Mossman is the founder of Body-Based Voice Ped and has presented at global events for the likes of The Voice Foundation, Voice Study Centre, and the Musical Theater Educators Alliance and has spoken about many topics, including fascia-based techniques. Jeremy is a contributing author, a 500-hour certified yoga teacher, and a Feldenkrais Practitioner in training. Jeremy is here to discuss why we would benefit...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 128
Education Committee Chair of PAMA, the Performing Arts Medicine Association, Dr. Kat Cottrell joins Alexa this week. Kat is a pianist, flautist, and percussionist turned GP and now cares for performing artists at the Musicians Clinics of Canada, supporting them with both mental and physical challenges related to their profession. Kat is here to discuss PAMA and is bringing us news of the PAMAthon, a free 24-hour event on the 9th of September. KEY MOMENTS PAMA really believes that we can’t help p...
Sep 05, 2023•27 min•Ep. 127
