Logo for Dr. Shannon Coates with phrase "Voice & The Art of Teaching"
Logo for Dr. Shannon Coates with phrase "Voice & The Art of Teaching"
Yellow academic gears

Contemporary Voice 101 Class & Panel

Voice Ped for Real Life

The Vocal Instrument 101 LIVE creator, Dr. Shannon Coates, wearing teal-framed glasses, a grey shirt with wing arms, and black pants, strikes a jaunty pose with her arms crossed in front of her body. She smiles widely at the camera.

Thursday, 8th June Class & Q&A with Dr. Shannon Coates

Friday, 9th June Panel featuring Jess Baldwin

LIVE EVENT SOLD OUT – scroll down to get on the mailing list

sold out - click to get on the #voicepedrev(olution) mailing list

HERE’S THE THING:

You’re a voice teacher (or coach, or classroom educator, or choral director … GAH! You get the picture; you’re someone who works with singers!) who finds themselves working almost exclusively with singers who aren’t super-interested in learning Caro Mio Ben or even The Sound of Music.

Nope! They’re out there listening to Billie Eilish and learning My Grand Plan and picking up the guitar so they can play for themselves when they perform at open mic nights.

And you’re just starting to realize that maybe noble posture and appoggio breathing and pure vowels isn’t gonna’ work for these singers the way you were told it would …

Not only that, but you have a sneaking suspicion that everything you learned about teaching (maybe from that one semester voiceped class you did in undergrad or maybe simply from the way your teacher worked with you) might just be a lot more effective in an academic setting than it is everywhere else …

WHICH IS WHY WE CAME UP WITH THIS CONTEMPORARY VOICE CLASS TWOFER:

  • one two-hour comparative of western-classical & contemporary anatomy & physiology w shannon, followed by a 30-minute Q&A
  • one two-hour panel on the art of teaching contemporary & popular musics singers w shannon & jess
  • delivered live over zoom
  • workbooks included
  • recordings available for 21 days
Dr. Shannon Coates and Jess Baldwin are standing next to each other looking at you to introduce the Contemporary Voice Class & Panel that will be in May 2023.
register now
sold out - click to get on the #voicepedrev(olution) mailing list

two, 2-hour classes on training contemporary voice developed by Independent Voice Teachers for Independent Voice Teachers

register now
sold out - click to get on the #voicepedrev(olution) mailing list
Image of a steampunk heart with gears inside. This icon is part of the Dr. Shannon Coates brand.

"As a cross-genre teacher I was looking to up my game in contemporary techniques and, having done a couple of Dr C’s other pop-up classes, I knew I was going to love this. I feel like my tool-kit is brimming with fantastic exercises and I’ve filled in little gaps in my mind. I also loved the Q&A with Jess Baldwin, it gave me lots of concepts to go away and ponder and challenged some of my own biases. Shannon, thank you for continually challenging us to choose our words with care and to keep questioning."

"I cannot recommend Shannon’s courses highly enough, especially for teachers who have only learned Western classical technique and may be struggling to help students in popular genres."

"Thank you for the wonderful workshop. Even though I wasn't there in real time, I really enjoyed your presentation, and found your framing and explanations accessible. I felt super energized and excited to apply concepts in the studio."

Contemporary Voice 101 Class with Shannon Coates 2023

Thursday, 8th June
CONTEMPORARY VS CLASSICAL
VOICEPED CLASS

with SHANNON COATES

If you’re an independent voice teacher in 2022? Chances are high, you’re not just teaching western-classical styles in your studio. Because folks are in to WAY MORE styles of music these days, #amiright?

And if you had western-classical training yourself, chances are high you didn’t get the information you need to be able to teach contemporary styles as well as you’d like to.

Which is why I developed this class: to give voice teachers like you a clear and immediately applicable outline of the ways that western-classical and contemporary tonal outcomes differ in how we produce them.

BECAUSE, LOWERING THE LARYNX & RAISING THE SOFT PALATE ISN’T GONNA’ WORK THE WAY YOU WANT IT TO. #pinkyswear

Contemporary Voice 101 Panel 2023 with Jess Baldwin

Friday, 9th June
TEACHING CONTEMPORARY & POPULAR MUSICS
VOICEPED PANEL

with SHANNON COATES & JESS BALDWIN

If you trained in western-classical styles OR if you trained with someone who did, you might have some ideas about HOW to teach contemporary styles (or popular musics styles) that aren’t actually gonna’ serve the singers you work with very well. Join Jess and I in a panel discussion where we hit on a few hot-button topics such as:

  • why your western-classical training did not prepare you to teach popular musics styles
  • top differences between training contemporary voice users & western-classical voice users
  • why & how training music theatre singers is more similar to training western-classical singers than it is to training popular musics singers
  • why cross-training is kind of a myth (oh yeah. we’re gonna’ go there.)

BECAUSE, 99% OF SINGERS AREN’T SINGING OPERA BUT WE’RE STILL TRAINING THEM AS IF THEY ARE #wegottadobetter

The Contemporary Voice 101 Class & Panel is for you if:

  • you hold a western-classical degree (or two, or three) in voice
  • the singers you work with are only allowed to sing in the music theatre classes if they also sing in the classical classes
  • 99% of the singers you work with aren’t super-interested in learning how to sing western-classical styles
  • mics have never made an appearance in your voice studio
  • you don’t differentiate between popular musics styles and music theatre styles
  • you have a few (thousand) questions about belting (including whether it’s healthy, how young is too young, and -yes- HOW THE HECK TO DO IT ALREADY)
  • you’re pretty danged sure appoggio isn’t the breathing panacea your undergrad voice teacher told you it was but you have no idea how NOT to teach it
  • the singers you work with are rewarded for learning an art song by being allowed to learn a pop song
  • you get hives when students ask you to explain the difference between ‘nasal’, ‘twang’, and ‘brassy’ sounds
  • you have no gosh-darned idea what to do when a singer asks for help on their own song (like, that they wrote)
  • you were mad at Lady Gaga for “screaming in chest voice” at the Oscars
  • you use the same approach to teach western-classical, music theatre, and popular musics styles
  • you’re tired of your students being able to out-belt you on your favourite songs
Skip to content