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POPUP VOICE PED CLASS

Child Voice

Ya’ know what?

Since the advent of Reality Talent TV Shows, independent teachers have seen younger and younger singers come through their studio. And the old myths around teaching children to sing are being busted one by one:

  • Children ‘hurt their voices’ if they start singing before puberty (ummm … tell that to every human being who -WAIT FOR IT- sings before puberty. because: have you NOT NOTICED that children sing ALL THE GOSH-DARNED TIME? And that maybe, JUST MAYBE, it might be a good thing for them to be guided along their singing journey by a PROFESSIONAL WHO CARES ABOUT THEM BEING ABLE TO SING FOR A LONG TIME?)
  • Children should have a grounding in piano and choir before taking voice lessons so that we’re not ‘wasting our time’ in the voice studio (ummm … DO YOU NOT THINK THAT A FABULOUS VOICE TEACHER WHO WORKS WITH CHILDREN CANNOT INCORPORATE MUSICIANSHIP INTO THEIR VOICE LESSONS?)

Hooo boy. I better stop it before this entire page devolves into me just yelling away into the void.

So. All THAT to say: now that we’re working with more and more younger and younger singers in the voice studio? Let’s be sure we understand the anatomy and physiology of the child voice so we can adjust our expectations around vocal growth accordingly AND let’s get even better about structuring voice lessons around child development so their learning is both deep AND fun. 

Soon this class will be a stand-alone, self-directed mini-course – be sure to join the #voicepedrev(olution) mailing list to be the first to know when it’s ready!

Here’s what some of the #reallifevoiceteachers who have participated in past POPUP Voice Ped Classes have to say about them:

  • You want to revolutionize your teaching and up your game in teaching voice to amazing new levels of professionalism and understanding? Then look no further than the fantabulous Shannon Coates!! She continues to amaze me at how she can take her vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and research, and compile it into practical, immediately relatable, easy to understand concepts in vocal pedagogy. She extends compassion and care to those she mentors or teaches. Her passion for vocal pedagogy is contagious. I love her enthusiasm and fun personality, she makes vocal pedagogy exciting and sooo much fun! . I just recently finished her child voice pedagogy course and loved the structure and flow of the course. Every single time I do a course with Shannon or learn anything from her, I love how I can immediately put to work what I have been taught. I quickly see exciting results in my growth as a teacher, and in the growth and capabilities of my singing students. I plan to continue to invest in vocal pedagogy courses from Shannon, she truly is amazing! You are missing out if you have not taken a course from her yet.


    Rebecca Gulbranson, Voice & Piano Teacher, Founder at Dolce Melodies Studio (Herriman, USA)

  • It was invaluable to have Shannon's insightful and incredibly knowledgeable guidance on aspects of my teaching. She helped me get really specific about providing concise feedback to my students during their voice lessons. This meant less talking for me and more singing for my students; not to mention more meaningful instructions and better results from my singers! Win, win!


    Gabriela Farias, Educator & Voice Teacher (Brampton, Canada)

  • I needed a bit of time to process the amazing vocal ped weekend that we just shared, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for doing what you do. I've been in a bit of a... slump. All things considered, my life is pretty great and my pandemic experience has been better than most, but I haven't felt... inspired in a while, artistically or otherwise. I was still teaching my kids, but feeling mediocre at it, at best. For the first time in basically all of my life I have basically stopped singing, and even weirder for me is that I didn't feel compelled to do anything about it. And then I heard you speak on a podcast a few months ago and the way you were talking about your course... it was like it was you were speaking right to my soul, like this course was created specifically for me. The gaps that I've been feeling in my teaching didn't have to be permanent- there were resources available to me, things I could do NOW to be a better teacher for my students. Your course was everything I was hoping for and more. I feel engaged in what I do again, and empowered as an educator, excited to have these new tools. What I wasn't expecting to get out of this weekend was an excitement and urge to sing again. I am inspired and invigorated to get back into the studio and try out all of these great ideas, and I feel more like me than I have in a while.


    Lisa Mulgrew, Voice Teacher (Lethbridge, Canada)

  • I am currently doing a Voice Ped Practicum with Shannon and a group of fabulous voice teachers. The Practicum gave me an opportunity to dive into learning in a hands on, non traditional way that sparked my excitement, interest and curiosity. My co-workers have noticed my joy at work, which is in part due to having our classes spaced out to meet restrictions (which gives me time to BREATHE), but also due to the fact I am excited to go in to work and see RESULTS in my students. I feel valuable. I know when I meet an issue I don’t understand, I have a support group to offer help, insight, and the most current research around any given topic. If we don’t know, we learn together. I am asking questions and getting answers. I am finding new sounds within myself. I am finding myself practicing more, making plans, and dreaming. I am literally full of happiness because I feel I have found something special in what Shannon offers to people like me (aka voice teachers who have not received their doctorate in voice but are successfully working in the field). My confidence is soaring because of the knowledge I have and the results I am seeing.


  • Dr. Coates's wealth of information, warmth, and vivacious energy made this practicum an absolutely wonderful and enriching experience.


    Tatum D'Souza, Singer, Voice Teacher, Founder at The Vocal Studio (Mumbai, India)

  • You've brought me full circle in my teaching, Shannon! I spent years teaching voice based solely on imagery (which was the way that voice was taught to me) and then I retired from classroom teaching and had the time to take some voice pedagogy courses.

    Suddenly, I felt like I had missed out on the past twenty years of research and was intimidated by all the voice teachers using what seemed like purely technical terminology to teach voice.

    Then I listen to you, and I see that, although you know all the anatomy and physiology and can teach it, you still stress the need to communicate to our students about feeling and imagery rather than getting too "sciencey". So, I take inspiration from that and am learning to combine the imagery with the technical terminology to facilitate the deeper learning of my students.

    Thank you for all that you do!


    Elspeth Maynard: Voice Teacher & (Retired) Classroom Educator (Windsor, Canada)

  • Engaging, Thorough, Truthful


    Erin Milley-Patey, Voice Teacher (Port Elgin, Canada)

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