This seminar focuses primarily on vocal technique (rather than repertoire), and is highly recommended for music / vocal educators, choral conductors, voice coaches, private studio teachers, speech-language pathologists and other professionals involved in vocal instruction, pedagogy and rehabilitation. It offers a comprehensive, yet practical approach to vocal training of children, integrating conceptual guidelines, their acoustic/physiological correlates, and their visual, kinesthetic and auditory manifestations.

Participants will learn how to:

• Target a healthy, efficient, and versatile use of the vocal mechanism
• ‘Clean up’ the sound and incorporate a basic tuning regimen
• Modify laryngeal posturing and vocal tract configuration to achieve a pure core of sound, precise intonation, pitch and dynamic range expansion, and projection enhancement
• Synchronize the opening of the body with focus and grounding (support) of energy in pre-phonatory (breathing) and phonatory (vocal) tasks
• Recognize the role and function of registration and make the necessary adjustments based on gender, maturation rate, voice classification, genre and repertoire
• Refine vocal and phonemic initiation, articulation, and punctuation patterns
• Identify injurious, suboptimal phonation patterns and learn early detection and management strategies of common vocal pathologies in young singers
• Promote attention, motivation and reinforcement methods to expedite the acquisition and habituation of new, beneficial skills
• Avoid common pedagogical pitfalls and dispel myths associated with voice use in children