Re-energize your voice with this short intro to Estill Voice Training!

Teachers and Students will experience a wide range of healthful voice qualities and apply them to a variety of musical and speaking styles — from pop to classical. Learn the system that professionals from Broadway to the Met to Nashville to London’s West End & Covent Garden are using in their vibrant performances.

Bring a working song or monologue to experiment with the power of vocal color.

Discussion and application to the vocal styles of the Level Two.

This workshop is open only to those students who have already complete Level One and Level Two courses.

This course is open to anyone interested in learning more about the voice – singers, speakers, teachers, therapists, choral conductors. Participants will be introduced to the concepts and exercises of Estill Voice Training (also known as Estill Voicecraft), an innovative, informative and empowering approach that creates a pathway to exciting vocal discoveries. Free from aesthetic bias, the Figures (exercises) of Level One reveal the basic mechanics of how the voice works. Each Figure creates a specific vocal sound effect, adds a particular "ingredient" to our vocal "recipe".

In this introductory workshop, we explore the range of effects available and acquire valuable insights regarding vocal health, stamina and power. Each day will include interactive lectures as well as opportunities for group and individual practice. Open Coaching sessions offer the chance to see how Figures can be used to break down the barriers standing between you and your vocal goals.

Belting continues to be a staple of West End and Pop & Rock singing. Once the basics have been mastered, many people still find it difficult to extend their belting range over the ‘break’ or experience problems in certain repertoire.

Today we will address high end Belting on demand in difficult repertoire, identifying the underlying causes of inconsistencies and limitations and offering practical solutions.

This day will be very practical and hands on; the afternoon session will be given over to a masterclass.

The day will include:

• When to Belt for maximum effect
• Problem areas and solutions
• Belting over the break
• Improving the Belting aesthetic (aka making it sound nice…)
• Audio and video example
• Afternoon masterclass

Suitable for: NOT suitable for beginners. For people familiar with the Model, looking for clarification and consolidation; singers and teachers; students and professionals.

This Advanced 2 Course is only for people who have attended Advanced 1 courses with us in Amsterdam or in Cologne.

Day 1: Quality variations, Artistry & Diction: This day will focus on advanced qualities (Belting, Opera) + variations of all Estill qualities with work on Artistry & diction. Bring different songs to work with.

Day 2: Anatomy, Acoustics & Estill Voice Print: This day is intended to be a preparation for CFP testing.

Please note that Ms. Speed will be presenting this course in collaboration with Ed Blake, Specialist Physiotherapist.

This day follows on from previous Breathing and Support workshops in response to many requests for further information on the physiology of breathing when singing. It is open to all levels, but will be of especial interest to those who have attended previous Breathing & Support workshops.

The teaching of ‘support’ is still an area fraught with misunderstanding and misinformation. The key to effective teaching of this crucial area of vocal technique is clear understanding of the physiological basis for the need to ‘support’, what is being supported and the most efficient ways to achieve this.

Building on information given on earlier courses, we will identify which muscles are needed to support the voice by clarifying the relationship between breath and vocalisation. By using ultrasound techniques, we will also identify those muscles which undermine vocal support and those which are essential to sustained, vigorous voice use, in speaking or singing.

Using real time ultrasound, we will demonstrate which muscles tend to be overactive, overwhelming those which are necessary to efficient vocal function.

The day will conclude with a short masterclass, demonstrating the application of the day’s principles in the teaching studio.

The day will include:

• Defining ‘support’ physiologically
• Use of ultrasound to identify key support muscles
• Demonstration of teaching techniques
• Myths and misinformation – disentangling fact from fiction
• Audio and video examples
• Short masterclass

Suitable for: For people both new and familiar with the Estill Voice Model looking for clarification and consolidation; singers and actors; teachers of voice and singing; students and professionals.

Early Bird fee of £65 applies if paid and booked before 01/12/09; Student Rate of £40 if nominated by teacher.

Book via the web site www.thevoiceexplained.com

This highly interactive day is offered in response to the many questions from teachers especially, arising from previous workshops. We will address common problems encountered by teachers, students and performers and offer solutions based in the Estill Model and other physiological based regimens. This day will be interactive with the afternoon given over to a masterclass. Questions may be submitted prior to the course. Participants may also nominate students for the open session. Some of the areas covered will include: problems with range, taking specific voice qualities higher, breathing, loss of support, singing louder without strain and other questions submitted by participants.

This day will address problems in both speaking and singing, both teaching and performance and will include:

• Brief overview of the Estill Voice Model
• Physiological causes of problems
• Visual and aural clues and how to interpret them
• Estill Solutions and their application
• Q&As
• Afternoon masterclass

Suitable For: Those new to the Estill Voice Model, anyone who working with the voice; singing teachers, professional singers, students and amateurs; voice, speech & drama teachers; actors. Suitable for all styles of voice, singing & speaking

Early Bird fee of £65 applies if paid and booked before 01/02/09; Student Rate of £40 if nominated by teacher.

Book via the web site www.thevoiceexplained.com

This is the sixth year that we are offering this popular and challenging course. Participants need to have completed two Complete 5 Day Courses in order to sign up for this course. Over three days, we focus on the complex Figure & Voice Quality combinations that are part and parcel of the professional performers’ artillery and which are found across genres; musical theatre, classical, rock and pop. Participants will therefore need a high level of independent control and understanding of both the Figures and Voice Qualities. We will address, among other subjects, the extension of qualities beyond their natural range, common quality combinations in different genres (including musical theatre and opera) as well as a special course dedicated to diction.

Suitable for: Only those who have completed two or more Complete 5 Day Courses

Book via the web site www.thevoiceexplained.com

What is Estill Voice Training?

• Can I do “figures” with my voice like skaters do at the Olympics?
• What is the relationship between Anchoring and Support?
• Is “healthy belting” close to “healthy opera?”>
• How can I cross-over to produce different speaking & singing styles?
• How can I increase my pitch range safely?

Bring a working song or monologue to experiment with the power of vocal color.

This is some sample test text