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In vocal health and voice rehabilitation, where does the speech language therapist's role end and the singing teacher’s role begin?

In part 2 of this conversation, Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes go deeper into the relationship between the singing teacher and the SLT/SLP, exploring where the overlap is helpful, where boundaries matter, and why referral is sometimes the most professional thing you can do.

They unpack some of the practical questions raised while teaching SLTs on a recent course in Northern Ireland, including breath management, phonation, pressure and flow, resonance strategies, vocal identity, and the challenge of helping singers transfer healthy voice function into real speech and singing.

This episode also gets into the human side of voice work. What happens when a change in speaking or singing function feels like a change in identity? Why can the right exercise feel completely wrong to a vulnerable singer? And how can both professions work together without overstepping their expertise?

You’ll also hear some wonderfully odd but effective voice exercises, including pitch-play, negative practice, conversation training therapy, and toothbrush intelligibility work.

If you heard part 1, this episode takes the conversation further, into the real-life overlap between professions, and why mutual respect, collaboration and clear boundaries are essential for healthy voice work.

In this episode:
00:00 Teaching vocal function to SLTs
02:01 Breath, phonation, registers, pressure and flow
04:32 “That’s not me”, identity and singing sound
07:45 Registers, chest voice, fluty soprano, and bridging mechanisms
09:18 Why a new vocal setup can feel out of tune
13:42 Weird exercises that actually work
14:56 Permission slips, silliness, and experimentation
16:04 Humming, inner hearing and finding pitch
19:10 Meaning, melody & “Feed the dog”
20:13 Starting with real speech, not isolated drills
24:37 The toothbrush exercise for intelligibility, jaw release & tongue freedom
29:05 What singing teachers can learn from clinical practice
31:15 Respect the boundary, keep the collaboration

Listen if you’re a singing teacher, SLT, vocal coach, choir leader, voice trainer or singer who wants a clearer sense of who does what, and why it matters.

Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

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What's the difference between a speech and language therapist (or pathologist) and a singing teacher? Where do those roles overlap and where should the boundaries be?

In this episode of This Is a Voice, Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes explore the similarities and differences between the work of an SLT/SLP and a singing teacher, especially when singers or professional voice users arrive with voice problems, vocal fatigue, or concerns about vocal health. The conversation begins after teaching a course for SLTs in Northern Ireland, where questions about overlap, gaps & boundaries kept coming up.

Gillyanne and Jeremy unpack the difference between a more medicalized approach and a more functional one, showing how clinicians may be focused on diagnosis, pathology, red flags and referral pathways, while singing teachers and vocal coaches are often focused on efficiency, stamina, clarity, range, coordination and performance goals.

* when a singer should be referred onward
* why singing teachers need to stay inside their scope of practice
* how to think about vocal load
* why voice problems are often multifactorial, a “perfect storm”
* what singing teachers can legitimately observe and ask

00:00 Singing teachers training SLTs
01:30 Why this SLT training course was different
03:45 Overlaps, gaps and boundaries
05:57 Singing teachers can help retrain coordination
08:33 Medicalized vs functional voice work
11:42 Multifactorial voice problems and boundaries
15:43 Perfectionism, performance pressure and voice recovery
19:57 Case study, effortful voice through 2 different lenses
23:29 What to hear, see and ask before giving exercises
25:24 Why context matters more than generic exercises
26:33 What is my job today in this room?
28:00 Case history, profiling and trial interventions
31:34 Being a detective, testing and evaluating exercises

If you’re interested in voice therapy, vocal pedagogy, functional voice training, singing teaching, rehabilitation vs habilitation, and referral decisions, this episode is packed with practical insight from two voice experts who train speech therapists


Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
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#vocalprocess #teacheraccreditation #voicetraining

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In this episode of This Is A Voice, Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes welcome back psychologist Michelle Robinson for a deeper conversation about the singer-teacher relationship, motivation, wellbeing, and what voice training can learn from sport psychology.

Michelle introduces Self-Determination Theory, breaking down the three psychological needs that help people flourish: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Michelle, Gillyanne and Jeremy explore how these ideas apply to singers, teachers, performance and the learning environment.

The episode also highlights:
* why external validation never really lasts
* how teaching can support both artistry and wellbeing
* the difference between performing “correctly” and performing authentically
* what classical music training can learn from more person-centred approaches
* Michelle’s own distressing experience of music college, and how difficult teaching relationships can leave a lasting mark
* her research into singer-teacher relationships, including a new questionnaire designed to measure closeness, commitment and complementarity
* why musicians deserve the more holistic support that athletes often receive

This is an honest, thoughtful episode about voice, identity, teaching and the kind of support that helps artists thrive.

Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
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📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess

#vocalprocess #teacheraccreditation #voicetraining

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What if the teacher-student relationship in a singing lesson is not just the backdrop to vocal training, but the engine that shapes confidence, motivation, wellbeing and even performance anxiety?

In Season 12 Episode 7 of This Is A Voice, we’re joined by Michelle Robinson (singer, psychologist and researcher) to explore what the research says about relationship quality in one-to-one music teaching, and why it can determine whether learning feels safe and survivable, or tense and threatening.

We talk about:
Why the teacher–student relationship is mutually influential (it’s not one-way)
The three core ingredients of healthy learning relationships: Closeness, Commitment, Complementarity
How relationship quality links to motivation, autonomy, and wellbeing
The master–apprentice tradition, where it helps, where it can harm
What “good teaching” looks like in micro-behaviours, not slogans
Repairing ruptures, rebuilding trust, and creating studios where singers can truly sound like themselves

This one is for singers, vocal coaches, singing teachers, choral directors and people who cares about high standards without fear-based training.

00:00 – Why relationships matters more than we admit
01:34 – Meet Michelle: singer → psychologist → researcher
06:37 – “The relationship is mutually interdependent”, what that really means
08:26 – What does the teacher need?
10:48 – Jeremy’s hard lesson about different energies
17:51 – TWO humans in the room
24:30 – The 3 pillars: closeness, commitment, complementarity
29:02 – When “closeness” becomes unhealthy (blurred boundaries)
31:34 – IS there an inherent power dynamic?
33:09 – Students and safeguarding

👍 If you found this helpful, hit like, subscribe and share it with a teacher or singer who needs to hear it. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most!

#singing #vocalcoach #voiceteacher #performinganxiety #musiceducation #psychology

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
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📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess

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In this episode of This Is A Voice (S12 Ep6), Jeremy Fisher and Dr Gillyanne Kayes continue the story from “The Secret Singer” (Ep5) and go deeper into what happens when a singer’s path gets interrupted.

Gillyanne shares what came after stopping singing in her late 20s, how she rebuilt confidence (slowly and with care), and why her “happy ending” wasn’t about chasing the stage again. We talk identity, grief, agency and the surprisingly liberating idea that loving singing doesn’t require loving performance.

Then we zoom out into the bigger picture, how singing skills transfer into teaching, leadership, presenting, training and research. Plus, we unpack the difference between rehearsal and performance as totally different nervous system tasks, and why connection with the audience can change everything.

If you’re a singer, teacher, vocal coach, choir leader, or anyone who’s ever felt like you need to “prove” your voice, this one’s for you.

Chapters

00:00 “Singer Interrupted”
01:14 The happy ending (and the grief)
02:45 Returning to singing, rebuilding confidence, technique + agility
05:12 Seven years off singing, and why that can still lead somewhere good
06:15 “Performing spoils my day/week”, permission to redefine success
08:22 Singing identity vs public performance
10:45 What would your happy ending be if you didn’t have to prove anything?
12:19 Teaching, training, presenting, research, performance changes shape
16:47 Connection with the audience, social engagement, polyvagal lens
18:24 Transferable skills singers forget they have
20:04 Rehearsal vs performance, what the audience changes
24:09 Starting from your real emotion, plus “it’s OK to be crap for 10 minutes”
28:37 Nervous system expectations in performance, what helps

Mentioned:
Melissa Forbes, Stop Chasing Perfection, Start Singing for Connection (This Is A Voice Season 11, Ep13 https://youtu.be/r5-Lq4ithDc

Safe Space 2 - Polyvagal Theory for Performance - our new online course with Franka van Essen
https://vocal-process-hub.teachable.com/p/safe-space-2-polyvagal-theory-for-performance-with-franka-van-essen

The Master-Apprentice survey - please fill in this survey (10-20 mins)
https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/Master-Apprentice-Model-In-Singing-Teaching


If this episode resonates, drop a comment, what part hit home for you? And tell us, where do you “perform” even when you’re not on a stage?

Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitt

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In this episode of our This Is A Voice podcast, we do something we've never done before.

We have a “special guest”, not in the studio but on a recording, one that hasn't been played for more than 40 years. You'll have to listen to the first few minutes to discover who the special guest is!

This conversation goes straight into the stuff singers quietly carry:
The feeling that “good enough” is a place you never reach.
How training can install a deficit narrative.
Why the master-apprentice model can turn learning into permission-seeking.
How confidence regresses when the teacher-student dynamic isn’t handled with care.

There’s also a very practical tangent Gillyanne and I both care about.
If you never sing music with scales written in them, stop treating scales like the goal. Build exercises from the repertoire you actually perform. Stop singing scales, start practising riffs!

We close the episode with a second archival excerpt. Same “special guest”. Same question underneath it all.
What would change if you stopped auditioning for permission, and started making music from ownership?

***Apologies for the slightly variable sound quality, our microphones weren't working properly***

Credits
Archival excerpt 1, Handel (German aria excerpt “Meine Seele hört im Sehen”)

Archival excerpt 2, Mozart (Concert Aria K490, "Non temer, amato bene")

Special guest singer: ???
Violin: Penelope Wayne Shapiro
Piano: Jamie Clarke
Recorded 1983

Master-Apprentice Survey link: https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/Master-Apprentice-Model-In-Singing-Teaching

The Birmingham Vocal Coach blog on Rethinking Vocal Coaching https://www.thebirminghamvocalcoach.co.uk/blog


Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vocalprocess
📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess

#vocalprocess #teacheraccreditation #voicetraining

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Most singers can learn the notes and the words. That isn’t the part that gets in the way. The real block sits under the surface. It’s the moment where the song should land and somehow doesn’t. You can feel it. The audience can feel it. Something is missing.

In this episode, we dig into that missing piece
How singers learn songs too fast
How the ear follows the recording but not the key
How interpretation can be lovely but still empty
And how inhabiting a song changes everything

We talk through the internal logic sitting inside every piece of music
The logic of the harmony
The logic of the text
The tiny decision points singers often sail past without noticing
The moments of energy change, tempo change, key change, and emotional shift that carry the story

There are real examples from our masterclasses, including:
A classical song that suddenly locked into tune once the chords were stripped back.
A singer who delivered a perfect interpretation but didn’t sound like himself until we dug for his version of the truth.
A musical theatre song that revealed its turning point in the silence between phrases.

00:00 Why your song isn't landing
01:24 A shift in vocal technique
03:32 Being honest about your background
05:17 Helping a singer with tuning
08:39 Learning the song but not the key
10:15 Change points help you map the song
11:23 Do you memorise too quickly?
12:23 The Speed Run and other techniques
13:40 Acting without acting training
16:14 Green Finch and Linnet Bird
19:23 Not For The Life Of Me - Hidden in the text
21:47 Gimme Gimme - When ARE decisions made?
24:03 I Remember Sondheim
25:54 I Don't Sound Like Me!
30:30 Interpretation versus Inhabitation
35:06 The "studio-perfect" voice myth
37:44 This is our context, what's yours?

If you teach singers, this episode gives you tools to diagnose why a performance isn’t landing.
If you’re a singer, it shows you how to slow down, listen differently, and find the place where your voice actually sits inside the song.

Tell us how you approach learning or teaching songs.
What do you notice, break down, strip back, or question?
We’d love to hear it.

I Cain't Say No (Oklahoma) analysed by FlyNorthTheatricals https://www.tiktok.com/@flynorththeatricals/video/7566630322780081439

Remember to like and subscribe for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
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Burnout can creep up quietly - until one day you realise you’ve got nothing left to give.

In this honest, wide-ranging conversation, Dr Gillyanne Kayes, Jeremy Fisher and guest Dr Marisa Lee Naismith (host of A Voice and Beyond) talk about burnout in the performing arts: how it happens, what it feels like, and what recovery really takes.

We explore:

The link between trauma, stress, and burnout

Boundaries and learning to say “I don’t have the capacity”

Why people-pleasing drives exhaustion

The real brain changes in burnout and how to reset

What it means to honour yourself as a creative

This episode includes insights from Stress Burnout Reset by Kerry Norton, reflections on somatic recovery, and practical tools for singers and teachers finding their way back to balance.

00:00 Intro and Phlegm Alert
02:10 When Burnout Creeps Up On You
03:23 Losing Everything and Working Harder
05:39 Adversity vs Trauma
07:53 Burnout in the Performing Arts
08:41 Self-Worth and People-Pleasing
11:11 Learning To Say No And Setting Boundaries
15:19 The 24-7 Access Problem
19:28 The Power Of Saying "I Don't Have The Capacity"
22:07 What Burnout Does To The Brain
25:25 Recovery Tools and Somatic Practices
33:45 Maria's Final Reflections - Honouring Yourself

Watch, reflect, and share your experience of burnout in the comments.


Remember to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for more insightful episodes. Leave a comment below on what inspired you the most! 👇

You can find out about our Teacher Accreditation for singing teachers, vocal coaches and choir leaders and start your own journey here
https://vocalprocess.co.uk/teacher-accreditation/

We've also got this ↓

For the best self-guided learning, check out the Vocal Process Learning Lounge - 22 years of vocal coaching resources (over 600 videos) for less than the price of one private singing lesson.
Click on the link https://vocalprocess.co.uk/learning-lounge/learning-lounge-level-2-deep-dive/

If you want to discover if our singing teacher training programme works for YOU, message us - we can share the process for joining Cohort26. https://www.cognitoforms.com/VocalProcess1/TheAccreditationProgramme

Get the One Minute Voice Warmup app here, it's got a 4.9star rating
Appstore https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/one-minute-voice-warmup/id1212802251
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.speechtools.warmup&hl=en_GB

Check out our Voice Journal, written with Rayvox's Oren Boder https://www.rayvox.co.uk/products/voice-journal?ref=VOCALPROCESS

Find us - follow us on the socials!
🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vocalprocess
📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess

#vocalprocess #teacheraccreditation #voicetraining