Singing Teachers Talk

In this episode, Alexa and Line take a closer look at the familiar idea of the singer as a ‘vocal athlete’. Drawing on examples from across the performing arts, they explore what the comparison can teach us about the demands placed on singers, and where it might not tell the whole story. From training and performance to vocal health and wellbeing, this conversation invites us to think differently about what singers ask of their voices and bodies, and how we can better support them along the way. 
WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST? 
0:24 When did you first hear the term ‘vocal athlete?’ 
3:36 The definition of ‘athlete’ and where it holds up for singers 
11:46 Where does the analogy fall down? 
25:37 A language debate 
30:50 The future of the term ‘vocal athlete?’  
 
About the presenter HERE
 
RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS   
Line Hilton  
The Vocal Athlete by Marci Daniels Rosenberg & Wendy D. LeBorgne  
The Singing Athlete by Andrew Byrne 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.232 The Vocal Athlete: Inside Touring Life with Mindy Pack 
Denosh Bennet 
Rob Stevenson 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.81 Teaching Famous Voices with Robert ‘RAab’ Stevenson 
Sport In Art with Jan Sebastian Tomsa 
Line’s substack article  
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.150 Part Two: Finding the Best Posture and Alignment for Singing with Jennie Morton 
Singing Teachers Talk Ep.61 Measuring Vocal Load in Contemporary Musical Theatre 
Dr Steven Zeitels  
🎁 Free Resource: Get your copy of How to Assess the Singer’s Voice with Confidence — a practical guide to help you understand what’s going on in any singer’s voice.  >>> DOWNLOAD HERE
At BAST Training, we help singers turn their experience into a meaningful teaching career. Building the confidence, knowledge, and real-world skills to teach with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
“The BAST Advanced Foundation has given me more than the tools I need to teach — it’s given me confidence, a community, and a future.” Jess McGlinchey, UK
Start with the foundations >>> ENROL NOW
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What if the ‘right’ song could help bridge the gap between vocal exercises and repertoire? In this episode, Alexa explores how snippets of songs can become useful technical stepping stones. Discover how to analyse repertoire for its vocal demands, identify opportunities for skill-building, and weave them into your lessons so that the singer is always ‘singing.’  
 
About the presenter HERE
 
RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.205 10 Songs to Inspire Your Singing Lessons 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.210 10 Songs to Celebrate Pride in Your Studio 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.212 10 Songs to Find Your Pop Style 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.219 10 Songs for Male Contemporary Musical Theatre Singers 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.223 10 Songs for Child Singers  
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.251 10 Songs for Tween Girls  
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.258 10 Plus ‘Legit’ Songs for Musical Theatre Singers  
Ben Platt 
Listen to Run Away by Ben Platt HERE 
Ultimate Guitar Tab 
 
ABOUT THE GUEST 
Alexa runs a singing tuition practice in the South of England, and is a singing tutor at one of the UK’s leading performing arts schools – Italia Conti, where she also regularly panels auditions and assessments. Alexa is the host of the BAST Training Singing Teachers Talk podcast, mentors for the BAST Training Level 5 qualification, and has presented on topics of Musical Theatre repertoire, authentic Musical Theatre performance, and imposter syndrome for Vocology in Practise and The Sing Space.  
 
SEE FULL BIO HERE (Add link to the podcast website page) 
 
Website 
Instagram: @AlexaTerryVocalCoaching  
🎁 Free Resource: Get your copy of How to Assess the Singer’s Voice with Confidence — a practical guide to help you understand what’s going on in any singer’s voice.  >>> DOWNLOAD HERE
At BAST Training, we help singers turn their experience into a meaningful teaching career. Building the confidence, knowledge, and real-world skills to teach with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
“The BAST Advanced Foundation has given me more than the tools I need to teach — it’s given me confidence, a community, and a future.” Jess McGlinchey, UK
Start with the foundations >>> ENROL NOW
basttraining.com | Stay Updated

What do we really know about breathing for singing? Breathing specialist Barbara Tanze returns to explore the evolving science of airflow and pressure regulation in the singing voice. We discuss what research tells us about the diaphragm and respiratory muscles, and why what singers feel may not reflect what is actually happening physiologically. Barbara also introduces the Flexiflow, a tool that gives singers immediate feedback on airflow and pressure, helping them explore breath coordination without complicated anatomical instructions. Along the way, we question what “breath support” really means, whether breath should always come first in vocal training, and how a more individual, exploratory approach could help singers better understand their voices. Here we go! 
 
WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?  
0:56 What’s changed since 2022?  
3:10 What we do know about the body, pressure and airflow  
6:30 Barbara’s burning question 
8:07 Common breath management issues in singing  
11:18 What is typically happening in the body during exhalation?  
20:33 Where does ‘breathing’ sit in the hierarchy of vocal training?  
24:41 Using balloons as props  
33:40 The Flexiflow 
 
About the presenter HERE
 
RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.45 Discovering Optimal Breathing 
Ingo Titze 
Johan Sundberg 
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.253 The S-Word: Why It’s Time to Rethink ‘Support’ in Singing Teaching 
Janice Chapman  
Ian Howell 
Ken Bozeman  
A Copernican Shift: Reframing How We Think About Breath in Singing by Heidi Moss Erickson 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.271 Singer & the Self: Rethinking Singing Teacher CPD 
MDH Breathing Coordination by Robin De Haas 
Oren Boder 
 
ABOUT THE GUEST 
A professional singer and vocal pedagogue, Barbara Tanze works at the intersection of voice, movement, physiology and learning. Drawing on a background in opera, vocal pedagogy, manual therapy and breathing coordination, she takes a functional, individual approach to helping singers, speakers and professional voice users understand and develop their voices. Barbara teaches at the Akademija za glasbo, Univerza v Ljubljani, and is currently pursuing doctoral research into expiratory pressure regulation in singing. Her work brings together biomechanics, motor learning and inquiry-based exploration, bridging research with everyday vocal practice. Barbara is also the creator of Flexiflow, a patented airflow-feedback tool, and the author of the interactive children’s book Take a Deep Breath, Charlie!  
 
SEE FULL BIO HERE (Add link to the podcast website page) 
Website 
Instagram: @btbreathing & @the.flexiflow 
🎁 Free Resource: Get your copy of How to Assess the Singer’s Voice with Confidence — a practical guide to help you understand what’s going on in any singer’s voice.  >>> DOWNLOAD HERE
At BAST Training, we help singers turn their experience into a meaningful teaching career. Building the confidence, knowledge, and real-world skills to teach with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
“The BAST Advanced Foundation has given me more than the tools I need to teach — it’s given me confidence, a community, and a future.” Jess McGlinchey, UK
Start with the foundations >>> ENROL NOW
basttraining.com | Stay Updated

In this episode, Alexa shares her experience of attending the very first Singer & the Self Singing Teacher CPD Holiday in Slovenia before sitting down with organiser Becky Gillespie to discuss how the event came to life. From voice science, business and wellbeing to spa days, cultural adventures and meaningful conversations, they explore why combining professional development with a holiday created such a unique and inspiring experience for singing teachers. If you've ever wondered what a singing teacher CPD holiday is really like—or whether it's worth it—this episode takes you behind the scenes.

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

Presenters: Becky Gilhespie, Louisa Barry, Lindsay Dalton, Rachel Lynes, Michael Rasmussen, Mel Toy, Lydia Hart, Alien Partjilic, Veronica Hodgson, Barbara Tanze, Gemma Sugrue, Cat Ogden 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.55 Teaching Singing for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.69 Understanding Pregnancy for the Singer and the Self-Employed
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.46 How to Develop Lasting and Positive Habits
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.118 Mastering Mix Voice and Belt 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.28 Finding the Fundamental Truths of Singing 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.179 From 1 to 40 Choirs and Touring with Gareth Malone 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.166 Overcoming Self-Consciousness in Singing
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.45 Discovering Optimal Breathing with Barbara Tanze 
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.58 Understanding the Speaking Voice
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.90 - Help! I’ve Got a Voice Problem
Ken Bozeman 
Chadley Ballantyne 
Ian Howell
Focus on Vocal Technique: Update! Breath Management - Shirley Emmons  

Book your place at the 2027 Voice Conference Spa Holiday

ABOUT THE GUEST

Singer & The Self was founded by Rachel Lynes and Becky Gilhespie, leading vocal coaches based in the UK but working with artists and singers all over the globe.
Their retreats combine expert voice coaching with yoga, breath work and mindfulness to unlock each participant’s unique sound and self-expression. Rachel and Becky came together in 2021 to bring their vision of The Singer & the Self to life - their shared belief that to develop your singing voice you must work on the mind and body, and equally,  that the voice is the most powerful route into the ‘self’. They know that each singer is wonderfully unique - not only in the human anatomy that makes up one’s personal sound but in the expression, which comes from the stories, the rich life experiences and perspective each person has on the world.
Together, they have hosted sell-out retreats in the UK countryside and are now bringing their holistic approach to singing and self-care internationally. Their retreats are open to all levels, whether you are interested in exploring finding your voice for the first time or whether you are a professional, looking to advance your singing and creativity.

Website
Instagram: @beckygilhespievocals & @singerandtheselfretreats
🎁 Free Resource: Get your copy of How to Assess the Singer’s Voice with Confidence — a practical guide to help you understand what’s going on in any singer’s voice.  >>> DOWNLOAD HERE
At BAST Training, we help singers turn their experience into a meaningful teaching career. Building the confidence, knowledge, and real-world skills to teach with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
“The BAST Advanced Foundation has given me more than the tools I need to teach — it’s given me confidence, a community, and a future.” Jess McGlinchey, UK
Start with the foundations >>> ENROL NOW
basttraining.com | Stay Updated

What happens when a singer desperately wants to sing, but fear, self-doubt and past criticism keep getting in the way? In this episode, Alexa is joined by vocal coach and Sing Anyway author - Linor Oren, to explore singing confidence, stage fright and mindset, questioning what happens when we stop chasing a ‘good’ sound and start exploring what the voice can actually do? Plus, before the conversation begins, Alexa shares her honest review of Sing Anyway and reflects on some of the book’s key ideas, ready for your bookshelves.  
 
WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?  
0:00 ‘Sing Away’ by Linor Oren: Book Review  
9:29 The catalyst for ‘Sing Anyway’ 
12:04 The writing & publishing process  
20:41 Paralysing fear & singing  
23:40 Performance exercises for mindset  
32:52 Linor’s teaching methodology  
38:25 The power of group lessons 
41:55 Is the singer actually ready?    
49:32 What teaching provided that lessons didn’t 
55:00 Round up 
 
About the presenter HERE
 
RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS 
Grinberg Method  
Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.261 Managing Performance Nerves: Tools For Singers & Singing Teachers with Laura Dumbleton 
 
ABOUT THE GUEST 
Linor Oren is a singer, voice teacher and author who knows what it is to go from 'I can't sing' to singing in a hall full of strangers. As a shy kid who didn't take her first singing lesson until she was 21, she graduated from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and went on to study and perform in Germany. In 2017 she moved to the Netherlands, where she runs her voice studio and leads The Merry Poppins Musical Choir. Her teaching method blends vocal technique with bodywork and mental practice to help shy singers find their voice. 
 
The traditional method of vocal coaching often starts with the assumption that mastering vocal technique is the only way to enjoy singing. In this approach, the teacher jumps straight into technical work, which can feel overwhelming. Her approach flips this on its head. She believes that enjoyment is the key to unlocking your true potential. Instead of diving headfirst into technique, Linor begins by addressing mental blockages— fear, hesitation, and self-doubt — so that singing feels joyful right from the start. Once a student feels comfortable and confident, the systematic work on vocal technique can start. 
 
Website 
Instagram: @linororenvoiceteacher  
🎁 Free Resource: Get your copy of How to Assess the Singer’s Voice with Confidence — a practical guide to help you understand what’s going on in any singer’s voice.  >>> DOWNLOAD HERE
At BAST Training, we help singers turn their experience into a meaningful teaching career. Building the confidence, knowledge, and real-world skills to teach with confidence, clarity, and compassion.
“The BAST Advanced Foundation has given me more than the tools I need to teach — it’s given me confidence, a community, and a future.” Jess McGlinchey, UK
Start with the foundations >>> ENROL NOW
basttraining.com | Stay Updated