Welcome to my blog.

This space is going to be a place for me to explore some of the things that have occupied my professional life for many years: teaching, vocal training, pedagogy, repertoire, and the development of healthy, sustainable voices.

Although I teach singers of all genders, ages, backgrounds and musical styles, I have a particular interest in the training of changed male voices. The adolescent years can be an extraordinary and sometimes difficult period for a young singer. The voice is changing physically, the instrument is developing rapidly, and techniques that worked perfectly well a year or two earlier may suddenly no longer feel appropriate or reliable.

It is also a period in which a great deal can be gained, or unfortunately, a great deal can be lost.

My approach is therefore centred on helping young singers understand what is happening to their voices rather than simply asking them to work around the changes. The aim is not to force a developing voice into an adult model, nor to treat adolescence as an interruption to musical development. Rather, it is to work with the instrument as it is, while gradually developing the physical coordination, musical understanding and technical awareness that will serve the singer throughout their life.

Breathing, anatomy, resonance, posture, onset, articulation and coordination all have their place in this process. But good vocal pedagogy is about more than a collection of exercises. It is about helping a young singer develop an understanding of their own instrument.

I want my students to know why they are doing something, not simply what they are being told to do. My goal is to establish healthy vocal habits, an efficient and flexible technique, a strong understanding of breath and vocal anatomy, and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of curiosity about the voice.

There is also a broader question here. Young singers who are considering further study or a career in the performing arts need to understand that vocal training is a long-term undertaking. The voice is not simply something we use to produce notes. It is a physical instrument that has to be cared for, developed and understood over many years.

That is particularly important during adolescence, when patience is often more valuable than pushing for immediate results.

A long-term project

This interest in adolescent male voices has developed through years of teaching, observation, experimentation and pedagogical study. It has also grown out of my own experience as a professional singer and teacher, and from watching young singers navigate the sometimes bewildering transition from childhood voice to adult instrument.

I am increasingly convinced that there is much more that can be said about this subject.

In fact, I intend to write a book about it.

That project is still developing, but this blog will form part of that process. It will give me an opportunity to explore ideas in greater detail, test my thinking, share practical resources and document the development of some of the teaching materials I am creating.

I will write about repertoire, technique, and the practical realities of teaching young changing voices. I will also discuss some of the misconceptions surrounding adolescent male voices, and the ways in which our language and expectations can influence how a young singer experiences their own instrument.

This will not be a blog exclusively about boys’ voices, however. Teaching is too broad and too interesting for that. I expect to write about singing and pedagogy more generally, drawing on the many different singers, teachers, musicians and experiences that have shaped my own approach.

There will be plenty of practical discussion, but I also want to engage with the underlying questions:

What are we actually trying to achieve when we teach someone to sing?
What does healthy vocal development look like?
How can we give young singers the tools to build a voice that remains useful, expressive and resilient for decades to come?

Those are big questions, and I certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers.

But I think they are worth asking.

So, welcome. I hope you will join me as I explore them.