We’re wrapping up 2025 with a conversation that will change the way you think about the voice forever. Physiotherapist Emer Tully from Neuro Tour joins us to unravel the vital — and often underestimated — role of the pelvic floor in singing. From breathing mechanics to alignment, from recognising tightness vs. weakness, to understanding why singers, dancers, teachers and performers of all kinds should care about this powerhouse of stability, this episode is packed with practical insights and surprising - the perfect finale to a year of rich conversations.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

0:38 Thank YOU!

5:20 Why is the pelvic floor so intriguing?

7:59 The 5 diaphragms

12:01 The function of the pelvic floor

13:53 Pregnancy & performance

16:48 Signs of a tight or weak pelvic floor & the impact on singing

21:16 Helping a singer with a tight or weak pelvic floor

30:07 Advice about the gym and methods of ‘support’ in singing

39:32 Pelvic floor & stress

45:25 Recommended resources

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep. 201 Working with Hypermobile Singers with Sarah Algoet

Jennie Morton

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.69 Understanding Pregnancy for the Singer and the Self-Employed with Sarah Joyce & Cat Ogden

Feldenkrais

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.183 How to Fix Your Inhale and Transform Your Singing with Lucinda Allen

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.191How to Set Up the Best Exhale for Singing with Lucinda Allen

Duncan Rock

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.120 Understanding Singing and Fitness with Duncan Rock

Anatomy of Voice by Blandine-Calais-Germain & François Germain

Dr Sara Reardon

Michelle Edminson @mvmt.101

Jane App

ABOUT THE GUEST

Emer is NEURO TOUR’s London Associate Director of Education. She qualified from Manchester University with a BSc Physiotherapy degree, and is HCPC accredited as well as a member of the CSP. She is a Vocal Specialist and a Certified Women’s Health Practitioner. She has an advanced medical acupuncture certification; APPI Matwork & Reformer Pilates training & specialises in vocal/ TMJ physiotherapy.

Website

Instagram: @physio.emer

🎁 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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Thinking about taking your teaching to the next level, diving deeper into your specialist interests, or even writing a degree of your own? In this episode of Singing Teachers Talk, Alexa is joined by educator, performer, and MA creator Kaya Herstad-Carney, who pulls back the curtain on what a master’s degree in the performing arts really offers. From choosing the right pathway and understanding learning outcomes to balancing study with real life, Kaya shares how her own master’s shaped her career, the unexpected opportunities it opened, and what she’s learned from writing not one but two MA programmes. Whether you’re a singing teacher, performer, or creative professional considering postgraduate study, this conversation is packed with insight, encouragement, and the honest realities behind levelling up your education.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

2:27 Why did Kaya do a masters degree?

5:37 What is the advantage of studying for an MA?

10:10 How to choose an MA course

19:19 Juggling a part time MA

21:46 What If I’m not very academic?

26:11 Writing an MA degree

34:22 Marking degree assessments

39:07 Common errors in MA submissions

41:13 Making your MA decision

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

WaterBear The College of Music

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.154 Managing Imposter Syndrome, Low Confidence and Overwhelm as Singing Teachers with Alexa Terry

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.222 The Rise of AI: What It Means for Singers & Teachers with Rachael Drury

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.226 The Rise of AI: Practical Tools and Strategies for the Singing Teacher with Rachael Drury

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.56 Taking the Academic Route with Debbie Winter

Voice Study Centre

Arts Council

ABOUT THE GUEST

Kaya Herstad-Carney is a higher education leader, vocal pedagogue, and award-winning creative artist. From September 2025 she becomes Head of Education (Online) at WaterBear College of Music, overseeing MA and BA programmes in songwriting, performance, and music education. A specialist in student-centred learning and vocal habilitation within CCM, she holds an MA from LIPA/Hope and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Kaya has taught across leading institutions including ACM, LIPA, University of Liverpool, and BAST Training, and serves on the Advisory Board for Vocology in Practice. Her research interests span performance anxiety, singing for wellbeing, voice science, and sustainable creative careers. Alongside academia, she is an award-winning singer-songwriter whose work has appeared on stage, TV, and film, performing internationally and alongside ar

🎁 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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Thinking about becoming a singing teacher but not sure what’s holding you back? In this episode, Alexa and Line break down the most common barriers aspiring singing teachers face. Learn how to get started with what you already know, build confidence step by step, choose the right training, and grow your teaching practice with clarity and purpose. If you’re ready to take the next step in your singing teaching journey, this conversation will help you move forward with confidence.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

0:31 How did Line become a singing teacher?

4:22 I don’t know enough & imposter syndrome

11:26 There’s too much choice

18:26 I don’t have the piano skills

23:37 I don’t have confidence in my own voice

28:25 I’m just not qualified

31:26 What about money?

36:51 My schedule is already busy

40:59 I don’t know how to start a business

46:10 What if I hurt a student’s voice?

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

Line Hilton

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.237 Beyond the Vocal Tract: How the Brain Shapes What We Hear with Ian Howell

Hearing Singing - A Guide to Functional Listening and Voice Perception

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.111 Essential Piano Skills for Singers and Voice Teachers with Brenda Earle Stokes

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.158 How Music Theory and Keyboard Skills Can Transform Your Singing Teaching with Amy Walton

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.88 Pros and Cons of Singing Teacher Qualifications with Line Hilton

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.229 Ways to Make More Money as a Singing Teacher with Zoe Stibi

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.227 Following Your Bliss: How to Align your Life and Business with Gemma Sugrue

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.220 Time Management: Making Time When There Isn't Any with Line Hilton & Alexa Terry

Chris Johnson

🎁 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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Alexa Terry unwraps ten fresh, fun, and fabulously festive Christmas songs to help singing teachers bring new sparkle into their studios, offering a mix of musical theatre treasures, modern pop tunes, heartfelt ballads, and powerful rock renditions that give both students and teachers a welcome break from the usual overplayed holiday hits. With vocal range guidance, technical teaching opportunities, and stylistic notes for each song this episode provides a studio-ready repertoire list designed to keep spirits high and festive performances inspired throughout the busy holiday season.

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

ABRSM

musicnotes.com

‘A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser, and the Guys and Dolls in His Life' by Susan Loesser

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

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 | Updates | Email Us | Free Group

This week, Alexa chats with the brilliant Ian Howell to explore how we really hear the singers we work with. From psychoacoustics and functional listening to timbre, bias and intention, Ian unpacks the hidden processes behind vocal perception—and how understanding them can transform the way we teach. A deep, fascinating conversation for any singing teacher wanting sharper ears and smarter tools.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

1:53 What is psychoacoustics?

5:28 How is sound perceived by us?

12:38 What impacts the way we perceive sound?

20:46 Separating function from bias

25:48 Belt scenario

35:36 How do singers hear themselves?

40:59 How to listen and observe with skill

1:05:27 The relationship between intent and perception

1:15:15 Using spectrograms

1:19:57 The way Ian teaches

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

Hearing Singing - A Guide to Functional Listening and Voice Perception by Ian Howell

Johan Sundberg

The Acoustics of the Singing Voice by Johan Sundberg

Science of the Singing Voice by Johan Sundberg

Ingo Titze

‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ by Sarah Bareilles

Jeannie LoVetri

Feldenkrais

Singing Teachers Talk Podcast - Ep.63 Developing a Singer’s Self Awareness and Clarifying Intention with Robert Sussuma

Cornelius Reid

Voce Vista

Advice for Young Musicians by Ian Howell

Structure of Singing by Richard Miller

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dr. Ian Howell is the Founder and Chief Educator of the Embodied Music Lab, offering professional development and consulting for musicians and teachers. He is the author of Advice for Young Musicians (2023) and Hearing Singing: A Guide to Functional Listening and Voice Perception (2025). From 2013–2023, Ian served on the voice faculty at the New England Conservatory, directing the graduate voice pedagogy program and leading research in the NEC Voice and Sound Analysis Lab, where he and his students presented widely and contributed vital work during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

SEE FULL BIO HERE

Website

🎁 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 | Updates | Email Us | Free Group

In this episode, Becky Morton, Principal of Further Education at ACM and Alexa explore what the FE academic route can offer young singers stepping into today’s music industry. Becky shares curriculum structure with project-based training, and how this helps students to build both industry awareness and artist identity. The pair dig into why early professional habits matter, how the diploma pathway compares to traditional A-levels, and what young performers gain from learning to work with producers, bands and music businesses in a real-world environment. Becky also talks about current vocal trends, the technical demands of pop-rock singing, and how ACM is adapting its teaching to industry changes, including the rise of AI.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

03:50 The role of Principle of FE at the Academy of Contemporary Music

5:00 Benefits and challenges of an academic route into music

10:13 A look at technique for pop-rock

12:50 Defining the pop-rock aesthetic

15:14 Artists to study in this genre

18:16 How important is music theory and sight singing?

22:54 2025 vocal and musical trends

30:56 What Becky wishes every singer understood

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

ACM

UAL

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.231 Evolving Vocal Trends: Training Functional Registration in Contemporary Commercial Music

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.222 The Rise of AI: What it Means for Singers & Teachers with Singing Teachers Talk - Ep,226 The Rise of AI: Practical Tools and Strategies for the Singing Teachers

ISM

Suno

Udio

Follow Becky’s Bands: The Likeness; Two’s Up; The Hooch Toots

ABOUT THE GUEST

Rebecca Morton, Principal of FE at ACM, is a professional musician, vocal coach, and musical director with 20+ years of experience. She has collaborated with artists such as Adrian Smith, Imogen Heap, and Alexander O’Neal, and toured as the solo backing vocalist for Hitomi Yaida across major UK and Japanese arenas. Her work includes recordings with Crispian Mills, Mattafix, cast albums, and dance releases with EMI and Hed Kandi. A vocal coach since 2002, she has supported artists like James Toseland and Marlon Roudette. Holding a Masters in Music Psychology, she champions passion, reliability, and excellence at ACM.

SEE FULL BIO HERE

Instagram: @acm_ldn

🎁 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 | Updates | Email Us | Free Group

In this episode, Alexa shares 10 brilliant songs that sit in the A4–D5 low-belt zone for female singers — a range full of character, energy, and storytelling potential.

From Standard Broadway favourites, 90s pop-rock anthems and modern hits this episode is packed with fresh repertoire ideas, stylistic insight, and creative inspiration for singers and teachers alike.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST

0:38 Why might these songs be helpful?

2:07 10 ‘low belt’ songs for female singers

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

Amanda Flynn

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

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 | Updates | Email Us | Free Group

What if the secret to better singing practice isn’t doing more, but understanding why we avoid it in the first place? Voice educator Tessa Smith Whicker joins Alexa to explore how her master’s research reshaped her view of practice — from battling guilt and distraction to embracing curiosity and compassion.

Discover how to get singers excited about their own practice, how teachers can reframe “you need to practice” into empowering questions, and why small, playful tasks can make all the difference.

WHAT’S IN THIS PODCAST?

3:16 What do you believe practice actually is?

8:10 Common barriers to practice

10:02 Options to manage the barriers

18:31 Playing devil’s advocate

22:18 Holes in the research

25:18 How to effectively set practice

39:18 The role of the singing teacher and rapport

46:23 Measuring progress

53:00 Tessa’s practice hub and podcast

About the presenter HERE

RELEVANT MENTIONS & LINKS

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.164 Music and the Brain: The Science of Learning and Practice with Dr Molly Gebrian Part One

Jacob Collier

Singing for the Self Conscious by Becky Gilhespie

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.166 Overcoming Self-consciousness in Singing with Becky Gilhespie

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.131 Mastering Research Papers: How to Read with Ease and Extract Knowledge with Kate Cubley

Cheryl Porter

Kim Chandler

Singing Teachers Talk - Ep.70 Coaching Contemporary Commercial Music with Kim Chandler

The Singer’s Guide podcast by Tessa Smith

ABOUT THE GUEST

Tessa Smith Whicker holds a BA in Jazz Studies, an MA in Vocal Pedagogy, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research explores the likes of performance assessment, stylistic awareness, and the decolonisation of Popular Music singing education. She teaches across Higher Education institutions in the North of England and leads choirs and community singing groups. Passionate about developing self-sufficient, self-compassionate singers, Tessa shares tools for effective and enjoyable practice through her social media, podcast The Singer’s Guide, and membership platform The Singer’s Practice Hub.

SEE FULL BIO HERE

Websites: tessasmith.com & thesingersguide.com

🎁 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 | Updates | Email Us | Free Group