For singers wishing to develop their foundation skills learnt in Vocal Fundamentals, Vocal Fundamentals Level 2 will give students the opportunity to work with two specialist tutors, consolidating, applying and extending the fundamental skills in both vocal technique and music literacy. This will allow students to sing and perform with even greater musical understanding and confidence. The course will be repertoire based, so the skills will be extended through the exploration of a varied range of exciting repertoire. The aim is to create an opportunity to apply the skills and techniques in a supportive and collaborative workshop environment.

Whilst the class is held in a group context, each class will consist of tutorials in smaller groups with each tutor. However, each class will begin and end with the entire group joining together for ensemble singing.

This course is ideal for students who want to develop their skills for singing in small choral groups as well as those who need extra information to support their solo singing aspirations and is a helpful pathway to prepare for the more advanced solo courses offered at the Open Academy.

Students will consolidate the fundamentals of vocal technique and music theory. By working together to learn new repertoire, classes will also address:

• further development of harmonisation skills and chord drills in the following styles:
  • monophonic such as folk songs
  • homophonic chorale style as found in SATB hymns
  • polyphonic as found in rounds and madrigals
  • heterophonic, found in world and gospel music
• a deeper dive into style and how both vocal technique and theory inform and supports this
• more advanced theory concepts as found in the course repertoire, including minor keys and modes, changing and irregular time signatures and more complex syncopations
• strategies to analyse a song and how this helps to learn the song more quickly and to sing with greater confidence
• further development of sight singing skills
• performance anxiety - the pros and cons
• performance etiquette – being the best performer you can be, for your audience, your musical colleagues and yourself.

Course requirements

Students should have completed the Vocal Fundamentals course or equivalent. If you are not sure if your skills are equivalent, please review the description of the Vocal Fundamentals course and self-assess that you are confident in all those skills before enrolling in this course.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT THIS COURSE

Nadia Piave and Cathy Kerr are supremely motivating and highly enthusiastic educators - both prototypic legends in their respective areas of expertise.

Cathy and Nadia are the most wonderful teachers. The course is informative, fun and fulfilling going that little but deeper and more complex than level 1 without feeling overwhelming.

Cathy and Nadia both excelled in imparting their extensive knowledge in a way that was easily absorbed (even by the uninitiated, like me) and inspiring. Their teaching methods are so effective and their approach to learning, so refreshing. So, thank you for making this course available. I have already recommended it to several people.

Cathy and Nadia create a great blend of voice exercising and training and learning to follow sheet music. I was astounded how simply and quickly Cathy and Nadia brought newcomers up to speed on reading music. Both of our tutors were just great. Heaps of fun and laughs. When we weren't singing, we were exercising our vocal cords laughing! Cathy and Nadia were very generous with guidance. Top course!

The tutors, Cathy and Nadia, were very good and I could tell that they not only know a lot about music and singing, but they genuinely enjoy teaching too…..The mysterious world of music that I knew nothing about makes more sense now!

Both Cathy and Nadia were fantastic...I enjoyed it so much I've booked in for next term.

Cathy and Nadia are experienced teachers who have a wonderful style when working with a group of mixed ability grown-ups. There was a non- threatening atmosphere maintained throughout the course with an effective emphasis on fun. Having the class split for part of the session and coming together for the finale worked very well as Cathy and Nadia were able to give more attention to the smaller groups. I would have no hesitation in recommending the course to anyone with little or no musical nouse.

Cathy and Nadia introduced me to the world of music and awakened a love for learning that will last a lifetime. I am very grateful.

Cathy and Nadia are the best teachers. Their love for music and singing is reflected in the classes. Loved every minute and learnt a lot.