Do Singing Teachers & SLTs Do the Same Job? Overlap, Vocal Identity & Weird Exercises

Send us Fan MailIn 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 SLTs02:01 Breath, phonation, registers, pressure and flow04:32 “That’s not me”, identity and singing sound07:45 Registers, chest voice, fluty soprano, and bridging mechanisms09:18 Why a new vocal setup can feel out of tune13:42 Weird exercises that actually work 14:56 Permission slips, silliness, and experimentation16:04 Humming, inner hearing and finding pitch 19:10 Meaning, melody & “Feed the dog”20:13 Starting with real speech, not isolated drills24:37 The toothbrush exercise for intelligibility, jaw release & tongue freedom29:05 What singing teachers can learn from clinical practice31:15 Respect the boundary, keep the collaborationListen 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  Find us - follow us on the socials! 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vocalprocess   📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vocalprocess  📖 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vocalprocess