Module Code - Title:
MU4023
-
VOICE STUDIES: HISTORICAL AND CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Year Last Offered:
2026/7
Hours Per Week:
Grading Type:
N
Prerequisite Modules:
Rationale and Purpose of the Module:
This module is an introduction to the field of voice studies and will provide the student with historical and cross-cultural perspectives on singing and voice training. Informed by a transdisciplinary understanding of singing across music cultures, the student will engage with important sources and current research in areas of vocal pedagogy, ethnomusicology and arts practice research.
Syllabus:
This module will offer a critical engagement with historical, contemporary and cross-cultural perspectives on singing and voice training, introducing the student to contextual theories and ideologies related to their primary field of practical study.
Learning Outcomes:
Cognitive (Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis)
Identify key perspectives within voice studies.
Demonstrate a knowledge of texts relevant to voice studies.
Develop the ability to critically engage with concepts studied.
Affective (Attitudes and Values)
Contextualise their primary field of practical study.
Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts.
Engage with concepts through class discussion.
Psychomotor (Physical Skills)
Apply key aspects of concepts studied to embodied performance and perspectives on singing.
How the Module will be Taught and what will be the Learning Experiences of the Students:
This module will be taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and performance based laboratories. It will have traditional academic outcomes supplemented by an arts practice approach, giving the subject area an embodied relevance. As such this module has UL graduate attributes at it's core, focusing on knowledge based outputs supplemented with a embodied experience rooted in collaborative creative practice. Students will be able to articulate their understanding of vocal practice cross-culturally in an aesthetically engaged and personally responsible manner.
Prime Texts:
Bithell, C. (2014)
A Different Voice, A Different Song: Reclaiming Community through the Natural
, Voice and World Song, NewYork: Oxford University Press.
Potter, J. (1998)
Vocal Authority: Singing Style and Ideology,
, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Miller, R. (1996)
The Structure of Singing: System and Art in Vocal Technique,
, Boston: Schirmer.
Coffin, B. (1989)
Historical Vocal Pedagogy Classics,
, Kent: Scarecrow Press.
Other Relevant Texts:
Shewell, C. (2009)
Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices.
, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
Stark, J. (1999)
Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy,
, Toronto: Toronto University Press.
Rice, T. (2014)
Ethnomusicology: A Very Short Introduction,
, New York:Oxford University Press
Programme(s) in which this Module is Offered:
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN CONTEMPORARY DANCE
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN IRISH DANCE
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN IRISH MUSIC
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN MUSIC
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN VOICE
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN WORLD MUSIC
Semester(s) Module is Offered:
Autumn
Module Leader:
hannah.fahey@ul.ie