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
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
Singing Teachers Talk Podcast – Ep.63 Developing a Singer’s Self Awareness and Clarifying Intention with Robert Sussuma
Cornelius Reid
Advice for Young Musicians by Ian Howell
Structure of Singing by Richard Miller
ABOUT THE GUEST
Ian Howell is the Founder and Chief Educator at the Embodied Music Lab, an organization that offers professional development and consulting for musicians and teachers. Please visit embodiedmusiclab.com for the latest information.
He is the author of two books. Advice for young musicians (Embodied Music Lab Press) was released in 2023, and Hearing Singing: A Guide to Functional Listening and Voice Perception (Rowman and Littlefield) will be released in early 2025.
From 2013 – 2023 Dr. Ian Howell was a member of the studio voice faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music, where he also directed the graduate voice pedagogy program, lead research in the NEC Voice and Sound Analysis Laboratory, and coached students in Baroque voice repertory. As research director of the NEC Voice and Sound Analysis Lab, he and his students have presented original research at numerous conferences and symposia including the Voice Foundation, the Pan American Vocology Association, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, the National Opera Association, and the Musical Theatre Educators’ Association. He and his graduate students worked to provide solutions to the challenges of making music during the Sars-CoV-2 Pandemic.
