“I’m Jo Sear, and rock, pop and soul music vocals have been my obsession from a young age. Yet, despite the fact that they have been around for at least 75 years, these genres of singing have been historically neglected in terms of vocal research, pedagogy and evidence-based practice. At school and college, and until well into my 30s, there were never any singing teachers available to teach me relevant technique for these styles.
I attempted lessons with several Classical teachers only to find that much Classical voice technique clashed with the authenticity of vocal sound I was searching for. This remains an issue today, with popular music singers often having to choose between voice teaching methods that don’t match their style requirements, or YouTube videos offering advice that is often dubious at the very least.”
Jo is a charismatic and faultless true professional in every single way imaginable. Her huge range and ability to step into any vocal style makes her the perfect candidate for session work.
Franky Appleman
Drummer and Manager, The Soul Enforcement Bureau
Jo Sear is a professional. Her range, intonation, expression, dynamics, and the way she leads the ensemble, put her in the top drawer. She is the real deal.
John Gordon
Bassist, Free Electric Band and others
Jo is what you call a consummate professional. That rare combination of theory and experience takes the risk out of booking her for any type of music related activity. Upbeat, proficient.. and above all committed.... she’s a joy to work with!!
Vaughan Rance
Grand Central, Pepper Show and others
Jo is absolutely my studio's "Go-to Girl" for sessions. She's reliable, professional, focused and always gives 100% and then some. The phrase "That's good enough" just isn't in her vocabulary, and she won't stop until everybody is happy with the finished performance. Hiring Jo also takes the pressure off me as a producer, as I know I can totally rely on her surpass all expectations. We once needed some backing vocals in the style The Andrews Sisters on a tune she'd never heard before. She nailed all 3 parts in under an hour. Say no more....
Colin MacLeod
Drummer and producer, Dog House Music
Jo is one of - if not the - best singers I've had the privilege of working with. A truly great voice, very committed, utterly reliable and most importantly a MUSICIAN. Jo understands the theoretical foundations of melody and harmony and has the skills to apply them in practice. I always found Jo able to communicate with band mates in a very clear and concise manner. Add all the above to her being one of the nicest people around with one of the loveliest families you could ever meet.
Paul Darkins
Guitarist, Say What? And others
Jo is a true professional. She has turned our band around. It's such a joy to work with a singer who absolutely knows her stuff and is a true musician. She is versatile, adaptive and extremely easy to get along with. Not to mention that great voice. Love your work, Jo.
Andree Baudet
Saxophonist, SEB
“I experienced much frustration with the lack of research in this area when I began studying for my Masters Degree in Professional Voice Practice in 2018.
I began to ask myself: with Popular Music now arguably the dominant cultural and economic force in the UK, where are our conservatoires? Where is our research? It just seemed crazy to me that there was still no established pathway for Popular Music vocal pedagogy.
Pop-Up aims to redress this imbalance with style-relevant technique and training based on:
Jo has been performing professionally, primarily as a ‘gigging singer’, for nearly 30 years. Raised on a diet of awesome rock, pop and soul music (thanks, Mum and Dad), she joined her first working band at age 21 and has been behind a microphone ever since, singing lead and backing vocals in a wide variety of rock, soul and blues bands, working as a session singer and taking part in many stage productions, including several at the London Palladium. She is currently lead singer of The Soul Enforcement Bureau, an 8-piece soul band.
Jo is a skilled session vocalist who specialises in vocal harmony arranging and multi-tracking. She has developed a reputation as a ‘super-dep’ for many professional bands due to her ability to step in and cover vocals, often at short notice.
Jo recently achieved a Distinction for her voice pedagogy Masters degree, which she completed via Voice Study Centre (www.voicestudycentre.com) and the University of Wales, Trinity St. David. Popular Music voice pedagogy is her specialist research area. She has now been accepted to study towards a PhD at the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, starting September 2023.
Jo’s vocal training journey in Popular Music began with specialist rock and pop coaching from Stevie Vann Lange. Following this, Jo began studying Estill Voice Training, completing two full Level 1 and Level 2 courses in 2007 and 2016 under the tutelage of the RAM’s Anne-Marie Speed and Paul Farrington (www.estillvoice.com) and attending many other EVTS day courses.
These gave her the grounding in voice physiology and technique needed to pursue further study at Masters Degree level. Jo is a huge believer in the fact that learning is a continuous process that never ends. She regularly attends voice training short courses in a variety of subjects, with recent courses having included:
“‘Pop-Up’ was created for a very important reason: To promote the value of popular music voice training and elevate its educational status in the UK.
As a Popular Music singer all my life, I am a passionate (occasionally fiery) advocate of the importance of training more rock/pop teachers and conducting more contemporary voice research. Rock, pop and soul singing is no longer an ‘outlier’ in the UK music industry: it is its beating heart.
If Popular Music is the now the dominant cultural force, where are its training programmes in comparison with Classical Music?
Modern statistics show the domination of Popular Music in both streamed and purchased music charts, and the enormous value of the UK music industry as an economic export is well-recognised.
So, if Popular Music is the now the dominant cultural force, where are its training programmes in comparison with Classical Music? Where and how are PM singers getting their voice training, and how much of what is being taught is current or relevant?
As a strong promoter of the value of pop, rock and soul singing, and the need for much more research in this historically neglected area, I have spent the last few years pursuing a number of different academic studies as part of my MA in Vocal Pedagogy, including:
The latter study – my final MA dissertation project – was based on extensive literature research and was assessed by industry professionals from UK Popular Music educational institutions such as ACM, BIMM and ICMP. This work has now been published in the Journal of Popular Music Education (see News!) and I plan to continue developing this curricular framework as part of my upcoming PhD at RNCM.
I always joke that PM voice pedagogy is the ‘drum I’ll beat until I die’ but honestly, I’m proud that this is going to be my life’s work.” JS x
Jo prides herself on being a warm, welcoming and encouraging voice teacher who students feel fully comfortable with. She has exclusively taught rock, pop, soul and Musical Theatre technique to students for 17 years in a variety of settings – as a private teacher for all that time, singing teacher for a dance school for 6 years and a peripatetic secondary school singing teacher for Hertfordshire Music Service for 12 years.
Jo prides herself on being a warm, welcoming and encouraging voice teacher who students feel fully comfortable with
During her years of teaching, she has worked with students at every level of singing, from beginners to experienced professionals. During that time, Jo has seen hundreds of students through a variety of exam board qualifications, the vast majority of whom passed with Merit or Distinction. She is fully conversant with the following exam syllabi:
Products and pricing can be found here along with payment options.
As part of my aim to raise the profile of Popular Music (PM) vocal education, I offer a number of teacher training workshops/webinars based on my MA and PhD research and my long experience as a working singer.
Live Online Webinars
***NEXT WEBINAR: WED 6TH SEPTEMBER AT 7PM BST (2PM EST) – “How to be a Crossover Hit – A primer for teaching Popular Music singing for Classical and Musical Theatre teachers”
I first ran this 2 hour online webinar on 6th June 2023 and received some amazing feedback from fellow voice professionals so have decided to run it again to kick off the new academic year in style. I like to run this one as a live, interactive session to allow plenty of room for Q&A sessions and I include access to some of my unique exercises and resources. This is what some attendees had to say about the course last time:
For a flavour of what the webinar involves, take a look at this example clip below:
***COMING EARLY SEPTEMBER 2023: “THE GIGGING SINGER – PRACTICAL TIPS FOR SURVIVAL AS A WORKING BAND SINGER”***
This pre-recorded 1 hour webinar will be an expanded and updated version of the one I delivered for the British Voice Association in November 2021 as part of their weekend CPD course on the Contemporary and Commercial Singer (see News archive).
The webinar is aimed at singers starting out in the world of professional gig and session work who want to maintain their stamina and vocal health in ‘real-world’ performance situations, plus teachers guiding those types of performers.
Here we will discuss:
Watch this space for availability soon!
Peer-reviewed journal articles:
Sear, J., 2023. Modern vocal pedagogy: Investigating a potential curricular framework for training popular music singing teachers. Journal of Popular Music Education.
Click here
Jo is a regular contributor to the US based online magazine/blog www.singinginpopularmusics.com
British Voice Association
Jo has presented several times for the prestigious BVA. In November 2021, for the BVA ‘The Contemporary Commercial (CCM) Singer’ training weekend, she presented her own webinar “The Gigging Singer” and also interviewed acclaimed CCM pedagogue Dr Marisa Lee Naismith (see video excerpt below).
In September 2021 she also presented her paper on training the upper registers of older teenage male CCM singers at the BVA ‘Choice For Voice’ online conference.
In April 2023, Jo appeared on the Dacorum Radio show ‘Making Plans with Nigel’, where host Nigel Oseland asked her about her favourite vocalists and how their voices are produced…
https://www.mixcloud.com/nigeloseland/making-plans-jo-sear-vocal-coach-show-178-02-04-23/
Here’s a clip of me singing “Feeling Good” (the Muse version) live on Dacorum Radio in April 2023 on the show ‘Making Plans With Nigel’
1 Aug 2023
A primer for teaching Popular Music singing for Classical and Musical Theatre teachers
10 Apr 2023 • New podcast episode
21 Mar 2023 • New online article
21 Mar 2023 • Subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
3 Mar 2023 • New journal article - JPME
19 Oct 2021 • Presenting
1 Oct 2021 • News
5 Sep 2021 • Upcoming Workshop
25 Aug 2021 • Presenting
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