Most singers focus on what they should be practicing… but overlook something just as important: who they’re learning with.
In this episode, vocal coach and Vocal Rehabilitation Specialist Amber Mogg Cathey explores the power of community and group learning—and why it can completely change the way your voice grows.
You’ll learn:
Whether it’s a coaching program, a choir, a band, or just a group of friends—there’s real power in learning together, growing together, and making music together.
Join the Vocal Pro Collective and start training in a space designed to support your voice every step of the way: https://www.ambermoggcathey.com/collective
0000:00 Introduction to Vocal Development00:00 The Power of Community in Learning
04:50 Exploring Mix Voice Exercises
09:14 Advanced Techniques for Vocal Mastery
03:51 Observational Learning and Its Benefits
05:16 Creating a Supportive Learning Environment
08:56 The Vocal Pro Collective and Its Offerings
11:21 The Importance of Connection and Collaboration
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Hi friends, I'm Amber. Thank you for being here. I want to talk with you today about the great importance and the power of community and group learning. And I want to talk about this, not just from my own personal perspective, I've certainly been feeling really energized by group work, whether it is,
a small group that I'm working with in my own Vocal Pro Collective, whether it's a workshop that I'm teaching for another voice group, for fellow teachers, whatever it is, I get so energized and so jazzed when I get to work with a group of people like that, or I get to be part of that. You know, I can be the student on the other end because I find not only does it,
make me feel less alone in this thing that I love so much.
And also there's so much research behind the power of observational learning.
Observational learning is when we get to watch others learn it does so many things. One of the things it does is it normalizes any issues we might have, any hiccups, that when we are by ourselves can feel like, wow, I'm struggling with this.
I can't believe i can't do that better i see singers all day every day be so hard on themselves for things that we're all dealing with in one way or another
And when we have the opportunity to work with others and watch them get coached,
You start to realize consciously or not, I'm not the only person dealing with this. Lots of people deal with this. So some of that stress and tension, dare I say shame that sometimes we can feel as singers if we struggle with something, just gets taken off the plate. We're like, I'm actually doing pretty well. We're all in this same boat in different ways.
And then you also get ideas that you can try in your own voice from watching other people. I always say in in group situations, I feel like so many singers learn what they didn't even realize they didn't know. Did I just say that right? Just meaning we might think like, ⁓ I just want to jump on this group coaching call because I want help with the high note in this one song. A lot of people jump on vocal pro collective group calls like that. Just thinking, Hey,
Can I get help with this? And then I'm probably gonna jump off Amber, because life is busy, which I get. They end up staying for the whole thing. And then they're like, oh my gosh, yes.
I didn't even think about that. That tongue tension thing that he is dealing with, I have that same thing. Mine does the same thing.
So with observational learning, we get to normalize that we're all working on something. And then we get to see other people work and realize like, ooh, I want to try that. Or that makes me think about this thing that I want to ask about.
It's also so helpful to perform in front of a small group of like-minded people. And I know some of you might be listening right now thinking, okay, cool, Amber, I hear that group learning, that's beneficial, but I'm not comfortable working on the things I'm struggling with in front of other people. And I'm just gonna throw out to you.
maybe that is a reason to try it. Maybe you join some kind of a group, a choir, a group coaching program, whatever it is, and you're just kind of observing it first. You will quickly start to realize everybody has great strengths, everybody has areas of need,
areas where we shine, different areas where we need support. And then you're with people who are in the same boat with you. So it's such a great way to start working through performance anxiety, nerves with other people who are right there with you before you know it.
You're tiptoeing out. You're like, okay, well, I'm to ask a question. Okay, well, I'm just going to sing like a little chunk of a song. I see it happen all the time. People who are like, they come to group coaching calls first, camera off. they'll come a couple of times like that and then they're like, okay, well, I'm going to turn my camera on. I'm not going to say anything. And then they pop in with a question.
inevitably, before you know it, some people it's a few calls, other people it's a few months, they are singing in front of people, they're like, hey, let me go ahead and work on this song. They realize they're part of something, they're supported by others, they're motivated to show up, they have more accountability because they know other people are gonna be there and before they know it, they're working on their voice and then like, gosh, like this was a total block for me.
and it doesn't really feel like a big stressor now. And it just happens as you become more and more part of this group, whatever that group is for you.
that group scenario is just so powerful. I can't tell you how many vocal pro members are like, I didn't realize how much I missed community. Having people that I could just like jump online with and be like, hey, I'm struggling with this. Anybody else struggling? Hey, I want to do this.
creativity challenge. Anybody want to jump in and help keep me accountable? And there's always people who are like, yes, me, let me tell you what I did. Or let me tell you how I'm feeling right now. This is how I handled it. So many of them say, I didn't even realize how much I needed this till I got it.
And now I can't think of working without it. It just keeps me going. It keeps me moving forward so much more
And that is why I created the Vocal Pro Collective. It was the Vocal Pro membership for a good while because when it started, it was more of a kind of typical membership. You got access to my Erase Your Break method and course, which is a monster and fabulous. I'll link it in the show notes.
got access to a small voice gym. We did some live calls here and there, but it was a lot of online resources and content, which was great. And the more I did it though, the more I realized they really wanted more human interaction. I really benefited from that and wanted that too. So then we started doing
regular live coaching calls every other week. And then I was like, okay, well, there's a lot of great experts out there. Let's get them in so we can learn from them too. So we added in a live expert workshop every month. And then all of those are recorded in the vocal vault. Now there's, I don't know, 35 plus hours of expert coachings and trainings on everything from songwriting to harmony to music business to healthy speaking techniques to performance techniques to...
Tension release with a physical therapist to branding and marketing. There's just so much in there.
courses and support grew the voice gym became this monster of over 150 vocal exercises set up for all areas of the voice sing along audio tracks, video breakdowns. And then members were saying to me, hey, it's great, but some of them were feeling overwhelmed.
by so many options and they were like, I wish that you could just give me every week, hey, do this. So now every member, every Monday gets a workout delivered right to their email, five to six usually vocal exercises. A lot of times we've got stretches, targeted massage, all those things included as well because I'm always looking at you as a whole person, a whole singer, voice, body, mind.
And then the part that I love the most is the community has just grown and grown and gotten more and more active. And we do challenges every month where again, talk about working with performance anxiety. Right now it's genre challenges. Last month was jazz, this month is pop, where you sing, let's say a verse chorus of a pop song, you're really leaning into those things stylistically.
whether it is your genre and your happy place or whether you are moving outside of your happy place and you share that inside the private community so you get feedback from me you get feedback and just loads of cheering on and celebration from your fellow singers you can win free stuff like free lessons every single month
And it's just every single day there are conversations going on in there. There's people talking about everything from stuff they're learning, asking questions, wanting feedback on their singing, wanting to talk about creative endeavors, looking for people to collaborate with, to just going,
hey, who watched the second Wicked movie? That was a big one when that came out, right? Or who's listening to this album the more I'm in it, the more I value it and realize how powerful it is.
if you are somebody who is listening to this and you've been feeling kind of stuck in your vocal growth, whether you've been trying to totally do it on your own and you're like, Hey, I could use a complete vocal ecosystem, live coaching, community courses, exercises, professional support, peer support, all of that across the board.
you should come check out the Vocal Pro Collective. Or if you're somebody who's taking one-on-one lessons and you're like, hey, love my lessons, but I'm on my own in between. And I'm somebody who needs more support to keep the momentum going. So when I have that lesson time, I get the biggest bang for my buck. I get the most out of it.
And let me point out, I've been talking so much about how I love the group thing and man, I'm so into it. I find such benefit in it and there's so much research, like I said, that supports it. But do I think one-on-one coaching is still needed and beneficial? Absolutely. That's a huge part of what I do. I love my one-on-one coaching. I just don't think it's the only answer. If you are somebody who has a vocal health issue, if you need vocal rehabilitation,
you want one-on-one support. that is highly individualized. If you are somebody who is heading into the studio next week to record your single and you want help with this one section, that is when you should jump on and do a one-on-one call, right? One-on-one coaching can't be beat for those things. If you are somebody who knows you are prepping to put out a single, an EP, an album,
to perform, to audition several months from now, which is the ideal. You start training for the job you want well in advance of having it. If that's you, I can't think of a better place than a group coaching container because you can get all kinds of supports, one-on-one, group, coaching calls, courses, exercises. You can do some stuff on your own. You can get support when you need it.
And then when it comes time where you're really close to that performance, that audition, whatever it is, and you're like, hey, I have grown so much because you will, but I would really like help with X, Y, and Z really in particular. That's when I would say layer on one-on-one coaching on top of that. and I will say really quickly, vocal pro collective members for me get,
priority scheduling for all lessons and they get member only pricing. So I'm gonna put links for all of this down in the show notes below.
If you have no interest in the Vocal Pro Collective, this isn't just about the Vocal Pro Collective, this is about the power of singing, learning, and growing with others, the power of community. there's lots of other voice programs out there. Look at them if it sounds like a better fit for you. Join a choir, find people in your area that love doing the same thing and
Get together and mind share and brainstorm
Community is so, so important, whether you're training, whether you're trying to build a life as an artist, whether you are just looking to grow in your skills, whether you're trying to be more authentic as a person, whether you're just trying to human. We need community, we need relationship. And when we're looking to grow skills, to be able to do it with each other, to learn ourselves and then to learn observationally, it can't be beat.
doesn't have to be the Vocal Pro Collective, but I sure would love to have you in there if you are interested. It is my favorite place to be as you probably can tell.
I'm to put links to all of that below. the point of this is whether it's the vocal pro collective, whether it is your local community, a church choir, a band, a group of friends.
we cannot overstate the great power of making music together, of learning together, of spending time together. It's the best. Happy singing everybody. And I look forward to seeing you in next week's episode.
