Private or Custom Workshops

We offer private or custom workshops for groups of 4 or more. Here are some sample options:

Intro to WordWaves

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to use WordWaves to connect text, rhythm, and musicality seamlessly in any song. You'll learn to draw WordWaves, BeatWaves, and ComboWaves and apply them to your own musical practice. You’ll break free of the confines of sheet music and learn how to see music in a whole new way.

This workshop is designed as a prerequisite for all other workshops.
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Length: 2 hours

Syncopation & Groove

What if musical groove were something you could draw, point at, and read? In this workshop, we’ll make feel and groove, two of the most intangible parts of music, tangible. You’ll learn how to make musical syncopations feel organic and authentic while you sing, and you’ll learn how to use WordWaves to access and explore feel and groove in any song you choose.

All students will have the option to workshop a section of a song of their choice during the class.
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Length: 2 hours

Language Groove: How to Use Every Part of a Word to Bring Your Song to Life

In this workshop, you’ll learn about all the small parts of singing you don’t usually think about, how they work, and how to use them to your advantage when you sing.

Some topics we'll cover include:
- The two kinds of cutoffs and how to use them
- The spectrum of long notes
- Why singing “with diction” can be so hard and how to make diction work for you
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All students will have the option to workshop a section of a song of their choice during the class.
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Length: 2 hours

The "Secret Sauce" Workshop: How to Unlock the Hidden Magic in Any Song

In this advanced workshop, we will dive deep into the most subtle elements of singing, the ingredients of the "secret sauce" some singers seem to have that make their performances completely captivating, even if their vocal tone isn't spectacular. We'll focus on deceptively hard genres like jazz, folk music, and recitative in opera and musical theatre.

All students will have the option to workshop a section of a song of their choice during the class.
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This workshop is designed to follow the Intro to WordWaves, Syncopation & Groove, and Language Groove workshops.
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Length: 2 hours

Open Masterclass with Andrea

Bring a song of your choosing and work on it with Andrea! We'll use WordWaves to break down the hardest parts of your song and to unlock new elements of your performance, teaching, or writing, depending on your discipline.

Each masterclass will have a limit of seven active participants, with 12-15 minutes devoted to each participant. Observers are welcome to comment but will not get to workshop a song of their own. There is no cap on the number of observers.

Open to WordWaves students of all levels. We recommend taking at least the Intro to WordWaves workshop prior to attending a masterclass.
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Length: 2 hours

WordWaves Teacher Certification

Interested in running your own WordWaves workshops? This course will include the full WordWaves curriculum, plus additional practice teaching sessions to qualify you as an official WordWaves teacher.

This course is still in development. Contact Andrea if you are interested in learning more about WordWaves Teacher Certification.
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Length: 10-14 hours

Bring WordWaves to your community!

Choose the workshop that's right for you, or contact us to make a custom package.

"Andrea is a brilliant artist and teacher, which really shines through in her WordWaves technique. As someone with a sturdy music theory foundation, I loved using WordWaves to unlock new approaches to rhythm and musicality. Andrea’s technique helped me quickly get comfortable with complicated music so that I could lift it off the page and integrate it into my brain and body in a way that felt organic, fun, and ultimately upped my level of musicality and connection to the text."

Kendal Hartse

Actor (Cinderella, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)

Who is WordWaves for?

Singers who don't read music or struggle with traditional music theory

WordWaves allows you to:‍

Learn music faster
Demystify musical rhythm and make it accessible and fun
Connect to complex musical ideas in ways that actually match your personal experience of music (not math!)
Make a song your own without having to imitate someone else's performance

Musical theatre and opera performers

WordWaves allows you to:‍

Learn music faster
Connect complex music to storytelling and emotion so you can lead with story while you sing
Turn vague notes like "Say the words more" and "Feel the groove" into actionable directions
Sing in rhythm without sounding mechanical or robotic
Break free of the rigidity of music notation without sacrificing musical integrity
Make a song your own without having to imitate someone else's performance

Vocalists looking to deepen their connection to text and groove

With WordWaves, you can:

Break free of "mechanical" singing and express the deeper emotion of a song
Connect story and emotion to music theory in tangible, actionable ways
Turn vague notes like "Say the words more" and "Feel the groove" into actionable directions
Sing in rhythm without sounding robotic
Combine musical freedom and acting seamlessly

Music directors and vocal coaches

With WordWaves, you can:

Make music theory accessible to all your students, even those who don’t read music
Translate complex, intangible musical ideas to your singers in ways that feel intuitive and actionable
Break singers free of “mechanical” rhythm and get them connecting to emotion and storytelling

Composers, lyricists, librettists, and songwriters

With WordWaves, you can:

Combine music and lyrics in powerful ways that express your ideas and that singers will love to sing
Communicate clearly about scansion so your lyrics are set correctly to music and your melodies get lyrics that scan correctly
Build a shared vocabulary for talking about music that everyone can understand, regardless of their musical background (or lack thereof)

Directors, choreographers, and other music theatre creatives

With WordWaves, you can:

Express your musical ideas clearly with your musical and non-musical collaborators, even if you have very different musical backgrounds
Create a visual musical score that shows how the music feels
Translate your ideas into terms that performers and creatives alike can understand and respond to

Instrumentalists

With WordWaves, you can:

Deepen your connection to musical rhythm and phrasing
Gain actionable tools to level up your musical expressivity and nuance
Embody complex musical ideas intuitively so you can express your ideas clearly without losing musical freedom

WordWaves for Instrumentalists coming soon!