Voice Work

Art and Science in Changing Voices

Christina Shewell

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118697382
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Audiology & Speech Pathology

Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices is a key work that addresses the theoretical and experiential aspects common to the practical vocal work of the three major voice practitioner professions - voice training, singing teaching, and speech and language pathology.

The first half of the book describes the nature of voice work along the normal-abnormal voice continuum, reviews ways in which the mechanism and function of the voice can be explored, and introduces the reader to an original model of voice assessment, suitable for all voice practitioners.

The second half describes the theory behind core aspects of voice and provides an extensive range of related practical voice work ideas. Throughout the book, there are a number of case studies drawn from the author's own experiences and a companion website, providing audio clips to illustrate aspects of the text, can be found at www.wiley.com/go/shewell.

Part 1

Considering voice work

Chapter 1

The voice work continuum

Background music

A woman is walking down the street. You recognise her as a famous fashion model and are impressed with her grace and beauty. As she passes, she takes out her glamorous mobile phone and you hear her speak. Her voice is tight, rough, nasal and monotonous, and suddenly she seems far less appealing.

A man stands up to speak at a conference. He is unprepossessing in appearance; his face is round and shining, thick spectacles obscure his eyes, his dull grey clothes are rumpled and ill-fitting, and he looks nervous. But, when he starts to speak, you are captivated by the warmth and energy of his voice; his deep, resonant sound somehow draws you in. ‘What an interesting person,’ you think, ‘I’d like to know him better.’

We can change the gender of the speaker in both these examples, and it will still work. The point is that, although consumer society is obsessed by the visual image, and we are bombarded every day by pictures of the boy beautiful and the girl luscious, there is still some unconscious sense that what we hear in a voice reflects the true personality of the person, and has a deeper truth than what we see.

Most people take their voices for granted. They seem to flow naturally from our intellect and emotions, but, because they are the background music to our words, they have a powerful, and often unconscious, effect on listeners.

There is a direct parallel with the typography that shouts out at us every day. Advertisers have long known that the font that they use to describe their goods will have an effect on those seeing it. You may be drawn to buy antiques sold to you like this:

FINE ANTIQUE AND SECOND HAND FURNITURE BARGAINS!

but would expect a different ‘mood lettering’ if you were to be attracted to a new computer shop:

ALL NEW PCS AT HALF PRICE

Reverse the two and, although you might not be aware of it, you would be picking up a different sort of message:

FINE ANTIQUE AND SECOND HAND FURNITURE BARGAINS!

ALL NEW PCS AT HALF PRICE

So it is with voices. Voice is a two-way psychosomatic phenomenon; it is shaped by the speaker’s psyche (our personality and current emotions) and soma (the health, shape and usage of our bodies). As the bridge between our inner and our outer worlds, it also affects the psyche and soma of the listener.

No matter how interesting a speaker, if his voice is tense, monotonous and rough with a ‘whining’ nasal tone, it may affect the tension in your own body. You don’t feel good listening to him, and may want to get away from that sound as soon as possible. If a conference lecturer has little voice variety as she speaks for half an hour, the lack of energetic change in the voice is likely to make the audience feel heavy and listless – particularly in that challenging after-lunch slot, or towards the end of a long day.

Conversely, there are qualities that we hear in sung or spoken voices that can make us feel good. The open, powerful voice of a female gospel singer with its rich resonance and huge pitch range gives you a sense of strength and energy. On a crowded bus, you may turn to look at the man whose deep husky tones are attractive with their tone of intimate evenings. The high ethereal notes of the chorister singing the Allegri Miserere may make you feel as if your heart is lifting. I deliberately use images because sometimes the effect that a special voice has on our feelings and physical sensations can be expressed only in such words.

Through vocal sound we express our physical, psychological, social and spiritual lives, and our voices grow and change with us in the dance of our individual life.

Who wants to change their voices?

We breathe and we voice – the first two activities of our life. Spoken voices feel like an extension of personality, flowing effortlessly out of our heads and hearts, our thoughts and feelings. For many, working on the voice would seem like cosmetic indulgence at best and false betrayal at worst. Yet every year thousands of people do work to extend, change or mend something about how they sound.

Many of those people are professional voice users for whom the voice is a vital part of their work. Actors work with a voice teacher to develop the power and subtlety of their voices, and even an experienced singer may go for regular lessons to continue to develop skills and repertoire. Many non-professional voice users enjoy extending and developing their voices in lessons or in choirs. In the latter, they can feel the power and exhilaration of their voice streaming out in the company of others.

Some people have a sense that their voice ‘lets them down’. It does not work in the way that they want, and a busy call centre operator or over-stretched teacher may seek help because he is regularly losing his voice towards the end of a day. For some the spoken voice does not seem right for what they feel is their ‘true self’. A senior manager in a company may recognise that her voice does not reflect her real authority and work with a voice trainer to find that ‘true’ power. Voice teacher Patsy Rodenburg (1992) makes an important distinction between the natural and the habitual voice. The latter may have become laden with tensions, defences and strain and, if ‘liberated’ by voice work, the speaker is likely to feel that his voice is healthier and that it better reflects his personality.

Sometimes there is an actual voice disorder. The voice may be affected from birth, as is the case for many children born with deafness, cerebral palsy or a cleft palate, whereas other people develop an abnormal voice as a result of use or illness. This often leads them to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who may prescribe medical treatment or a course of voice therapy.

Voice problems and voice disorders

‘Voice problem’ is a term used by the general public, whereas the diagnosis of a ‘voice disorder’ is made in the clinical world, if a speaker or singer is referred for a medical opinion. There is often, however, a blurring of these distinctions.

Daniel Boone (1991) describes a voice problem as occurring when ‘things that we do or fail to do prevent our natural voices being heard’. He estimates that around 25% of the population may be ‘displeased with the way that they sound, and with the way that their voices affect their careers and social lives’. Using 2003 Census Bureau figures would mean that a staggering 72 million Americans and 14.9 million British men and women were unhappy with their voices. Of course only a tiny proportion of them are going to seek help to change their voices but that is still a huge number of self-critical speakers!

Boone (1991) describes a voice disorder as ‘something that needs to be treated by a specialist’. If a speaker has unexplained hoarseness that has lasted for more than 2 weeks, he should go to see his local doctor; if the doctor is concerned, she will refer the client to a hospital ENT department.

Some people live with their hoarseness for months or even years without seeing a doctor, but there is always a risk – however small – that the husky voice may be caused by something serious that needs urgent treatment.

Voice story: librarian

Some years ago the librarian at my university department asked me if I could give her some exercises to help her voice. ‘I’m ashamed to say that I strained my voice singing at a rugby match last month and it’s still croaky.’ It would have been easy to offer practical advice and exercises. But she was in her mid-50s and an ex-smoker, and I knew that there was a risk that this was not a simple voice strain. I suggested that she should first of all get a check with a specialist, sooner rather than later, to see that the yelling had not done any damage. Her family doctor referred her to the local ENT department, and 6 weeks later she told me that a small cancerous growth had been found on one vocal fold, which would be treated by radiotherapy.

This is unusual, but it is a warning to voice practitioners to recognise the difference between voice problems and voice disorders and that, if they have any concerns, a medical check should be made. A lifetime’s dissatisfaction with a voice that goes squeaky when nervous, short-term huskiness after flu or karaoke singing, or a sound that is not interesting in lectures rarely needs a visit to a medical specialist. But long-lasting hoarseness or a new vocal limitation may be a warning sign that something is wrong with the vocal folds or with voice muscle function. Such changes need a medical examination, at whatever age the speaker may be. Chapter 27 describes the voice disorders that can occur.

The voice practitioner groups

Although there are increasing opportunities for practitioners in parallel fields to get together, some know little about the other practitioners. We look at the training of each profession, the typical client range with whom they may work and how you might find a local practitioner.

Speech and language therapists/pathologists

This profession assesses and works with people of all ages who have difficulty with communication or swallowing. Most students follow an undergraduate or postgraduate course with both academic and practical strands, and generally graduate with a science-based qualification. In many countries courses and therapists are regulated by a professional organisation; in the UK all speech and language therapists (SLTs) must be registered with The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and the Health Professions Council (HPC), and their professional name is protected in law. The national organisations generally have a directory of members so that clients can find a local clinician, who may work privately or in a state-supported service such as the British National Health Service.

Those who specialise in clinical voice work give voice therapy, but are not referred to as voice therapists. Some clients will have undergone a laryngeal examination and be diagnosed with a voice disorder, whereas others – perhaps with a hearing impairment, learning disability, cleft palate or the neuromuscular problem of dysarthria – will have a voice disturbance that is wider than phonation quality alone.

It may surprise other voice practitioners that there is no specific training for SLTs to become voice specialists. A few follow an MSc in voice, but most learn their practical skills by working ‘on the job’ alongside a more experienced colleague, gathering new knowledge in a piecemeal fashion. In the UK few graduate courses offer experiential voice work, so therapists may never have worked on their own voices; in Sweden, with its excellent reputation in the field of voice disorder research, the logopedists receive many hours of voice training.

In 2000, I asked 110 SLTs how much experiential voice training they had received during their university course: 48 had none; 39 had a minimal amount (1–6 hours); 16 had a moderate amount (7–15 hours); and only 7 had an extensive amount (16 or more hours).

These results are depressing because an important aspect of learning about voice is to work our own voices and then reflect upon the experience, linking this to the theoretical knowledge now available (Shewell 2000b).

Voice teachers/voice coaches

Voice teachers work with the spoken voices of actors and other professional voice users, and with those who want to develop the power or the quality of their ordinary spoken voice. They often also work with linked communication issues such as personal confidence and ‘presence’.

Historically, voice teachers developed from the profession of drama teaching, or acting itself, and this is still a route for some voice teachers. There are, however, an increasing number of formal training courses around the world, and two Masters degree programmes in the UK. Some well-known voice teachers have set up specific training courses in their methods e.g. the Linklater, Lessac and Fitzmaurice voice approaches (see website information in Appendix I).

There is as yet no regulating body or registration for this profession, so anyone can call herself a voice teacher. Finding a good local voice teacher can be difficult for a prospective client or interested fellow voice practitioner who does not know where to look. A phone call to a drama college will sometimes access a contact, and some voice teachers advertise in the commercial pages of the local telephone book or regional newspaper. The British Voice Association (BVA) provides a list of voice teachers for enquirers, and some national organisations, such as VASTA (the American Voice and Speech Trainers Association) have excellent geographically organised databases of teacher details and credentials.

Much voice teacher work is with student or professional actors in theatre, TV or film. The philosophy of voice development is generally that it takes time, ideally with long periods of solid exploration and practice. This is in marked contrast to most voice therapy where the average treatment for a voice disorder is around four to eight sessions, with work clearly goal oriented and as efficient as possible.

Many voice teachers also work with others who want to protect or change their voice in some way. These include both professional voice users (described in Chapter 28) and ‘ordinary’ people for whom voice work may be part of training in confidence and communication skills. Some voice teachers set up companies that specialise in business training, with lucrative regular contracts with big corporations or institutions. Most, however, gather freelance work from a variety of sources, often balancing that with some sort of regular teaching commitment.

Working as a voice teacher can bring contact with an enormously mixed client group. My work has included inaudible public speakers, anxious members of the police force, exhausted teachers, tired telephone operatives, broadcasters with sore throats and vocally challenged members of the government. Many voice teachers use their own voices in a public forum and this too can vary; I have given poetry readings, led a chanting session down an old flint mine and provided my voice for a helicopter warning system!

Singing teachers

Singing teachers of course work to develop the singing voice in individual or group classes, or directly attached to professional shows. They may specialise in one particular genre of singing, such as classical, musical theatre or pop, or work with many.

Teachers vary enormously in their style of singing and in their own background. Most will have had some sort of musical training, be able to read music, have a wide repertoire of songs, and be familiar with many technical aspects of music and singing. Many teachers will have enough keyboard skills to be able to accompany their students, but some use tapes. Successful teachers may have a pianist as separate accompanist but this is less usual. Although singing teachers may have been performers, this need not be so. Many general musicians offer singing lessons; traditionally English cathedral choral directors, responsible for the developing voices of young choristers, train as organists before acquiring their knowledge of the sung voice.

As with the voice teachers, there is no certification needed for singing teachers, so anyone can set herself up in the field. There are some training courses available but options are limited. Singing voice specialist Jeanie LoVetri writes ‘American colleges and universities do offer pedagogy courses, but they are random and not required. The only degrees available in vocal pedagogy are for classical singers and they are just available as doctorates’ (personal communication, 2007).

There are many excellent singing teachers, but they are often open in their concern that the lack of any regulation allows inadequate teachers to work badly with trusting students. Any good singing ...