Hi, welcome to my site. I have decided to write a blog to write about my various musings on the voice. We are all able to have resonant, beautiful voices and the very core of our being desires to return to a state of a harmony. One of the major misunderstanding of the voice is that it does not take energy to produce it. This was not always the case. In the days of Shakespeare life was more physical.
You would probably be pulling carts, dragging horses and carrying jugs of water, while speaking at the same time. The roads were uneven and you would be walking on cobblestone streets. which required more energy and balance. Now in our automated life, life is easy. We sit much of the time, stand as lazily as possible and breath as shallowly as possible. We only energize out body if we are exercising. Speaking has become a breathless, devitalized action. The result is weak, lackluster voices and for many, an inability to speak loudly or yell.
For voice work the breath has to be stimulated and then the voice is to ride out on the breath. This requires an energized body. I was recently in NYC with famed voice teacher Patsy Rodenberg. She said, “The actor needs to build a strong, robust lung capacity for speech.” Some of the ways to do this is to jog and speak. Singing is excellent to build the lungs. Yoga breathing exercises are fantastic. Check the Vocal Yoga page and I have just posted some exercises for the lungs.
I also have a breathing exercise CD releasing this week. Another way is to be loud. Speak up. You will notice that to speak loudly requires breath, energy and an increase in pitch. The louder you get the higher the pitch of your voice. Eventually you can speak lower and still keep the volume up but, at first, go with the higher pitch and explore your vocal power.