Here is a link to the article I have written for the new Berkshire Woman & Family Magazine about children taking performing arts classes drawn from my experiences running School Of The Arts (SOTA).
http://berkshirewoman.com
Friday 27 April 2012
Getting in on the ACT!
Here is a link to the article I have written for the new Berkshire Woman & Family Magazine about children taking performing arts classes drawn from my experiences running School Of The Arts (SOTA).
http://berkshirewoman.com
Wednesday 14 March 2012
The Power of Pitch
I was interviewed by Andrew Peach on Radio Berkshire this morning about how the pitch of your voice can affect how successful or attractive you are perceived to be.This story was relating to new research on voice pitch and it's impact on our perception.
Research of a similar nature was reported in USA Today last year and raises some interesting points.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2011-03-06-voices-infidelity_N.htm
In my work as a Voice Coach, pitch is something that I work very closely with in the spoken voice and the impact of it's effects are huge. Without even realising it we come to all sorts of conclusions and judgements about someone from the pitch of their voice. (I should point out to those of you with a cynical nature that I'm not talking about whether you are flat or sharp here...I'm talking about deep voices and high pitched voices!).
I work on this issue when I am coaching my students in characterisation at my theatre school, and in one to one sessions with actors, presenters, executives and personalities. I have also had the privileged experience of working with individuals going through Transexual Sex re-assignment, where surgery is not possible on the larynx and therefore we have to find healthy, safe solutions to the problem of needing to change the pitch of the voice on a day to day basis - a huge shift in voice pitch.
What I find interesting about this article in USA Today is that it is discussing how the research shows that higher-pitched female voices were rated as more attractive (and more likely to be promiscuous). Hmmm, I wouldn't coach an actress who needed a sexier voice quality to raise her pitch. Quite the reverse. But perhaps this is a reflection of the fact that this research was carried out using male and female participants who were aged between18 and19 years old? Perhaps to that age group a lower pitched female voice indicates a women 'of a certain age' who they perceive to be less attractive?
Perhaps we also have a conflict between conscious 'perception', Darwinian 'sex selection' and what this research says it is proving?
Our social, media fuelled, stereo typed perception is that female voices which are deep and often husky are more attractive.
However Darwinian 'sex selection' asserts that we will choose our partners by being attracted to what will most successfully continue our gene line. Comparatively large quantities of oestrogen in some women indicate higher fertility rates and more reproductive capability. Higher voices are considered to be an indicator of this, and therefore occur to men as more attractive. Which is also what this research seems to be suggesting.
Fascinating stuff. I'd be interested to know whether you think high or low pitched women's voices are more attractive.
This afternoon I was also interviewed by Bill Buckley, again on BBC Radio, but this time directly regarding the study which shows that we are more likely to vote for a political candidate who has a deep voice. Cue Margaret Thatcher impressions.
So how do you change the pitch of your voice and can it be done safely? And at this point, I should like to confirm that I am not intimating here that all the men reading this should try and deepen their voices to make themselves perceptively more attractive nor should the women desperate for children run around squeaking.
As an actress, aged 18, I had to radically lower the pitch of my voice for the TV Series Cadfael (starring Derek Jacobi) , in which I played Godith who was disguising herself as Godric, a young male monk. I did my best with it, but 20 years ago we did not yet have the voice science that lead to the technical knowledge we now have of how the voice works and therefore my voice technique at this point in my career was not sufficient enough to do a job I can look back and say I am proud of. Judge for yourselves...
Changing the pitch of the voice can be a complicated issue and safe practise requires excellent control of the height of the larynx (which raises and lowers to facilitate pitch change), the false vocal folds (which will naturally want to constrict and tighten dangerously over the top of the true vocal folds as we raise the larynx when voicing) and our use of the true vocal folds which can thicken, thin and stiffen. These three main components are in turn affected by all sorts of other things such as breath, the soft palate, the tongue, the jaw which are all units of a complex and dynamic system that affect each other.
Which is why, if you are interested in learning more about how you can safely change the pitch of your voice, whether it be to play a part or to add seniority to your voice for the world of business, you should seek the advice and guidance of an experienced and qualified voice coach.
And by experienced and qualified I do not mean someone who did a music degree, likes to sing in their local am dram society and thinks that this is enough to call themselves a singing teacher.
Alternatively you could come on one of my Sing!Sing!Sing! Courses...
Research of a similar nature was reported in USA Today last year and raises some interesting points.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2011-03-06-voices-infidelity_N.htm
In my work as a Voice Coach, pitch is something that I work very closely with in the spoken voice and the impact of it's effects are huge. Without even realising it we come to all sorts of conclusions and judgements about someone from the pitch of their voice. (I should point out to those of you with a cynical nature that I'm not talking about whether you are flat or sharp here...I'm talking about deep voices and high pitched voices!).
I work on this issue when I am coaching my students in characterisation at my theatre school, and in one to one sessions with actors, presenters, executives and personalities. I have also had the privileged experience of working with individuals going through Transexual Sex re-assignment, where surgery is not possible on the larynx and therefore we have to find healthy, safe solutions to the problem of needing to change the pitch of the voice on a day to day basis - a huge shift in voice pitch.
What I find interesting about this article in USA Today is that it is discussing how the research shows that higher-pitched female voices were rated as more attractive (and more likely to be promiscuous). Hmmm, I wouldn't coach an actress who needed a sexier voice quality to raise her pitch. Quite the reverse. But perhaps this is a reflection of the fact that this research was carried out using male and female participants who were aged between18 and19 years old? Perhaps to that age group a lower pitched female voice indicates a women 'of a certain age' who they perceive to be less attractive?
Perhaps we also have a conflict between conscious 'perception', Darwinian 'sex selection' and what this research says it is proving?
Our social, media fuelled, stereo typed perception is that female voices which are deep and often husky are more attractive.
However Darwinian 'sex selection' asserts that we will choose our partners by being attracted to what will most successfully continue our gene line. Comparatively large quantities of oestrogen in some women indicate higher fertility rates and more reproductive capability. Higher voices are considered to be an indicator of this, and therefore occur to men as more attractive. Which is also what this research seems to be suggesting.
Fascinating stuff. I'd be interested to know whether you think high or low pitched women's voices are more attractive.
This afternoon I was also interviewed by Bill Buckley, again on BBC Radio, but this time directly regarding the study which shows that we are more likely to vote for a political candidate who has a deep voice. Cue Margaret Thatcher impressions.
So how do you change the pitch of your voice and can it be done safely? And at this point, I should like to confirm that I am not intimating here that all the men reading this should try and deepen their voices to make themselves perceptively more attractive nor should the women desperate for children run around squeaking.
As an actress, aged 18, I had to radically lower the pitch of my voice for the TV Series Cadfael (starring Derek Jacobi) , in which I played Godith who was disguising herself as Godric, a young male monk. I did my best with it, but 20 years ago we did not yet have the voice science that lead to the technical knowledge we now have of how the voice works and therefore my voice technique at this point in my career was not sufficient enough to do a job I can look back and say I am proud of. Judge for yourselves...
Changing the pitch of the voice can be a complicated issue and safe practise requires excellent control of the height of the larynx (which raises and lowers to facilitate pitch change), the false vocal folds (which will naturally want to constrict and tighten dangerously over the top of the true vocal folds as we raise the larynx when voicing) and our use of the true vocal folds which can thicken, thin and stiffen. These three main components are in turn affected by all sorts of other things such as breath, the soft palate, the tongue, the jaw which are all units of a complex and dynamic system that affect each other.
Which is why, if you are interested in learning more about how you can safely change the pitch of your voice, whether it be to play a part or to add seniority to your voice for the world of business, you should seek the advice and guidance of an experienced and qualified voice coach.
And by experienced and qualified I do not mean someone who did a music degree, likes to sing in their local am dram society and thinks that this is enough to call themselves a singing teacher.
Alternatively you could come on one of my Sing!Sing!Sing! Courses...
Tuesday 21 February 2012
If Adele was my singing pupil...
Tonight as I watched Adele give her first live UK performance since the cancellation of her tour last year due to a hemorrhaged vocal fold and subsequent surgery, I couldn't have been more relieved for her. Under-going surgery to the vocal folds is incredibly risky. The main risk being if the surgery is carried out on the part of the vocal fold that connects with it's opposite there is a risk that the tissue can heal in a way that renders phonation (let alone singing) impossible. Think of how differently scar tissue can look when it heals. The fact that Adele has regained the use of her voice since surgery and is sounding so clear is enormously fortunate and incredibly lucky.
However, with my Voice Coach hat on, I would also say that to my ear, her breathing was a little noisy, which indicates to me that she is slightly constricted (tight) in her throat. When you can hear the breath as you inhale, you are hearing the False Vocal Folds getting in the way and causing turbulence in the airflow.
The False Vocal Folds are nothing to do with singing and all to do with closing over the top of the True Vocal Folds when you swallow to prevent food or saliva getting down your airway. If you are constricted enough to cause noisy inhalation, you may be constricted enough to annoy the True Vocal Folds, which are sat beneath the False Vocal Folds trying to vibrate hundreds of times a second to create a pitch.
Singers have to learn to 'Retract' (widen) the False Vocal Folds out of the way to prevent them from interrupting the vibratory cycle of the True Folds. Your breath intake should be silent. The sensation in your throat should be wide, like that of a hard silent laugh, or the beginning of a yawn, or a silent gasp of surprise - any experience that gives you the sensation of width in the throat. Perpetual constriction when you are singing or speaking will result in vocal fatigue and may lead to vocal trauma and long term vocal fold damage.
It was wonderful to hear Adele's stunning voice again tonight. But the voice professionals around her will need to spot what was going on tonight and support her in keeping her voice use as healthy as possible. After her triumphant Grammy & Brit wins, she's got a lot to sing about...
However, with my Voice Coach hat on, I would also say that to my ear, her breathing was a little noisy, which indicates to me that she is slightly constricted (tight) in her throat. When you can hear the breath as you inhale, you are hearing the False Vocal Folds getting in the way and causing turbulence in the airflow.
The False Vocal Folds are nothing to do with singing and all to do with closing over the top of the True Vocal Folds when you swallow to prevent food or saliva getting down your airway. If you are constricted enough to cause noisy inhalation, you may be constricted enough to annoy the True Vocal Folds, which are sat beneath the False Vocal Folds trying to vibrate hundreds of times a second to create a pitch.
Singers have to learn to 'Retract' (widen) the False Vocal Folds out of the way to prevent them from interrupting the vibratory cycle of the True Folds. Your breath intake should be silent. The sensation in your throat should be wide, like that of a hard silent laugh, or the beginning of a yawn, or a silent gasp of surprise - any experience that gives you the sensation of width in the throat. Perpetual constriction when you are singing or speaking will result in vocal fatigue and may lead to vocal trauma and long term vocal fold damage.
It was wonderful to hear Adele's stunning voice again tonight. But the voice professionals around her will need to spot what was going on tonight and support her in keeping her voice use as healthy as possible. After her triumphant Grammy & Brit wins, she's got a lot to sing about...
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