Voice

The human voice is a sound, a vibration passing in the air in one frequency or another. In order to create this vibration, air needs to be expelled through the vocal chords with a certain level of resistance. The work involved in the process comes from many different muscles, that participate in this complicated action. Therefore we can relate to vocalization like any other sort of action, and can learn to perform it in an ever growing level of awareness. Voice is too often taught, whether in singing, acting or on the background of voice problems, relying almost uniquely on sound (the result) as the main source of information about the action (the process). The body is treated as something that should be controlled or held in one way or another in order to not get in the way.

In my line of work, we deal directly with the ability to sense what is being done in any of the different components of vocalization, be it the movement of the tongue or the work of the diaphragm, and to use them in many different ways. The more you can feel the slightest difference in the delicate work of different muscles, some of which are very small and hidden inside the body, the more sensations you have of what you do and how you do it. The more sensation you have of what you do, the more nuances you can produce with your voice. The growing richness of the process improves not only the vocal performance, but also the hearing of one's own voice and the listening to other people's voices.

On the basis of this growing sensibility, other aspects of the functional use of the voice can be further developed: the first is the use of the vibration of the voice itself in order to improve awareness of parts of oneself which are not easy to feel through direct action, such as the inner part of the eye or the throat. The second one is the dynamics of interpersonal communication, such as my image of my own voice and communication, emotional aspects of the voice and the listening to the other.

The work is done through individual lessons, group classes and workshops. I have worked with singers from any possible style, people suffering from severe voice problems, and choirs. In working with choirs (children and adults) I give a special weight to working on the way the singers listen to themselves and to their colleagues, and on the corporate sound. This aspect is treated through many exercises creating different sounds and sound effects that the group can notice and reproduce.