Freeing the Natural Voice - Kristin Linklater

While reading this excerpt I was very interested in the where the sounds actually comes from. It’s odd to think that there’s an entire process of neural transmission that happens before a breath is even taken. We don’t often think of breathing or the process to make it happen, we often just breath because it’s so natural to us at this point. The fact that the breath is so deliberate and it ultimately affects the sound that exits your mouth definitely makes me care and think about the kind of breath I’m taking before talking, singing, or yelling. While reading the section of the reading about “why the voice does not work,” I learned that habits and constrictors are the common causes of the voice not wanting to work. This is rather frightening because habits are so easily formed and so often hard to reverse. So this made me think about the habits I may have formed and the kinds of constriction it may have on my voice and my production of sound. While reading this article, I was reminded of the words of wisdom that my voice teacher back home used to tell me. She would never explain the entire anatomical process of the breath or sound, but she would say that it’s all about the primal sound. She would describe this as a baby wailing or crying or screaming. This impulse connects the body to the voice and ultimately connects the breath to the vocal folds. So reading the passage was very eye opening and full circle which definitely made me think about the flow of air and how I’m accessing air and catalyzing breath from the body. In my voice lesson last week I tried to use the thoughts if Linklater to embrace the tone coming from a more connected place and though I don’t think I mastered it, I think I’m well on my way to finding the action that allows me to connect my body and vocal folds in a cohesive and powerful manner.