Voice and the Alexander Technique
By Jane Ruby Heirich
Editorıs Note: The following essay is an edited excerpt from Voice and the Alexander Technique: Active Explorations for Speaking and Singing by Jane Ruby Heirich, published by Mornum Time Press.
What happens inside my throat when I whisper? How is it different from ordinary speaking or singing? How much vocal fold closure is necessary for the air to be sufficiently turbulent to make the whisper sound? Why use the whisper and why use the [a] vowel specifically? What does whispering a vowel have to do with re-training my breathing habits? Isnıt whispering hard on the voice? When my friend was recovering from laryngitis, her acting coach told her not even to whisper, because he thought it was abusive. So how could whispering be good for me?
Whispering
is different from phonation. Phonation requires the vocal folds to be brought
gently yet firmly together in such a way that they are set into vibration by
the sub-glottal air stream, setting up a sound wave that produces speech or
song. This process is initiated by the mental intention for vocalized (or
voiced) sound. Whispering, by contrast, does not include
vocal fold vibration. Whispering occurs when the vocal folds are held together
just closely enough that air flowing between them generates a ³rushing² sound,
similar to hissing through the teeth, but occurring within the larynx. A soft,
easily produced whisper is not abusive to a voice; however, what is sometimes
called a ³stage whisper² can create problems. This latter kind of forced
whispering uses increased laryngeal tension and a very high flow rate of
breath, and it should be avoided, especially when recovering from any vocal
illness.
Whispering versus hissing
Whispering
requires a slight closure at the vocal fold level in order to create the
necessary air turbulence. In contrast, when hissing, the constriction of the
air stream happens as the top and bottom incisors come close together. Hissing
will not trigger any old habits of excess tension at the laryngeal level, and
therefore it is safer to use with singers and actors who have or have had vocal
nodules (nodes). If the reader has or has had nodules, substitute a hissing
sound for the whisper. Hissing is a useful tool in vocal rehabilitation
precisely because it is not a laryngeal event, yet it allows us to monitor a
deliberately noisy exhaled breath.
1. First of all,
speak (not sing) an [i](ee)[1]
vowel in a silly, high Minnie Mouse voice, then speak the same vowel on a
variety of pitches from that high squeak to the lowest spoken sound you can
make. Now speak an [o](oh) vowel on a variety of higher and lower pitches.
Finally use the [a](ah) vowel and see how many different pitches you can use and
still consider it speaking.
2. Now with your
mouth ready to open and with the best internal vowel-shaping that you can manage, whisper the following
five vowels in the given order and listen to the pitch of each whispered vowel:
[i](ee), [e](ay), [a](ah), [o](oh), and [u](oo). It may be easier to initiate the
whispered vowel with an [h] consonant, e.g. [hi], [he], [ha], [ho],
[hu], or as written without the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols—hee,
hay, haa, ho hoo. The [h] is, after all, really just a whisper. Do all of the
vowels sound as if they are on the same pitch? Can you change the pitch of each
whispered vowel at will, or is it a given? If you do not try to force the sound in
any way, but simply make the sound with an easy whisper, how much can you alter
the whispered vowelıs pitch? You might find it easier to repeat each vowel
several times before you go to the next one. It will be more interesting if you
do this game with a friend so that you can listen to each other.
This
experience shows us what happens to the turbulent air of a whispered sound
after it leaves the vocal folds. Air from the lungs is rushing through the
slightly closed vocal folds, and the resulting air pressure disturbance sets
the vocal tract air into vibration. It is the vocal tract container, full of
air waiting to be kicked into action, that creates each unique vowel sound.
This contrasts with the undifferentiated hiss that occurs with an [s]
consonant. Thus we can whisper recognizable vowels, but the vocal folds
themselves are not vibrating. To clarify: In singing, the pitch
comes from the buzzing vocal folds and is coordinated with the particular shape
of the vocal tract that gives us a vowel. In whispering, however, the ³pitch²
that youıve heard from the whispered vowel occurs entirely within the vocal
tract.
One
of the commonly taught procedures in the Alexander world uses a whispered vowel
as a means to re-educate breathing habits. F.M. chose the whisper mode because
he said that we donıt usually have a lot of habits surrounding whispering,
whereas we do have well-grooved-in (and sometimes counter-productive) habits of
speaking or singing. He also suggested that for variety, other vowels could be
used and that making phonated sound (speaking or singing) was another
possibility.[2] The purpose
of all these modes of exhalation is to use up the available air, with the
crucial moment coming after the air is all gone. What happens
then? Do we allow the breath to return naturally? Or are we afraid that it will
not come in unless we actively do something? Do we fear that we will not be
able to get enough air for the long phrase unless we consciously take a big
breath?
It
is worth considering the value of using a whisper to train for breath
efficiency. We often talk about the muscle elasticity needed for an efficient intake of breath,
but in one of his early pamphlets, Alexander goes into some detail about the
value of using what seems like a very inefficient way of exhaling or making
sound. His design eventually becomes clear, showing the training effect of
whispering in relation to speaking and singing.
³The breath control necessary in
the whisper tone is much greater than during the use of the ordinary speaking
or singing one; consequently the student who is taught from the very beginning
of his respiratory re-education to convert the air exhaled into whispered tones
and the proper vowel or vowels [,] will have learnt what should always be one
of the simplest forms of vocal effort.²[3]
He
often used the [a] vowel, possibly because it demands the most vertical space of
all the English vowels. The lower jaw (mandible) needs to be free enough to
drop down and slightly forward from the temporomandibular joint in
order to produce this particular vowel. Each vowel results from its unique
shape of throat/pharynx and inner mouth/oral cavity, and each shape depends
considerably on what the tongue is doing. The [i] vowel is at one extreme in
the English language and [a] is at the other, with the highest tongue and jaw position for [i]
and lowest tongue and jaw for [a]. There are various shades of [a], from
rather shallow ones, which I call the ³Detroit [a],² to
taller ones. There are a variety of International Phonetic Alphabet symbols to
represent the various flavors of [a]. (Appendix I in the book from
which this article is extracted has all of the IPA symbols that are used in the
book.)
F.M.
Alexander never wrote down the specifics of his whispering-vowel routine, but
one of the early U.S. teachers did. Frank Pierce Jones documented the way F.M.
and his brother A.R. taught the exercise, and his notes confirm what the elder
generation of teachers learned directly from the Alexander brothers.[4]
Through this exercise, they demonstrated the role of inhibition (in the literal
sense of stopping our usual habits) in breathing and voice production.
The
exercise is, among other things, an unsurpassed tool for re-educating the
breath. As Jones described it, the exercise begins with an unprepared
exhalation, which means that we begin the whispered vowel without stopping
first to ³take in² a breath. There is always sufficient air in our system for
at least a brief sound. After making the sound, we then can allow the breath to
return naturally, as does a small child. This does not mean that we need no
breath at all with which to sing a long phrase, or to launch into a bit of
Shakespeare. Learning to use an unprepared exhale is simply
our homework if we want to re-educate the breath to work naturally. ³Natural²
implies elastic mobility of the whole torso, unimpeded by manipulative
breathing methods sometimes imposed on that elasticity. One of the main
functions of the Whispered [a] procedure is to allow the in-breath to take
place as a response to exhalation already having taken place.
1. The first
directive to a pupil is ³to notice where his tongue is and to leave it with the
tip touching his lower teeth.²[5]
If necessary, you can use a mirror and mentally coax your tongue to lie down in
the bottom of your mouth with its tip against the bottom front teeth, while thinking,
speaking, or singing the [a] vowel. If you choose to use other vowels, each vowel will demand
a slightly different tongue shape, a slightly different shape of the
soft-palate dome, and the lower jaw will be in a slightly different location.
2. As you begin
to explore the whisper mode, think about the beginning of a yawn or an ³inner
smile,² which coaxes the soft palate up into a dome.[6]
The ³inner smile² is definitely not a grimace with the lips or the facial
muscles, but it comes when you think of something that makes you smile and
lights up your eyes. The inner smile will ³relax his lips and free the passages
leading to the throat.7
3. The [a] vowel was
perhaps chosen because that particular vowel shape requires you to open the
mouth vertically, releasing the lower jaw slightly down and forward with
gravity. Gravity will do most of this opening work, if you can stop
tensing the several sets of muscles that are responsible for closing the lower
jaw—muscles that all too often hold it tightly shut. It is here that many
speakers and singers have considerable work to do. Learning not to constrict
the lower jaw or chewing muscles (temporalis, medial pterygoid,
masseter) is a much more difficult and subtle task than just trying to make the lower
jaw drop down. It does not ever work to make anything happen that is not yet
ready to move on its own.
4. A whispered
vowel sound was chosen ³because it [whispering] was not associated with
ordinary bad habits of vocalization.²8
5. If we close
the mouth and let the air come back in through the nose, it slows things down,
and it is not so easy to gasp or suck the air in. If the nasal passages are
relaxed, it is impossible to sniff the air in, and the air will come back in
without any noise. As a practical matter in real life, however, when singing a
song with accompaniment, singers often need to let the breath come back in
through the mouth and the nose simultaneously. In this Whispered [a] exercise,
however, there is value in leisurely inviting the breath to return only through
the nose.
General and specific benefits of practicing the Whispered [a] procedure, according to
F.M.ıs writings9
1.
It is primarily an exercise in inhibition (preventing the wrong thing from
happening).
2.
It assists our learning to pay attention to the circular process of breathing,
rather than simply going for the end result. For example, the whispered sound
is no more important than any other part of the procedure. Taking a breath
comes not at the beginning but at the end of the sequence.
3.
It is re-educating the elastic bellows of the rib cage muscles, allowing increased
expansions and contractions of the thorax. This results in increased aeration
of the lungs and a greater supply of oxygen, with more efficient elimination of
carbon dioxide.
4.
It allows the in-breath to take place naturally, as a response to exhalation
having already taken place.
5.
It prevents sniffing and sucking in the air, caused by undue depression of the
larynx or constriction of the nasal passages; undue stiffening of the neck and
throat muscles; or a stiff-set position of the lips, cheeks, and tongue.
6.
It prevents undue lifting of the front part of the chest during inspiration and
prevents dropping of the front part of the chest on the exhale.
7.
It allows a return to a normal condition of the abdominal muscles.
8.
It prevents excessive escape of air (a ³breathy² tone) by training efficient
use of the vocal folds.
Practice
the Whispered [a], with guidance if possible, and you may be surprised how much
can change when so little happens.
Undoing habits of over-preparation
If
we first take a breath before whispering the chosen vowel, then it is the same
habitual pattern as ³taking a deep breath² before initiating any sound, and
this habit is particularly common with singers. We thus defeat the purpose of inhibiting
our usual habit if we prepare the breath before we speak or sing in this exercise.
Instead, we can use this pre-sound-making moment to practice the skill of
inhibition (not doing the usual), for we always have enough air sitting just
under the larynx (located at the top of the trachea/windpipe) with which to
make a bit of whispered, spoken, or even sung sound. Try it!
To
my mind the genius of Alexanderıs Whispered [a] is this:
The exhale uses up breath energy by whispering a vowel; and the inhale will
then happen if we leave things alone after we are done with the exhaling task.
It is startling in its simplicity. With this ³allowing² kind of thinking, we
start at a different point in the breathing cycle from an all too common way of
teaching breathing for singing: ³Make sure you take a deep breath before you
sing anything,² or ³Always sing on a full breath.² It is often very difficult
to persuade classically trained soloists or choral singers that they can sing a
note, speak a line, or do a Whispered [a] without their usual preparation.
If they are willing to sing or speak without any preparation as an
experiment, the first sound they emit is often of a different quality,
because it is not preceded by the habitual muscular stiffening throughout the
throat, neck, shoulder area, and torso. Learning to trust this pattern of letting
the breath come in, rather than taking it in, takes
time and patience and practice.
One effective way
to integrate the teachings of the Whispered [a] into an
actorıs or singerıs work is to speak lines, read poetry, or sing a song one
phrase at a time, alternating these phrases with a whispered vowel or a hiss.
(Remember that the latter option is suggested for those who have had or do have
vocal nodules). By taking time, especially for a singer, there is no pressure
to be ready quickly for the next phrase; and the habitually stiffened torso,
neck, and throat muscles have a chance to rediscover their elasticity. By
working one-phrase-at-a-time you can learn to stop the ³gasp and get ready²
syndrome.
What is the value
of working this way—alternating whispering with sound making? By taking
time to observe yourself, you may begin to notice the excess systemic work that
takes place habitually as you get ready to speak or sing. You can learn to pay
more attention to how you make the sound than to the sound itself.
This is essential if you want to make changes in the quality and effectiveness
of your sound. By literally taking time, you can allow things to
happen instead of making them happen, especially the
returning breath. By taking time, the sound quality is likely to be different
due to the more relaxed throat and torso muscles. Over time you will be able to
give up the ³over-working² habits and be able to enjoy your new ³allowing²
habits.
[1] The International
Phonetic Alphabet symbols that are used in this extract article, with their
everyday ³translations² are: [u](oo), [i](ee), [o](oh), [a](ah), [e](ay).
2 F.P. Jones, Freedom to Change: The
Development and Science of the Alexander Technique (London: Mouritz Press,
1997), 22.
3 F.M. Alexander, Introduction to a New
Method of Respiratory Vocal Re-education (London: Bailliere, Tindal and Cox, 1906), 20-21. Reprinted in the 1995 Mouritz edition of
Alexanderıs early Articles and Lectures, 47.
4 F.M.ıs brother A.R. (Albert Redden)
Alexander taught the Technique all of his adult life, first in Australia, then
in London, and eventually in the U.S., where Frank Pierce Jones studied with
him.
5F.P. Jones, Freedom to
Change,
21.
6 See Glynn Macdonald, The Complete
Illustrated Guide to Alexander Technique, (Shaftsbury, Dorset U.K. and Boston, MA:
Element Books, 1998), 82, as well as appropriate sections of my complete book, Voice
and the Alexander Technique.
7 Jones, 21.
8 Jones, 21-22.
9 F.M. Alexander, Constructive
Conscious Control of the Individual (London: Chaterson Ltd., 1923), 205; and a 1906
pamphlet, Introduction to a New Method of Respiratory Vocal Re-education. The two pamphlets are
reprinted in the 1995 Mouritz Press edition of Alexanderıs Articles and
Lectures,
pages 39 and 51 respectively