VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Patricia Shanks]

From a true-to-life, learned it in the trenches from suffering "interesting" voice training, dealing with reflux, and just about everything else a voice person could have to weather, local, relatively unknown voice coach I'm with ya. That added smoky dimension of the voice is fun. But you don't want to use it too much. You'll note that you still hear the fundamental formant and some upper harmonics in the voice, along with that added phlegm rattle and softening of the tone due to inflammation and all that stuffiness. I am not a doctor. I am not a doctor. Just an old voice teacher with a good ear.

I am giving another presentation to a group of professional business coaches next month, so all of this is on the tip of my mind right now. I plan to make a big point of helping people find their optimal speaking pitch. In this country, people have a tendency to speak too low. Over in Banksey's berg and surrounding locales, I am told that the women, in particular, speak higher than optimal speaking pitch. I have heard that in some of the imports whom I've heard around here. The beginning of any given week, I tend to be right at optimal speaking pitch (around 207-220 Hz). If I get run down, or teach a bunch of baritones in a row, I find myself at an uncomfortable and exhausting 174-ish Hz. It's OK to visit briefly. But nobody should live outside the comfort zone for long. Also, encouraging optimal speaking pitch habits automatically brings in better breathing and more energy in the voice.

Now, that said, a lot of us make a living based on some of the not so ideal ways we use our voices. As a teacher and concerned voice trainer, I worry for the young girls I hear who are honing that raspy voice that sounds like the aftermath of screaming at a rock concert. It is forced, too low and sans breath flow. If they keep talking like that, they will be lucky to be able to utter any kind of sound a couple of decades down the road. Voice therapists will have their work cut out for them. If I were a younger voice talent with a healthy quality trying to compete with all the other young talents whose voices have that blown out sound today, I don't know what I'd do.
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Patricia Shanks

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