Working on the body and breath can, for many people, be enough to significantly improve the quality and strength of their voice as well as increase their confidence in speaking. Freeing body and breath opens us up to resonance, however, and this is well worth exploring because it can bring many extra qualities to yourContinue reading “Resonance”
Author Archives: Fellner Voice
Words
The whole meaning and sense of a text as well as the deeper message contained within it, is communicated through the voice. And the way this is done determines whether or not an audience hears the message and are entertained or moved. This happens when we physically connect to the words through the vowels andContinue reading “Words”
Thought, Breath and Speech
A question I often ask students is what brings our voice into play. I point out that as they sit quietly listening to me, there is no voice and no sound. The answers I get are always well-informed and breath, vocal cords, the diaphragm and vibrations are usually mentioned. But it sometimes takes a bitContinue reading “Thought, Breath and Speech”
The Physical Reality of Voice Training
I am often asked, when a student comes for a first lesson, how long it will take before they can expect to feel a difference in the way they use their voice. My answer is that it depends on the individual and the amount of time one is prepared to practise each day. However, workingContinue reading “The Physical Reality of Voice Training”
Why Voice Classes Are Not Just for Actors
The skills developed in a drama school training are ones we all possess, and the desire to improve quality, stamina, and range is what prompts many non-performers to come for voice lessons. Through knowing our voice and understanding how it works, as well as what happens when it doesn’t, we also begin to understand moreContinue reading “Why Voice Classes Are Not Just for Actors”
The Hidden Responsibility of the Actor’s Voice
Historically, voice training began in the theatre. A voice teacher’s job traditionally focused on helping actors develop their voices to a level where they could meet the demands of a professional performing career. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greek drama, where actors’ voices needed to be heard and understood in large open-airContinue reading “The Hidden Responsibility of the Actor’s Voice”
A Programme Note for a Performance of Schubert’s Winterreise
Schubert’s Winterreise was composed in 1827 one year before his death at the age of 31. In 1822, Schubert contracted syphilis – an incurable disease at the time – and it was against a background of declining health as well as depression that the twenty-four songs that make up the cycle were written. In anContinue reading “A Programme Note for a Performance of Schubert’s Winterreise”
The Feeling of What Happens…
The Feeling of What Happens is the title of a book by the Portuguese-American neuroscientist Antonio Domasio. In this book he examines the question of where our feelings come from and what it means to be conscious. Consciousness, he believes, comes from our being fully present to the response of our physical body to whateverContinue reading “The Feeling of What Happens…”
Remembering My Teacher: Lessons in Moscow with Professor Evgenia Sheveliova
Professor Evgenia Sheveliova is the second of the two teachers I’ve studied with whose ideas about voice have made the biggest impact on the way I sing and teach. We met in Moscow, during the summer of 2008, and our association came about rather unexpectedly. I was not looking for a singing teacher at theContinue reading “Remembering My Teacher: Lessons in Moscow with Professor Evgenia Sheveliova”
Remembering My Teacher: Lessons on Schubert’s Winterreise with Esther Salaman
My blog posts until now, have focussed on different aspects of voice technique. At the beginning of the national lockdown this year, before discovering the wonders of Zoom and Skype teaching, I realised, as I cancelled my lessons and began to sink into gloom, how teaching and working with the voice becomes a way ofContinue reading “Remembering My Teacher: Lessons on Schubert’s Winterreise with Esther Salaman”
Fellner Voice 