Voice and Speech Review 

About: Voice and Speech Review is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Voice Training & Singing. It has an ISSN identifier of 2326-8263. Over the lifetime, 481 publications have been published receiving 1200 citations. The journal is also known as: Voice & speech review.

A Powerful Voice: Investigating Vocality and Identity

Abstract: Though the word has been naturalized to the point that writers rarely offer a working definition, a reexamination of its interrelated uses across studies of cognitive science and acoustics, language, literary criticism, and music reveals its layered significance as a site where the making of sounds and the making of identity intersect. Each approach looks for different meaning, investigating the voice as a vehicle for the variety of communicative, expressive, and ideological processes at the heart of speech and song. This essay surveys the idea of vocality as it has developed across history and disciplines, proposes a holistic model for its study in the context of music, and begins to unpack the heavy sociocultural baggage that accompanies it. It is my hope that these efforts may be of use to voice and speech professionals as they seek to tap the fullest potential of the voice in performance, and to grasp the entirety of what a voice carries, when it carries across a theater or podium—not only lexical meanings and emotion, but also vital information about culture, identity, and the dynamics of power that suffuses human communication.

The unspoken voice and speech debate [or] the sacred cow in the conservatory

Abstract: The article discusses how the direct instruction versus constructivism debate in educational literature relates to the voice pedagogy field. Outlining three spoken (or well researched) debates in the field, the article traces the history of voice and speech pedagogy and explores how direct instruction versus constructivism acts as a dominant and unspoken dispute within the discipline. The central argument states that all instructors prefer either direct instruction or constructivism teaching methods. The author offers a question-and-answer case study and concludes that voice instructors should teach to a variety of learning styles, incorporating both direct instruction and constructivism practices. Insisting that students only learn in the preferred learning style of the instructor is the sacred cow of the conservatory.

Second Dialect Acquisition

Abstract: Second Dialect Acquisition by Jeff Siegel aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the largely understudied field of second dialect acquisition (SDA), as distinct from second language acquisitio...

Dysconscious racism in mainstream British voice pedagogy and its potential effects on students from pluralistic backgrounds in UK Drama Conservatoires

Abstract: Given the increasing diversity in UK actor training programs, it is imperative to recontextualize mainstream British voice pedagogy. Such pedagogy generally begins with the supposition that the voice is a representation of the sociocultural self and aims to improve the voice by undoing physical tensions that can impede usage. These tensions are usually attributed to negative societal influences that may induce feelings of fear, shame, or anger. For students with pluralistic backgrounds, racism may be such an influence that creates somatic tensions. This article will examine potential manifestations of dysconscious racism, an uncritical mindset that fails to challenge the norms of a dominant culture, within UK Drama Conservatoires. This includes: curriculum, liberal humanist assumptions in voice texts, standardized accents like Received Pronunciation, and the teacher-student relationship. By conducting semi-structured interviews and employing such methodological lenses as critical ethnography and embodied ...

Vocal traditions: Fitzmaurice Voicework

Abstract: Vocal Traditions is a series in the Voice and Speech Review that highlights historically important voice teachers and schools of thought in the world of vocal pedagogy. In this essay, Fitzmaurice V...