This is a book of 48 voice exercises from 28 voice therapists. The contributors are international but largely drawn from the USA. There is an accompanying CD containing recordings of 21 of the exercises – these being exercises that benefit from having an aural model.
The preface states that the approach has not been to organise the chapters by type of voice disorder; instead each chapter focuses on an important parameter of good voice production. Thus there is, for example, a chapter on “Integrating Voice Production with Body Movement” and another on “Resonance”. There are a few special cases at the end of the book where you can find very specific exercises for Puberphonia or Transgender voices but the information here is quite limited.
This is a book for use by qualified Speech and Language Therapists or Voice Teachers, rather than a resource for clients to use by themselves. The exercises are clearly laid out and mostly explained well; they generally follow through into speech. The demonstration of exercises on the CD uses American accent, intonation and stress and is not always clear. Although linked with the text it is easy to lose your whereabouts as you turn the pages. Professionals may disagree about the usefulness of some of the exercises, but the approach is not didactic and in some cases, eg chewing technique, the reader is given choices. A chapter on work with paediatric clients is welcome as are the exercises linking voice with movement – these drawn from many sources including Alexander and Linklater.
Once familiar with the book and CD it could be a useful , practical resource. However given that not every exercise is likely to be useful to an individual therapist or teacher, this is an expensive resource at £51.00, perhaps more likely to be bought as a reference book for a voice department rather than by individuals.
Review by Annabel Bosanquet, SLT