Everyday Voice Care: The Lifestyle Guide for Singers and Talkers

by Joanna Cazden

The human voice expresses more than words, more than music. Vocal expression links the listener directly to another person's inner feelings, body, and soul.

Keeping the voice healthy used to be as mysterious as the power of voice itself. Modern science has revealed much about the vocal mechanism and its health requirements, but simple information for the average voice user has remained hard to find and harder to trust. In Everyday Voice The Lifestyle Guide for Singers and Talkers , respected voice therapist Joanna Cazden brings together a wealth of practical tips and advice to help keep your own expressive voice in top working order.

Drawing from her experience as a singer, theater artist, and a licensed speech pathologist who has treated more than 1 000 voice patients, Cazden integrates up-to-date medical information with common-sense suggestions and sympathy for the demands of contemporary life. Chapters on food and drink, cold remedies, loud parties, travel, fitness routines, and when to see a doctor are complemented by notes on alternative health care and the spiritual dimension of vocal rest. This invaluable resource for voice and speech professionals, students, and teachers will answer even the age-old question of whether to put lemon or honey in your tea.

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2011

About the author

Joanna Cazden, MFA, MS-CCC, is a singer, speech pathologist specializing in voice rehabilitation, and a respected advocate for holistic, multi-disciplinary voice care. She has treated voice patients at Cedars-SInai Medical Center since 2001, and also offers private voice rehabilitation and training, master classes for voice students, and seminars for speech pathologists and vocal arts teachers. She is the designated Vocal Health Expert on TheModernVocalist.com, a leading online singers' community.

Reviews

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, thorough overview of voice care. There won't be a lot of new information for those who have studied voice for awhile, but there is some great stuff in there like the overview of different ingredients used in cough lozenges for example.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE the publishing layout of this book! Bite sized chapters to break up the information, clever opening quotes from people, books, plays, etc, and end of chapter summaries to succinctly wrap up the main points.

Not too heady or scientific, and lots of practical tips and resources given.

[Meredith Kadet Sanderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful!

[Jarod Leis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the structure of the book being broken up into short sections with a nice overview at the end of each. Useful for making note and referring to bits as needed.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good. More "try this stuff and see if it works for you" than dogmatic, which I appreciate. But it was also putting it out there honestly with regard being honest with yourself when it comes to daily practices and habits that may or may not be the best for great singing. Covers a lot of ground, so there was stuff that I knew already but plenty that I am now and will explore in the future.

[Dotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful ideas - leans toward singers, but excellent for teachers or others who do a lot of talking.