The New Voice

by Alan Greene

Alan Greene’s book is a valuable contribution to laryngeal knowledge and presents a concise profile of the anatomy of the larynx. The book features exercises that will restructure the voice and teach the student a new way to handle the instrument. Greene presents the physiology of singing and shows you how to feel the different muscles and parts of your anatomy and use them. In addition to the text, there are illustrations & musical examples throughout the book. The Theory *What is it *The sound producing mechanism *The sound supporting mechanism *The word producing mechanism *How does it work *What are the problems *Separating sound from performance *What is the solution *A new era for the voice *The basic shape The Practice *The sound supporting mechanism, part 1 *Don’t use it *The sound producing mechanism *The larynx – 2 exercises *Positioning the tip of the tongue – 4 exercises *The pin ball syndrome *The jaw – 3 exercises *The outer semi-circle – 2 exercises *The tongue – 4 exercises *The passive tongue – 2 exercises *Desensitization – 1 exercise *The root of the tongue – 1 exercise *The sides of the root of the tongue – 1 exercise *The upper section of the basic shape – 1 exercise *The perfect & constant HONH *Relaxing deeper constrictors – 1 exercise *Activating the anti-constrictors – 1 exercises *Strengthening the anti-constrictors – 2 exercises *The diagonal tongue – 2 exercises *Coordination & vibrato – 2 exercises *For speakers only *Sound on the basic shape – 1 exercise *What is vocal quality *New sensations in the higher & lower tones *The actions of the vocal cords *Measuring the basic shape – 1 exercise *Long tones on the basic shape – 1 exercise *Verifying the perfect & constant HONH on sound – 1 exercise *The sound supporting mechanism, Part 2 – 3 exercises *Measuring sound supporting mechanism tension – 1 exercises *Crescendo/decrescendo – 1 exercise & more

Paperback

Reviews

[Jason Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not qualified to judge the plausibility/truth of the thesis, and I only spent about a week with the book, not nearly enough time to really do all the exercises. I did learn some things, and definitely want to investigate this approach further. Greene has a good writing voice, and the book is generally clear and readable.

All that said: it would benefit from an index; the layout is very poor (for example, step 4 of a short 4-step exercise should not be on the next page); the diagrams are ok but insufficient—not everything referenced is clearly labeled, and it would be very helpful to see diagrams of the exercises in action, in addition to the included anatomy cutaways. (Would also love to see videos of people doing the exercises; maybe they’re out there.) And, while the writing is good, it seems overly specific and some areas and overly generalized in others—like Greene knows what he’s talking about but doesn’t get it all down on the page.

I guess I see a lot of room for an updated and improved edition, assuming anyone still believes in this basic pedagogy.

[Matt Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to hear results of a singer that actually did the work involved in this book you tube Arch Matheos, John Arch used this teaching in the development of his voice