The art and craft of voice (and speech) training

In this text, influential voice pedagogue Kristin Linklater offers a set of reflections on the art and craft of voice and speech training. Drawing on a comprehensive outline of her experiences in developing her ‘Sound and Movement’ exercises, the first section charts key developments in voice training, from the understanding of voice as a musical instrument towards an embodied, psycho-physical approach. Offering varied perspectives informed by research on the anatomy and physiology of the voice, alongside decades of practical exploration, the text addresses the necessity of the ‘Actor’s Quartet’: Body, Voice, Intellect and Emotion, collaboratively integrating through the development of creative imagination. The article outlines the psycho-physical foundations of the work and concludes with a detailed, practicebased example of how to free the natural voice through the exploration of sound, resonance, emotion and thought in a Shakespearean excerpt.