The Voice Box

Finding the Voice

The Voice Box

I once was running an improvisation competition (in the style of Theatresports or Whose Line is it Anyway?) at a school in Asia. Two girls from the Primary school came into my Black Box Theatre at recess. One spoke for the other. “She wants to be in the House Improvisation competition at lunchtime.” I said that I can help them by putting their names down on the list and then they can turn up at lunch and I will put them in a team. I then asked what house the girl was in. Her friend said, “She is in Red house.” I then asked why her friend couldn’t speak. “My friend has lost her voice. Can you help her find it?” she said. “We will look around and see if we can find it,” I said. “If we don’t find it, you can still perform. You can just use your hands, body, feet and face to speak.” I looked around the room and found a small white box we used as a container for small jewelry for plays. “I think I found it,” I said. “What’s that?” her friend said. “It’s a voice box,” I said softly. I gave it to the silent girl. “I will see you at lunchtime,” I said.

At lunch, students mostly from the High School had arrived in the Black Box Theatre. I then saw the silent girl enter with her friend. She came up to me. “I found my voice,” she said. “It was in the box. How does it work?” “I said, “Well, the voice box is magic and…” “I am not a child you know,” she said. “Sorry,” I said. Well, when you breathe, the vocal folds… “ “What are vocal folds?” she exclaimed. I thought and explained, “They are here, located in the larynx in the middle of the throat). They open to allow air to flow from your upper airway into your trachea.” She interjected again, “What is a trachea?” “It is the windpipe running from the bottom of the throat to the middle of the chest,” I said. I waited for other questions to come. None did. I continued. “Eventually the air goes into the lungs (behind the ribs in the chest). When you want to speak, you close your vocal folds and begin to exhale, pressure builds up that starts the vocal folds or flaps vibrating (lots of quick opening and closing). You then open your mouth and it lets the sound out.” “I see," she said. "Now I have found my voice, can I join a team?” she said. “I will find you a team,” I said. I stood on a rostra and announced, “We have a young girl in Red house who lost her voice this morning but she has found it and she now wants to join a Red team.” Three teams came forward enthusiastically to claim the new recruit. I put her in a team. Needless to say that team won and the little girl who found her voice was a very vocal star of the team.

Exercise

Using either your hands or a small box, you are going to learn how the voice works. I have done this exercise with small children, high school students, university students, actors and older people. Stand in circle. If you have a box, hold it in front of your lower chest near the bottom of your rib cage. If you have no box, have your hands in front of you with your fingers at the same height. Open the lid of the box half way or open the hands slightly as you breath in. Close the box or your hands after you have breathed in. Hold for one to two seconds. Then breath out opening the box or your hands. As you breath out your make an 'ah' sound. Do not force the sound. Just let the 'ah' sound come out freely. Close the box or your hands when the 'ah' sound and your outward breath has finished. Repeat the same exercise about 12 times. What did you notice about your breath? What did you notice about your voice? What might be useful about this exercise and thinking about voice and the voice box in this way?