Voice Classes: Why You Need Them

Little happens for the professional actor that does not require them to engage their voices.

From Radio Drama to Shakespeare, to Film and TV work or TV Commercials, the voice in a vital tool for a successful acting career.

Yet those that have not trained via the traditional drama school route have little voice tuition, or access to it.

Many seek help in book form and there are some wonderful books on vocal technique by Cicely Berry, Patsy Rodenburg, Kristin Linklater, Barbara Housemann and Michael McCallion.

But books cannot compare to physical human contact with an experienced and qualified voice coach. Books are a starting point but a voice coach or teacher can pick up on errors, strengths, problems and offer solutions, answers and corrections immediately.

Books are cheap, voice coaching is not. A good voice coach knows their value, and you simply cannot prepare to work professionally without at least some rudimentary voice and speech training.

It’s how you earn your living.

Voice, body and imagination, those are the Actor’s primary tools, so without regular ‘workouts’, the voice will suffer.

Investment in weekly group voice classes or individual voice tuition is a must. I was shocked to learn that outwith my studio, there are no regular voice classes in Glasgow. And if no one is running regular voice workshops in Glasgow, how are all the resting actors keeping their instrument fit?

We have recently commenced voice classes for actors in Glasgow, if you are interested, take a look at what we offer. It’s very rare that professional voice coaching for actors exists in Scotland, it’s very popular in London, New York and Los Angeles. Why not Scotland?