The Long Read feature in the on-line Graun is often worth devoting time to and John Colapinto's piece about the damage he did his voice in over-stretching it is particularly fascinating. I have some professional interest in the voice in relation to its use in the classroom and on the stage which added to my engagement in the article, but I think even the most casual reader would find much here to usefully reflect upon.
Actually, a peculiarity about my own voice has perplexed me for some years now, but for all its illuminatory qualities I didn't find any answers in Mr Colapinto's article. The puzzle is this: according to all the received wisdom, as I understand it, periods of silence help to rest and refresh the vocal cords. But the exact opposite is true in my case. If I'm not teaching, as is the case in vacations, I come close to losing my voice and am invariably dangerously croaky when I go back to work. It takes about four days of usage for my stronger voice to come back and the more I use it, the more flexible it becomes. I suppose I must be doing something right to get this result, but I'm not at all sure what it is.
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