The singer/actor's voice: The need for a shared pedagogy for the successful use of the singing/speaking voice in theatre voice training

The speaking voice and the singing voice both originate from the same source: the larynx. Beyond that obvious fact there are quite different issues facing the singer/actor's use of the voice in terms of placement, pitch, registration, breath support, etc. Most studies of the voice deal with the singing voice because it is easier to measure, as it deals with exact not approximate pitches. The professional speaking voice is another matter. Either it is ignored in studies or is treated as an extension of the singing voice. Singers have a difficult time getting out of the "head" voice after singing at high pitches for a long time and actors sometime have difficulty accessing the "head voice" to sing after a long emotional scene, and are often afraid of singing high pitches. The body of the paper will be an exploration of these issues through interviews with voice professionals concerned with both the singing and the speaking voice, with the focus on developing a shared pedagogy that recognizes the demands of both the singing and the speaking voice.