What can you learn by attending to the physical experience of sound and speech?
The Use and Training of the Human Voice, by Arthur Lessac.
What the book addresses
Lessac's voice and speech work belongs to the Kinesensics tradition, which connects sensory awareness, vocal expression and movement. The Lessac Institute identifies the 1996 edition among its publications.
How to read it
Learn the author's terminology in its own system before equating it with terms from another voice teacher. Similar sensory descriptions may organize practice differently. Read the relationship among sound, movement and perception, and keep returning to what becomes more available in communication.
An original rehearsal investigation
Speak a familiar phrase comfortably and notice one sensory detail without trying to exaggerate it. Return to the meaning and listener, then observe whether that attention supports clarity or competes with it. Record the question for further guided study. This original prompt does not replace Lessac's developed training sequence.
Connections and distinctions
Compare Lessac with Linklater, Berry, Rodenburg and the Roy Hart lineage as distinct approaches to voice and expression. Read these perspectives alongside extended voice work and embodied imagination; compare their exercises and terminology through practice.
This is an original JBAS reading guide with an attributed overview and study questions. Read the complete book for the author's developed argument and exercise instructions.
Further Reading · Acting, voice and psychology encyclopedia · Teacher and practitioner profile
