Change Your Voice, Change Your Life

by Morton Cooper

Book Overview

Book by Cooper, Morton; Morton Cooper This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879804416
• ISBN13: 9780879804411
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Wilshire Book Company
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Good advice, if you follow it confidently

First of all, you do not need to purchase and read all of Dr. Cooper's books. "Change Your Voice, Change Your Life" has the same useful material as "Stop Committing Voice Suicide" or "Winning With Your Voice." I know, since I have read all three. If you want to learn Dr. Cooper's methods for vocal improvement, read any one of them.Dr. Cooper provides encouragement and instruction to anyone who is dissatisfied with his or her voice. He encourages a respect for individuality. He urges us not to fret over whether our voices are "too high" or "too low." The voice that sounds best for you is your own "natural voice," which largely means a voice at your natural pitch. Dr. Cooper teaches you how to find your natural pitch. He also stresses the importance of proper breathing. For him, proper "breath support" is achieved through diaphragmatic breathing, as it is generally termed. A few years ago, when I first read "Change Your Voice, Change Your Life," I did all of the exercises to the best of my understanding. However, I never was sure that I was doing them correctly. I wished that Dr. Cooper was in the room with me, telling me whether I was doing the exercises properly, and correcting me if necessary. Eventually, I consulted with Dr. Cooper at his office in Los Angeles, for a considerable fee. As it turns out, I was doing the exercises correctly, all along. If you try the exercises, do so with confidence that you understand them, and that you are doing them correctly. The books' instructions are simple. Don't imagine that they are more difficult than they are.Here's some advice for men who think their natural pitch is "too high," and who lower the pitch so as to produce a sound they consider more masculine or authoritative. When you artificially speak at a pitch that is lower than your natural pitch, you lose resonance. The result is a voice that is thin or weak, a voice that makes you sound depressed or lifeless. You need to speak at your natural pitch, even if you feel sure that your natural pitch is "too high." By speaking at your natural pitch, you restore resonance to your voice. As a result, you sound more vital and confident. Paradoxically, a listener may mistake this sound for a lower pitch. In reality, the pitch is higher than your affected pitch, but the sound is so much better. Resonance makes all the difference.

Wonderful

Horseness began to inflict my voice at its lower ranges a couple months ago, and it was surprisingly traumatic on me emotionally. It made me dread speaking! I remembered seeing Cooper plug this book years before.. and hoped my library would have a copy. It did. And the simple exercises laid out in this book took care of my problem. It proved to be an emotional life saver for me. And Cooper also has some great common sense advice on life in general in spots in here. He's a wonderful psychologist as well as a voice expert.

Miracle Cure for Vocal Fold Paralysis

At the time when I was diagnosed with paralysis of the vocal cords, I consulted the leading Ear, Nose and Throat doctors in America, who told me I would never sing again. These leading voice doctors told me that my problem was hopeless. At that time, I had been singing opera for 24 years and was singing as Cantor of one of the leading synagogues in the United States. As a professional singer, I understood quite clearly what Dr. Cooper was writing about in Change Your Voice, Change Your Life. His writing is concise and easily understood. The exercises in this book are simple and easily understood by the layman.I immediately bought Change Your Voice, Change Your Life because I was very familiar with Dr. Cooper's articles on Vocal Suicide, especially his article, "Vocal Suicide in the Speaking Voice of Singers." This article appeared in the Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing of which I am a member. This association, I might add, holds Dr. Cooper in high esteem. I had been following his work for years. The great Metropolitan Opera Bass, Jerome Hines, had Dr. Cooper write a chapter in his book, "Great Singers on Great Singing," on how Dr. Cooper miraculously saved his voice. After reading Change Your Voice, Change Your Life, I realized what needed to be done. I clearly understood what Dr. Cooper wrote about, but I wanted hands-on therapy. I traveled from Philadelphia to Los Angeles to work personally with Dr. Cooper. I arrived there on a Monday morning and in the short space of three hours of his therapy my problems were corrected. I left that Friday with a voice. That was 15 years ago. I have not had a voice problem since 1985 when I was diagnosed with the problem. Dr. Cooper performed a miracle for me. He changed my voice, and my life!Richard Allen: Opera Singer, Cantor and Rabbi

Powerful, provocative and masterful guide to your voice.

Jam-packed with powerful insights, Dr. Cooper teaches ambitious readers how to gain control of their voices and improve their chances of success. Recognizing the power of voice in the success equation, "Change Your Voice, Change Your Life" abundantly gives the "trade secrets" needed to transform ordinary voices into powerful megaphones of success. Rejecting the notion that voice is inborn and unchangeable, Dr. Cooper teaches interested readers the easy, straightforward steps to developing an influential voice. With extraordinary clarity, this book proves that voice is, in fact, one of the most overlooked but powerful ingredients of success. By following Dr. Cooper's lively, entertaining discussion, readers truly change their voices and indeed their lives.

This book changed my life!

I am a professor of mathematics at a small community college. I saw Dr. Cooper interviewed about eight years ago shortly after I had undergone an operation to remove polyps on my vocal cords. These caused chronic hoarseness and made it very difficult to lecture. At that time I taught only part time and I considered giving up teaching entirely. After the operation the doctor said something to the effect "take it easy on your voice or you'll be back" but gave no useful suggestions.To make a long story short, I ordered Dr. Cooper's book Change Your Voice, Change Your Life, followed the simple suggestions, and have had no trouble since. My voice became so reliable that when a full time position came open four years ago, I applied for it without hesitation. I got the position and have enjoyed my new career ever since. I also enjoy having a strong, expressive, reliable voice. It is no exaggeration to say that the book did indeed change my life.J.M.Professor of MathematicsCerro Coso Community College