Customer Reviews

Alchemy of Voice

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What an extraordinary and life transforming book. Stewart Pearce has given us both spiritual insight and its practical manifestation in this ground breaking book about the human voice. As an theatre director and acting teacher, I find this book to be invaluable both for actors and for all humans who have a voice. The book empowers us to use our voice as our personal sounder and our healer: to find authority, richness, texture and depth in our own instrument whose range and flexibility are largely mysteries to us. By following the exercises and Stewart's deeper guidance you will fall madly in love with the voice you were born with and want to share it with the world!

....the resonance of your heart and the song of your soul." Nobody could have expressed it better than renowned voice coach and personal teacher Stewart Pearce in his book "Alchemy of Voice"! It is a beautiful written account of the author's own spiritual journey to find his " personal key note" and as a consequence his heart's desire. Stewart Pearce became a famous voice coach who teaches not only at London's Globe Theatre but all over the world - wherever people fascinated by his book ask for his support and guidance. The beauty of the book is that it doesn't really matter whether you are an actor, a Top Executive in the corporate world or a politician preparing for the next speech in parliament. We all use our voices to convey our message; either by persuasion, seduction or heart felt passion to convince our audience. Stewart Pearce explains why it is so important that the tone of our voice reflects our inner felt conviction because only then we come across as authentic and are in the end convincing. As long as our mind (ratio) is not fully aligned with our heart (emotion), we will always miss this ultimate goal of eventually becoming our real selves. In addition, Stewart Pearce provides us with some very powerful tools in describing some very simple but highly effective exercises to heighten our awareness and becoming more conscious when using our voice. Whatever your goals is, you could simply use this book and learn the techniques it provides you or start the journey to find IT! The distinctive sound of your own note!

This is a life-changing book, plain and simple.
Stewart Pearce shows us what we didn't know was possible with his clear, thoughtful, easy to read, magical examination of the human voice.
Through Stewart Pearce's spiritual and self-empowering guidance, we learn the force and possibility of our voices to heal, and change lives.
In addition to the spiritual, you will quickly learn the practical: You will learn depth, texture, flexibility, clarity, confidence, and POWER your voice is capable of.
The "voice" will have new meaning after experiencing this book.
This Groundbreaking book deserves the highest recommendation possible.

If it is true that our eyes are the "windows" of our souls then human sound is surely the expression of the soul. Stewart Pearce, in his richly readable THE ALCHEMY OF VOICE, guides us to discover our own vocal sound as a force, a doorway to the soul's intention and as our own healing potential. His voice exercises are excellent and clearly described; anyone can access these guided explorations in sound quite easily. Anyone who needs to be fully present in their work or life and who wishes to have vocal clarity, authority and authenticity would benefit from this delightful guide: actors, teachers, parents, civic leaders, executives and of course, healers....anyone and all.

I recommend THE ALCHEMY OF VOICE most enthusiastically.
Jane H. Percy, Dir. Riverlight Wellness Center
www.riverlightcenter.com

MARY AVER SRN, Msc, Intuitive Diagnostician, Healer and Shaman.

"When Stewart Pearce speaks through THE ALCHEMY OF VOICE I become transfixed. He teaches how to be magnetic, through resonance which is carried on waves of pure sound. I have practiced the exercises from this book and I have experienced this resonance, as sound waves cleanse and re-energize my energy field with waves of peaceful light.
I love Chapter 8 - Words are Organic - which reveals that words have enormous power though most of the time we are completely unconscious of how we use them. I have had the privilege of hearing Stewart speak - from his heart - his words in turn entered mine.
Stewart is clearly a Master and I feel that his book is a must at this time as our culture has lost touch with the knowledge that sound is a vehicle for healing."

My work as a Master of Voice is to joyfully tune people's voices. This is not just a physical process - it also includes encouraging intention to arise from the heart, full of passion and inspiration. When the speaker truly speaks from their `note or centre' we feel their `gravitas'.

"If words arise from the heart,

They will enter the heart

If words arise from the tongue alone,

They will not pass beyond the ears." said an Eastern Mystic.

As I experience life in the west I rarely hear what is revealed by this verse. Why is this? The technological lives that we lead (often at ravening speed) have disconnected us from the `signature note' or the sound of truth that resonates at the centre of our beings. We live our lives through a `literal consciousness' rather than one that is feeling based and therefore `metaphoric'. We unconsciously choose words that reflect this, such as `soundbyte', `info-tech highway' and `CD ROM'. Whereas our forebears living in an age before the scientific advancements of today created words like, `radiance', `dwindle' and `fretful'.

Today, as a result of our fixation with the `doing' aspect of our lives we tend to live in our heads rather than our bodies. Our voices spring from these lofty conduits often sounding harsh, glottal and nasal. We unconsciously use `cerebral resonance' to solely express what we think and this controls the environment in which we place ourselves. The mechanistic approach of our information culture is stifling the `being' aspect of our lives.

Inevitably, this creates imbalance within us and consequently we experience `disenchantment'. As we move from our bodies into our heads we risk losing what is `en-chanting' about our lives, for our voices harmonize life, within them is the blueprint of our humanity. For example, think of the metallic nasal voice of the cityscape, where folk live their talking lives moving across unremitting concrete. Then, listen to the undulations of melody found in rural contexts. When in connection with Mother Nature, people tend to live their lives in tune with her subtle flow of force, and therefore are essentially more `present' and harmonious; when this is so we connect with the song of our soul.

The ancient peoples of our planet believed that all creation was accomplished by sound, and that the earth itself came into being through the power of sound - a sound that moved and still moves through every aspect of creation. They believed this animating principle to be the breathed sound of God's voice.

Similarly, there was a time in western civilization when a father would listen to a young man who came to woo his daughter. No matter what dress the young man sported, if his voice was rich with certain sounds the lover would be accepted for how well spoken he was. Honesty, wit, self-knowledge, suffering, faithfulness, nobility and soul ~ in short the very integrity of a person can be heard in their voice ~ this was called PERSONA which literally means "through sound".

If we persist in avoiding this power within our voices we are in danger of losing a fundamental aspect of our humanity. Today, it is unusual for the young to read out loud the great poets of yore, or to connect with the passions lying within the great stories of literature. The sounds of our aural traditions and culture are in danger of no longer living in the bodies of our children ~ a dreadful thought I feel!

A young romantic in Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE says:

"The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are as dull as night,

And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted."

My life's work (THE ALCHEMY OF VOICE) has been to free the inner potential within all our voices, to let us lead lives transformed by the `gravitas' of sound alive in our bodies. This activity moves us back into the locus of our own `signature note', truly resonating the sovereign treasure that is stored within our hearts.

The theory of New Physics tells us that 'morphic resonance' creates fields of magnetic energy; sound is one of the principle components of this resonance. Through our voices we may feel resonance in the form of sound waves streaming through our bodies, cleansing and re-energising our energy field with waves of peaceful light. Thence, our chakras become balanced and charged with beauty of the one unified field of force ~ sound and light bring the peace that passeth all understanding.


Namaste,

Stewart.

Stewart has an extraordinary gift. In his beautiful book, he adeptly and passionately explains how finding your 'signature' note helps to connect you to your inner power. When I found my signature note, my heart opened, and it was like one of those amazing 'aha' moments where you know you are where you are meant to be. I am now aware always as I listen to myself speak that when I am truly living in my power or standing in my Light, then my voice comes from the heart. And when it doesn't, all I have to do is come back to the sound of my heart again, and I am filled with the courage and strength to live life to its fullest, to be who I am meant to be, and to stand once again in my power and my Light. Its so simple and yet so utterly profound. It is through the sound that comes from our heart that we are enabled to reach our full potential and really transform and enrich our lives. I love this book and think that everyone who wants to live with an open and full heart should read it.

This book has some very good information on voice. But I'm still asking myself why I spent $100 on a $10 paperback. The only reason was I did a seminar with Stewart and don't mind supporting him as he has a lot to offer. I really hope someone will get some sense and lower the price so the average person can share what this book offers at a realistic price.

This book is the answer to my prayers. As an actor and teacher, I have found it invaluable in both areas of my profession. In the past it has been hard to find a text that deals with the voice as being part of the whole actor/ person. Many of the texts just deal with the voice in isolation. Pearce integrates the voice into the whole life experience. Although my interest is primarily from a theatrical standpoint, this book has helped me with breathing and controlling my nerves and anxiety when under stress.I only wish it was possible to take classes with Stewart Pearce but I appreciate Australia is a long way from anywhere!

Perhaps at the point of origins, creation started with sound- before there was light. The phrase, `The Big Bang', stimulates images of heavenly bodies crashing and generating tremendous light. The Alchemy of voice reminds us `the bang' is a huge sound, and sound is of importance to the soul and how the human voice is in deed `a wondrous thing'.

Stewart Pearce takes you on a guided process to discover your `true note', your true self expression, opening heart for a multitude of joyous experiences. Whether you are an actor, a speaker, a performer or reader, your soul will be awakened to its true signature! Excellent read. Stewart Voice is enchanting- his CD Awakenings is a must. Listen to an interview with Stewart Pearce on PsychicPodcasts.com.