Change Your Voice : Change Your Life : A Quick, Simple Plan for Finding & Using Your Natural Dynamic Voice [Paperback]

Morton Cooper (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Wilshire Book Co (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879804416
• ISBN-13: 978-0879804411
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #284,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good advice, if you follow it confidently, February 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Change Your Voice : Change Your Life : A Quick, Simple Plan for Finding & Using Your Natural Dynamic Voice (Paperback)

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.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my life!, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Change Your Voice : Change Your Life : A Quick, Simple Plan for Finding & Using Your Natural Dynamic Voice (Paperback)

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

71 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could be shorter, June 12, 2001

By 

Pumpkin King - See all my reviews

This review is from: Change Your Voice : Change Your Life : A Quick, Simple Plan for Finding & Using Your Natural Dynamic Voice (Paperback)

Morton Cooper explains about three things you can do to change your voice, which is all summed up in about three pages near the end. The rest of the book is filled with personal stories of some of his clients, many who are celebrities, and descriptions of the dangers of misusing your voice, and his thoughts on social causes of vocal abuse and misunderstandings of how to correctly use your voice. Maybe some people enjoy reading this. I think that about one fifth of the pages would have sufficed to contain all the practical information.

Having said that, I was mindlessly practicing saying "Umm-hmmm" and some of the other words he recommends while reading the book. At the end, where he reviews the exercises, I was surprised to find that my voice did indeed feel and sound more resonant and stable with more volume control. If Mr. Cooper is responsible for this change which occurred in a few hours (if it occurred at all, and I'm not entirely convinced), then I feel I owe at least three stars instead of two. I admit he writes some interesting things, but I still say it could be much shorter.