[1] By acquiring the ability to consciously move each structure the potential for controlled change of voice quality is increased.
[2] The system was established in 1988[3] by American singing voice specialist Jo Estill,[4] who had been researching in this field since 1979.
"Power" is the source of energy producing the sound (typically the respiratory system causing air to be expelled from the lungs).
[15] The focus of Estill Voice Training is on the source and filter components of the vocal system and the interactions between them.
[16] Craft, artistry and performance magic: Estill Voice Training separates the use of voice into the "craft" of having control over the vocal mechanism, the "artistry" of expression relative to the material and context, and the "performance magic" of a speaker or singer connecting with their audience.
[7] This approach enables a speaker or singer to recognize, locate and control the degree of effort involved in voice production.
[12] The silent laugh technique, developed into an exercise by Jo Estill, is widely cited as reducing false vocal fold constriction.
[41] The speaker or singer can tilt the thyroid cartilage by adopting the posture of crying or sobbing,[42] or making a soft whimpering noise, like a small dog whining.
[43] In Estill Voice training, it is proposed that the position of the thyroid cartilage influences not only pitch but also the quality and intensity of the sound produced.
[45][39] As a practical example, Diane Sheets (Estill Voice Training Certified Course Instructor) worked on the interaction of tongue and larynx when dealing with the vocal problems of Marty Roe, lead vocalist of Diamond Rio.
[47][48] Estill suggests that this laryngeal tube creates a separate resonator that is responsible for the extra brightness in phonation.
[23] Mary Hammond says that young performers find low larynx and sob quality less familiar.
[66] The quality is excellent when teaching safe shouting and at cutting through background noise, increasing clarity of the voice, and is taught to both singers and actors to enable them to be heard clearly in large auditoria without vocal strain.
[47] Estill suggests setting the vocal tract initially by imitating a cat yowling, ducks quacking, and other exercises.
'[68] Belt quality also uses clavicular breathing and has the longest closed phase[69] with the highest subglottic pressure and the greatest glottic resistance.
[71] Joan Melton describes the Estill Voice Training terminology as a part of the language of singing teachers in Australia, with terms such as twang and anchoring in common use, although "the Estill language is heard somewhat less frequently in the UK and only occasionally in the United States.
"[73] The following list gives some examples of the application of Estill Voice Training in a range of disciplines: Soto-Morettini writes that, 'although the Estill method can be very complex, there are a number of simple things that students can learn quickly — and that these simple things can go a long way towards clearing up the confusion that attends some vocal training.
for not including 'breathing' and the related abdominal support within the system, and some of the uses of anchoring for classical singing,[8][2] although Shewell cites Jo Estill as suggesting breath work as unnecessary if the Figures for Voice are well practiced.