In the 20th century, one of the most widespread of the voice training methods that start with the concepts “natural voice” and “the rediscovery of voice” is the Linklater Method. The primary target group of this method is actors. With its exercises designed for the "reconstruction of the body, the voice and the mind", this method aims at utilizing the innate voice capacity. As a multidisciplinary method fostered by many a scientific discipline and Eastern teaching, Linklater method comes with a language that is imbued with sophisticated and metaphorical expressions, scientific terminology and acting jargon, which makes the method prone to false and/or superficial references. The target of the present study is to explicate with a “trainer's perspective” the fundamental concepts and propositions of the Linklater Method, most notably the “natural voice”. Also, the present study aims at analysing the relation between the basic practices of the method and recent scientific data, thus examining the mental substructure these practices are based on and their physical/technical goals. In this direction, the present study involves the adopting of a general framework with respect to the inclinations and scientific sources of voice training in the 20th century that affected Linklater's propositions, a simplified summarisation of the neuro-anatomic process producing the voice, the selection of exercises on which the principles and goals of the method can be seen concretely and the grouping of these exercises under titles pertaining to the four basic steps of voice production. In the conclusion part of the study, it is argued that this method, despite being regarded as “alternative/experimental” when compared to conventional methods in Turkey, is one of the mainstream methods in contemporary voice training and that it is shaped through a multi-purpose system whose aim is not only voice training but also to develop the creativity and originality of the actor.

Keywords: voice, voice training, actor training.