Posts Tagged easy

Tongue Stretch Basics

Posted by Eric Armstrong in basic, Voice, Warm-ups on April 21st, 2009

After working to release the jaw, the next step in any Linklater-based voice warm-up or workout is to focus on the tongue. Our goal in this step is to relax the tongue by visualizing it, and then to stretch it out. These should lead to increased tongue awareness, so that when combined with sound, the tongue will “get out of the way” so that the sound, and ultimately the thought and emotion, will have an open channel to spill out of.

VISUALIZING THE TONGUE INTO STILLNESS

The first thing to do is to get a small hand mirror or pocket mirror. Of course, any mirror will do for this, but it’s always handy to have a small mirror nearby when you’re practising. Take a look at your tongue in the mirror. The goal is for your tongue to lie still in your mouth and not wiggle around. Things to notice:

  • the front edge of your tongue should rest behind your lower front teeth, gently touching the back of the teeth, not pressing into them
  • the body of your tongue, is really quite large, and goes all the way into the back of your mouth
  • there is probably a central groove down the middle of your tongue, where the muscles in your tongue that narrow it attach to a fibrous wall that runs down the length of the inside of your tongue
  • the root of your tongue cannot be seen—it connects to your larynx at the hyoid bone, just above the adam’s apple
  • the blade of your tongue is the portion that extends from the tip of your tongue and that, if you stick your tongue out gently, is the part that isn’tattached to the bottom of your mouth. For speech purposes, it’s the part that’s immediately below the gum ridge, behind your upper front teeth

If you feel your tongue wanting to wriggle around, just breathe and relax it as best you can. Relax your jaw, and let it drop with gravity. Let your tongue rest inside the basin formed by your lower teeth, and try to let it rest just at the level of the tops of your teeth.

STRETCHING OUT THE TONGUE

To stretch your tongue, you need to press your tongue tip down, behind your lower front teeth, and let the top surface of the blade of your tongue touch the back of your lower front teeth as you roll the middle and back of your tongue forward. Let your jaw drop and think a gentle smile to make room for the movement of your tongue. Try to make space in the back of your mouth and in your throat, so that your tongue can move easily, rolling slowly out and relaxing slowly back in. How fast should it be? If you think of a waltz tempo (1–2–3, 1–2–3, ) that’s probably about the right speed. The root of the tongue is very strong and because we swallow so many times per day, our tongues are conditioned to pull down and back very rapidly. Try to counter this action by letting the inward action of the tongue be slow.

This video will allow you to watch me doing the action of the tongue roll.

http://voiceguy.ca/sites/voiceguy.ca/files/tongue_basics.mov

Next Step: Soft Palate Basics

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Jaw Basics

Posted by Eric Armstrong in basic, Voice, Warm-ups on April 20th, 2009

The muscles that move and stabilize the jaw are very strong, and one of the more challenging areas in training an actor’s voice. The jaw muscles, made of two major groups, the masseter muscle and the pterigoid muscles, attach to the back of the jaw bone and are used to close the mouth. The muscles used to forcibly open the jaw attach to the underside of the chin, and draw the jaw bone down toward the hyoid bone, which is part of your larynx (or voice box).

In this picture you can see the jaw bone on its own.

I’ve taken that picture and distorted it somewhat to superimpose it on my face, so you get a sense of where the jaw bone sits, with reference to the face.

The first exercise is to let your jaw drop away from your skull. Stand with your head and neck lengthened, and your shoulders wide. This is really important, as neck tension translates directly into jaw tension, so starting with good alignment is essential. Next, let your mouth hang open by dropping your jaw, so that your lower teeth drop away from your upper teeth. It isn’t important to open your mouth very wide here. What’s most important is to let gravity move your jaw rather than using muscles to pull your mouth open. Next take a finger and put it under your chin, and keeping the muscles that move and control the jaw completely relaxed, shut your mouth by lifting your finger. Once your lips touch, release the finger so that the jaw drops open again. Keep thinking that your jaw is very heavy, so you don’t have to pull your mouth open. A heavy jaw just falls open.

Here’s a video of me demonstrating this technique a few times:


http://voiceguy.ca../../files/jaw_drop.mov

The second exercise is to begin to shake the jaw very delicately. To do this, you grab hold of your chin with your thumbs below and your index fingers grasping the top surface of your chin. With your spine long and visualizing the top of your head floating up toward the ceiling, gently shake your jaw, focusing primarily on drawing the tip of the chin down and inward; because of the elastic recoil of your jaw hinge, your mouth will swing back closed pretty much of its own accord.

Here are two videos, of me Shaking my jaw from the front, and from the side.


http://voiceguy.ca/files/jaw_shake.mov
http://voiceguy.ca/files/jaw_shake_w_sound.mov
http://voiceguy.ca/files/jaw_shake_swing_w_sound(sideview).mov

Note that if you have trouble with this exercise because your teeth “clack” when you do it, that means that you’re doing it too vigorously, and need to focus on swinging the jaw open, and worry less about shutting your mouth.

Also beware that some people have issues with their jaw “hinge”, the joint where the jaw meets the skull or temple. The medical term for this issue is Temporo-Mandibular Joint Disorder, aka TMJ Disorder. Tthough many people refer to the condition as TMJ, that’s incorrect because TMJ is a joint rather than a disorder.

Next Step: Tongue Stretch Basics

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Exploring Range

Posted by Eric Armstrong in basic, Voice, Warm-ups on April 20th, 2009

In this step of the Basic Warm-up Series, you’ll gently explore your vocal range by sliding through triads on the notes do, mi and sol.

One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock, rock,
Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock, rock,
Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock, rock,
We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight.
–Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock”

Beginning any exercise that requires intervals, or a series of pitches with fairly accurate relationships between notes, means you have to come up with some way to describe what that music sounds like. The three notes of the first three lines of “Rock Around the Clock” are the notes doh, mi and sol. In the key of C, they would be C, E and G, making a major C triad. The same three notes begin “Mich-ael Row your boat ashore, Alleluia! ”

You can hear the sound of these triads here:

Women | Men
(Women’s voices are naturally about an octave higher than men’s)

For those of you with singing background, you’ll probably immediately recognize this as one of the most common voice exercises around. In this case, we’re not going to be very careful to sing the note, as we’re focusing on speaking voice. We want to give ourselves permission to be a little sloppy and slide up and down through the pitches, and not feel like we have to land very accurately on each note. It’s important that after each group of notes (or triad) up and down, we take a little time to breathe, letting that easy, comfortable inhalation fill down into our bellies. After each triad, we’ll go up a semi-tone until we get to a fairly high pitch, that should warm up the typical speaking range of most people. (Note that some people are capable of going much higher than the range we’re working here. The goal is an easy, gentle warm-up, not an aggressive, competitive voice battle!)

Remember to slide through the pitches, and not focus on singing the notes: sigh your way through the notes, and be sure to think thoughts as you go, such as “where do I feel the vibration from this?” or “can I relax my jaw more?”

So beginning on the B flat below middle C (an octave lower for men), we’re going to work our way up to the G major chord. You can either do this on a hum (mmmmm), or you can do it on any open vowel. I’d start with “Uh,” the vowel in “love, mother, or cup”. Other sounds to explore: “hey”, “hoe”, “hah”, or “hee”.

You can follow along with the piano here:

Next Step: Jaw Basics

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Getting on Voice

Posted by Eric Armstrong in basic, Voice, Warm-ups on April 20th, 2009

In this step of the Basic Warm-up Series, you’ll connect breath to voice. It’s important to start gently, with a great sense of ease, so that nothing is pushed or forced. At this stage of the game, loudness and pitch aren’t that important. You want to explore your voice for today, and see how it feels, where you feel it in your body, and enjoy the process while you’re at it. You may explore this exercise with your eyes open or closed, though if you’re reading this you’ll have to go back and forth if you’re going to follow the next instruction!

HUMMING
If you’ve been breathing, you’ve probably been working with your mouth open, jaw relaxed. Now I want you to bring your lips together, while keeping your jaw as relaxed as possible. Your tongue should rest comfortably behind your front teeth. Breathe in through your nose, and then hum gently with a sigh. “Hmmmmmmmm.”
Let the sound of the sigh last as long as your breath lasts. It isn’t a humming contest: there is no need to make the hum last a long time. If you are thinking of the hum like a sigh, the sound will gently drop down in pitch with each sound you make.

Be sure to remember to allow each breath to fill down to your belly, relaxing your tummy so your breath-action expands down around the waistband of your pants, rather than up in your sternum (aka breast bone). Keep your shoulders relaxed and wide.

FEELING THE HUM
One of the most important aspects of any voice warm-up is to increase your awareness of your voice. By humming, you enhance the vibrations that are felt in your face, mouth and head because your mouth is closed, forcing the air to go out your nose.

At first, when you begin gently humming, allow your sound to be focused around your throat, where you voicebox or larynx is. This is where the vibrations radiate from, as your vocal folds vibrate due to the air passing over them. These vibrations happen very quickly, several hundred times each second, so the sensation you feel is really a buzz. Buzziness is your friend. The feeling of a buzz on your throat, face and lips is a great way to know that you’re working in a way that creates resonance and helps your voice reach the back of an auditorium.

EXPANDING THE HUM UPWARD
Now that you’ve got that buzzy feeling going in your throat, it’s time to focus on the sensations being made by the vibrations further upward, particularly in your face and lips. By making subtle adjustments in your mouth with your tongue and soft palate, you should be able to enhance the buzziness you feel on your lips. Focus on the part of your lips that is touching—just the parts that are in contact with one another, and try to let them touch as gently as possible. In fact, I try to feel as if my lips were just about to come apart, because I want my jaw to feel as heavy as possible and to try to have as much space within my mouth as possible.
You may gradually begin to get a little bit louder with your hum at this point, to ever so gently turn up the buzz-o-meter in your mouth.

DON’T PUSH!
It’s very important at this point not to push. Allow your voice to be gentle and buzzy, not forced, loud, pressing. It should never be hard work. At this point, you can begin to allow the sound to sustain on one pitch or note. Don’t worry about getting the pitch “right” or not—there is not right here! Pick a note that feels like it is in the middle of your voice, neither high up or low down. If you’re not sure where that is, think of saying “uh-huh” in response to a question like “Are you ok?” (Uh-huh.) Now hum on the note that you began your “Uh-huh” on, and that should be pretty good. Once you’ve found a starting note, begin to explore other notes that are nearby. For those who are musically inclined, you can go up or down by semi-tones if you like, but you can also make small jumps of a tone, or even intervals of a second or a third if you like.

BUT DON’T SING!
A key point to remember about warming up your speaking voice is that we’re focused on communication, NOT singing. Though I will grant that good singing is all about communicating, singing voice exercises tend to focus on the sound of your voice, rather than on the feel of your voice, and on what you’re saying. So though you’re on a pitch, and exploring “notes,” try hard not to sing.

OPEN UP TO “Uh”
Now that you’ve been humming for some time, you can relax your lips and jaw open, and begin to breathe in and out through your mouth. Continue to sound on every breath, and ease the sound out on an open, central vowel, “Uh”, as in “cup, love, mother.” Allow the breath to fill down in your belly, let your mouth and throat feel as open as possible, and keep letting the sound out on a variety of pitches. You can preceed the “uh” sound with a little “h” sound, so it sounds more like “Huh”, and that will keep it easy and help you to avoid a glottal attack at the beginning of the sound.

BACK AND FORTH “Hummuh”
Now you can begin to go back and forth between the open sound and humming, by sighing out on “Hummmmmuh.” Take time to feel the vibrations build up on your lips on the “mmm” sound, and the see where you feel the buzziness when you open up. Can you feel it inside your mouth, in your lips still, in the bones of your head and face? The more buzz you feel, the better, as long as you keep it all easy.

Next Step: Exploring Range

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Breath Basics

Posted by Eric Armstrong in basic, Voice, Warm-ups on April 20th, 2009

Voice work always begins with breath. It’s at the heart of everything that voice trainers do, and it’s the core of every successfully trained actor out there. Even actors who don’t ever think about voice work, generally have effective breathing worked out. In this warm-up step, you’ll ground yourself and tune into your breath.

To begin a warm-up, our first goal is to be Centered. Centering is a process of quieting your mind and beginning to listen to your body, so that you can be present as an actor, in the here-and-now. Other goals are to attend to your body’s natural rhythms, so that you aren’t imposing upon your breath, but rather attuning yourself to your needs: the physical need for breath, the emotional need of what you want from your acting partner, for what you need to say in order to get what you want.

START WITH THE BODY

To begin, stand, sit or lie on the floor in a balanced position. (For tips on how to do this, see “Body Alignment.”) Take a moment to feel your full body, from the tips of your toes, to the top of your head. Scan the bones of your body, visualizing the bones of your feet, ankles, shins, knees, (…) thighs, hips, pelvis, (…) lower spine, (…) midspine, ribs, (…) shoulder blades, collar bones, shoulder joint, (…) upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, hands, (…) neck, skull and jaw bone.

At this point, it’s worth suggesting that you DROP YOUR JAW, and let your mouth hang open for the remainder of this exercise. (By the way, I’m not recommending you let your jaw hang open all the time, just for this exercise.)

TUNE INTO BREATH

Take a moment now to feel your body do its own thing. Let your body demand the next breath, without TAKING a breath, or imposing a rhythm or style of breathing. Just let it come “naturally,” or at very least, based upon your habitual, unplanned manner of breathing at this moment. If you weren’t paying attention, how would your body breath? Listen to your breath, as if you were a outside observer. Be sure to allow lots of time.

You should notice a pattern: inhalation, exhalation, wait.

Inhalation, exhalation, wait.

On the inhalation, feel the air enter your body. You want to feel the air passing over your lips, tongue and the back of your mouth, down your throat, and into your chest. You should feel breath-action into your whole body, including your chest and belly.

Inhalation, exhalation, wait.

On the exhalation, feel the air leave your body. If you’re relaxed, and simply ALLOW the breath to go on its own accord, this should be a simple and rather quick outward breath. The muscles used to draw the air in will relax and drop with gravity, while the pressure built up in your chest and belly will release. It might feel like the tiniest of sighs.

Inhalation, exhalation, wait.

In the waiting phase between breaths, you should feel relaxed, physically aware of yourself in space, and simply attend to your body’s need for air. When the impulse for breath arises, just let yourself breathe. Allow the next breath, and repeat the cycle: inhalation, exhalation, wait.

If you’ve closed your eyes in order to tune into your body, be sure to take a moment to open them, and see whether you can do this “tuning in” process while still engaged in the outside world. If you did the whole process of noticing breath with your eye open, take a turn with your eyes shut in order to feel the sensations more accutely without the visual sense distracting you.

At this point you might want to go on to expand your breath beyond your relaxed awareness, or you could go on with the Basic Voice Warm-up Series, and begin to focus your breath through voiced sounds.

Next Step: Getting on Voice

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