Posts Tagged intermediate
Chest Resonance
Posted by earmstro in Voice, Warm-ups, intermediate on April 21st, 2009
- This post is available for download as an audio file.
In this step of the Intermediate Warm-up, we'll be focusing on creating and feeling resonance (aka "buzziness") in your chest. This is easiest to feel on the lower part of your range, so that's where we'll focus. A rich, resonant voice is something we all want, so this exercise not only feels great, it's also an important step in preparing to rehearse or perform.
Before we begin, let's clarify what I mean by "resonance." Voice trainers use this word somewhat differently from the way that voice scientists do. For the science folk, resonance is something that happens to the air above your vocal folds, which resonates in the vocal track, giving the buzz sound created by the vocal folds its quality. For the performer, voice trainers use the term to refer to any vibration sensation in the body that happens due to voice use. We use that feeling as a form of feedback: if you can feel lots of buzziness in your body, then you're probably making the sound correctly.
Open the Channel
Kristin Linklater, in her seminal book Freeing the Natural Voice: Imagery and Art in the Practice of Voice and Language
Now add sound: sigh out on an open "ah," as in "father" (IPA [ɑ]), on a sound around the middle of your range. To encourage vibrations in your chest, tap or pat your chest a little, and put your palms on your chest to feel for vibrations. You will probably feel it more acutely on your breast bone, or sternum, and on your ribs, as bones and cartiledge vibrate more than anything else. Breath by breath, work your way lower and lower in your range. Each note should create a slightly different feeling of vibration in your body, generally with the vibration going lower as the pitch gets lower. If you'd like to follow along with a pitch, have a listen to this audio file this audio file, but you don't have to. You can simply sound your way down, step by step, going lower and lower until you get to the bottom of your range. It helps to sustain the sound for a good long time, to continue to find an openness to your throat "channel," and radiate the sound up toward the ceiling. If the breath was fogging the ceiling, you might imagine that the sound is painting it. Pick a rich, deep colour to imagine, and associate it with the sound you're painting on the ceiling.
- This post is also available in a condensed form, so that you can practice it once you know how to do it.
Next Step: Articulation of Fffricatives
Lip Isolations
Posted by earmstro in Voice, Warm-ups, intermediate on April 21st, 2009
- This post is available for download as an audio file.
This exercise is always easier if done in front of a mirror, or with a small hand mirror to aid you in seeing what you're doing.
Getting your lips going in the morning (or whenever you're doing you're warm-up) is, in many ways, about energizing the lip muscles. But more than just moving them around, we want to increase your awareness of the specific muscles used for moving the lips, and work on isolating them from your jaw and tongue. As I've mentioned in other places in this blog, learning to isolate parts of the vocal tract, particularly the jaw, tongue and soft palate is essential to reducing overall tension in your voice, and to moving those articulator with ease and minimal effort.
Today, we're going to focus on the vertical plane of the lips. There are many other areas we could work on for the lips, but "up and down" are basic functions we can easily start with. Begin by finding good head/neck alignment, floating your skull up toward the ceiling, like a helium-filled balloon on a string. Now, drop your jaw toward the floor so you lips come apart. Finally, with your tongue easily resting in the bottom of your jaw, bring your lips together just to the point where they touch. You should feel as if your lips are reaching toward one another over your teeth.
Upper Lip UP!
Raise your upper lip up toward your nose by lifting the muscles on either side of your nose, those sneer muscles. Now, relax those muscles, letting the lip drop back down to the starting position. Be sure to breathe as you do this: it's not helpful to hold your breath while you're doing any exercise. Imagine whispering "me, me, me" (IPA [mi]) as you do it.
Lower Lip DOWN!
It's no surprise that the next step is for you to pull your lower lip down toward your chin. Start with the lips together, jaw apart, and pull the lip down as if you're revealing your lower teeth to the world. (Perhaps you could imagine checking in the mirror to see whether you have any broccoli stuck there.) Then repeat that down-up action, revealing and hiding your teeth, whispering "may, may, may" (IPA [meɪ]) as you go.
Both Together!
The last step in this exercise is to do both lips at once. Do this by "baring your teeth," lifting and lowering your lips in one move, and then relaxing them back together. Be sure not to clench your jaw as you do this, and whisper "muh, muh, muh" (IPA [mʌ]̃) as you do it.
Put it Altogether
Now you know the three steps, you can do it fairly easily as a three step exercise, but this time on voice. Instead of whispering "mee, mee, mee", etc., you should say it, fully on voice. Don't do it half-way here — go for it, flowing your sound out through the /m/ sound and the vowels that follow. The pattern should be: "mee, mee, mee; may, may, may; muh, muh, muh" (IPA [mi, mi, mi, meɪ, meɪ, meɪ, mʌ, mʌ, mʌ]).
- This post is also available in a condensed form, so that you can practice it once you know how to do it.
This exercise is available as a video!
Next Step: Chest Resonance
Soft Palate Lifting
Posted by earmstro in Voice, Warm-ups, intermediate on April 21st, 2009
- This post is available for download as an audio file, so you can do the work along with the recording.
Nasal consonants are speech sounds made with the soft palate dropped, which allows the sound of your voice to flow out through your nose. By exploring the nasal consonants that are made on the soft palate, we can exercise the action of the muscles that lift and drop the soft palate, and thereby increase awareness of the actions of the palate.
This exercise assumes that you've already read and done the Soft Palate Basics exercise; if you haven't done that yet, you might want to go and read that first.
Feel the Drop
One issue with the soft palate is that there are fewer nerve endings in the back of the mouth, and so there is less awareness of that area. This is good, in that it can reduce your gag reflex, but when it comes to finding more clear articulation of the soft palate, it can make matters challenging. Some people have both a strong gag reflex and limited awareness of their palate, so it's hard to feel, and what they do feel makes them feel sick. For those people, I advise working in short bursts, and taking care to only do as much as you need.
The nasal consonant sound that's made at the back of your mouth is heard in the "ng" sound heard at the ends of words like "thing" or "song." That consonant is made with your soft palate dropped to meet the back of your tongue, closing off the air going to your mouth, and redirecting it to your nose. If you say a word like "song" and sustain the "ng" sound (IPA [ŋ]), you should be able to feel the air, and the vibrations of the sound you're making, passing through your nose, and not out your mouth (put a hand over your mouth and block your nose if you don't believe me.) When you shift from the "ah" vowel of "so-ng" to the [ŋ] sound,the air, sound & vibrations should move from mouth to nose. Hopefully you can at least feel the action of the back of the tongue rising to meet the dropped soft palate. Now try to increase your awareness by saying "ah" and going back and forth between an "oral" sound and a "nasal" one, where the sound of the vowel vibrates in your nose. (For those who care about IPA, the sound here is the vowel [ɑ], and to denoted nasality we add a little tilde diacritic over the symbol, to make it [ɑ̃]. )
NG-K
As you remember from the Soft Palate Basics exercise, [k] is a handy sound for exploring the soft palate, as that consonant sound is made with the back of tongue up against a raised soft palate. Now, let's combine it with the [ŋ] sound, to make [ŋk]. Sustain the "ng" sound, and then raise your soft palate to clip off the nasal sound with a [k]. Don't bother to release the "k," just stop the airflow by lifting your soft palate. (In IPA this is called "No Audible Release" and we notate it [ŋk̚].)
Down to Go Up
Now try making that sound pairing again, but after you've made the [ŋ] sound, pull your tongue down in your mouth. This is a fairly odd thing to do, and it may take a few tries to get it. It also feels quite weird, as pulling your tongue root down (which is stuck to your soft palate) will cause your soft palate to stretch. Most people will agree that that feels kinda gross, to put it bluntly. If you put the "k" stop with no audible release on the end, you'll get a very weird feeling in deed.
The final exploration for this step is to drop the soft palate to make the [ŋ] sound, and then merely lift the soft palate to make an open [ɑ]. The tongue should stay static, or as close to it as possible, and the action will live in the soft palate. It has been well documented that lifting your cheek muscles helps to lift your soft palate, so if you think of a pseudo-smile as you do this, it will often help to establish the connection.
- This post is available for download in a condensed format, so you practice lifting your soft palate, and once you know how, you can work along with the recording.
Next Step: Lip Isolations
Small Tongue Rolls
Posted by earmstro in Voice, Warm-ups, intermediate on April 21st, 2009
- This post is available for download as an audio file, so you can do the work along with the recording.
The assumption with this exercise is that you’ve already read and done the Tongue Stretch Basics exercise; if you haven’t you might want to go and read that first.
The goal of stretching out the tongue in the manner we have been (in the Tongue Stretch Basics exercise) is to target the tongue root where a lot of tension is held. This part of the tongue is instrumental in the process of swallowing, and the theory goes that by stretching out the tongue root, we can increase awareness and find some release in that part of the tongue in order to help the sound move past the back of the mouth and forward into the front of the skull.
Big Tongue Rolls on Sound
Begin by dropping your jaw, and finding lots of room in the back of your mouth. With the tongue tip behind your lower front teeth, roll the body of your tongue out in a big arch, as we did before, exhaling silently, and then s l o w ly roll your tongue back in. Let the breath drop into your belly, and roll your tongue out again. The point here is that it’s a big tongue roll, and you’re really trying to show the back of your tongue.
To add sound, start with your mouth open wide and sigh out on "ah" (IPA [ɑ]), in the middle of your range. Then roll your tongue out on the sustained [ɑ] sound, and back in again. Breath by breath, work your way up by semitones through your range. You can hear a two octave range of pitches going up and down to practice along with here. The goal is to roll your tongue smoothly while trying to find room above your tongue for the [ɑ] sound. Rolling your tongue will distort the sound of the vowel somewhat, but try to find enough room above the [ɑ] so it distorts as little as possible.
Smaller Tongue Rolls
The next step is to work on smaller tongue rolls. These aren’t so much about stretching the tongue as they are about isolating the tongue arching action, and keeping the sound free. Begin by rolling the tongue out to the point where the middle of your tongue is just below your upper front teeth, about half the distance of the Big Roll. Just hang out there for 30 seconds or so, breathing over the smaller tongue roll to get used to it. Let the jaw opening be just big enough to you aren’t biting your tongue, and let the outgoing breath be like a whispered "ee" sound (IPA [i].) Now, on the next breath cycle, whisper/sigh out on "ee," [i], and then let your tongue relax back into the centre of your mouth to the whispered vowel sound "uh," (IPA [ʌ].) I find it helps to have a leading /h/ sound before this, so it might be more accurate to say "hee-uh" Now, breath by breath, roll the tongue out, then sigh out "hee", relax the tongue back in, let the sound change to "uh." Now try two rolls on one breath, "hee-uh-ee-uh." Now three, "hee-uh-ee-uh-ee-uh," (IPA [hi.ʌ.i.ʌ].)
Finally, add sound to the small tongue roll. As you do, the second and third "ee" may begin to sound like a "y" consonant (IPA [i] becomes [j].) This means the sound will be more like "Hee-uh-yuh-yuh," (IPA [hi.ʌ.jʌ.jʌ].) Work your way up to 5 small tongue rolls in a row, and then try them on pitches, working up and down through your range with ease. Remember to keep your jaw relaxed, find space in the back of your mouth (ie lift your soft palate), and let the breath drop down to your core for each group of 5.
You can view this action here, first without sound, and then with:
- This post is available for download in a condensed format, so you practice the small tongue rolls, once you know them, and work along with the recording.
Next Step: Soft Palate Lifting
Jaw Swinging
Posted by earmstro in Voice, Warm-ups, intermediate on April 21st, 2009
- This post is available for download as an audio file, so you can do the work along with the recording.
The assumption with this exercise is that you’ve already read and done the Jaw Basics exercise; if you haven’t you might want to go and read that.
The premise of the Jaw Drop and Jaw Shake exercise is to let your jaw muscles go, so that it hangs freely from your skull. In my teaching, I’ve found that letting you go is easier at first when you shake it very quickly, or very consciously lift it and drop it. In this step, we’ll do the more challenging practice of swinging the jaw more slowly and smoothly, and then add sound to the process.
Stand in alignment, with your head floating up, your neck long and your skull balanced on the top of your neck spine. Let your jaw drop away from you skull, with your tongue relaxed in your mouth behind your lower front teeth. With you mouth open, take a few moments to breathe and feel the open channel of breath from your mouth down to your core.
With your thumbs under your chin and your index fingers just below your lower lip, grip your jaw bone firmly. Now, gently swing your jaw open and closed, keeping your tongue relaxed in your mouth. The focus should be on the down and back action, rather than the "closing" action, which is likely to cause your teeth to clack together. Remember to keep breathing, and try to find a smooth action to the swinging.
You may notice some gripping places in the action of your jaw, and for those with jaw disorders (usually called "TMJ Disorder" for Temporo-Mandibular Joint Disorder by those in the medical profession), your jaw might not swing with an even opening and closing action. You may have some clicking if your jaw joint pops in and out of joint: if you do, you might need to stop and consult your physician. Be careful with how you do this–be sure that there is never any side to side action in the jaw movement, only up and down, like the action of biting into something soft and tender. Take it easy, and don’t force it.
Once you’ve swung your jaw for a bit on breath, you should then add a gentle sigh to the process. As always, we’ll work on "huh" (IPA [hʌ]̃) for this exercise. Start around the middle of your range and sigh your Jaw Swinging out very gently. Can you feel the vibrations in your face?
Remember: as always, you have to do this exercise while thinking something. Even if it’s "my this is an absurd thing I’m doing!," you’ve got to put some content behind the form of the exercise. Remember this is a skill you’re working on for acting, for speaking language. So it’s vital that you think about something concrete and communicate while you’re doing this task.
- This post is also available for download in a condensed, simplified format, so that, once you’ve learned the exercise, you can do the work along with the recording and combine it with other condensed format podcasts to make a warm-up playlist.
Next Step: Small Tongue Rolls
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Eric Armstrong is an Associate Professor of Voice and Speech at the Dept. of Theatre, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University.
Eric Armstrong is a Full Member of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, the national organization of professional performers and coaches working in the English-language recorded media.
The VoiceGuy is a proud member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
The VoiceGuy is an Associate Editor of the International Dialects of English Archive.
