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    Targeted Vocal Exercises - Connie de Veer

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    germany23
    The document provides targeted vocal exercises to address common vocal issues including breathiness, backward placement, a tight jaw, a tense tongue, limited pitch range, limited melody patterns, nasality, and glottal attacks or hoarseness. The exercises involve techniques like specific sounds, massage, exploring resonance, dancing or moving while speaking, and working with a partner.

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    Targeted Vocal Exercises - Connie de Veer

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    germany23
    374 views3 pages
    The document provides targeted vocal exercises to address common vocal issues including breathiness, backward placement, a tight jaw, a tense tongue, limited pitch range, limited melody patterns, nasality, and glottal attacks or hoarseness. The exercises involve techniques like specific sounds, massage, exploring resonance, dancing or moving while speaking, and working with a partner.

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    Short daily exercises - see also Kristin Linklater

    Original Title

    Targeted Vocal Exercises -Connie de Veer

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    The document provides targeted vocal exercises to address common vocal issues including breathiness, backward placement, a tight jaw, a tense tongue, limited pitch range, limited melody patterns, nasality, and glottal attacks or hoarseness. The exercises involve techniques like specific sounds, massage, exploring resonance, dancing or moving while speaking, and working with a partner.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    374 views3 pages

    Targeted Vocal Exercises - Connie de Veer

    Uploaded by

    germany23
    The document provides targeted vocal exercises to address common vocal issues including breathiness, backward placement, a tight jaw, a tense tongue, limited pitch range, limited melody patterns, nasality, and glottal attacks or hoarseness. The exercises involve techniques like specific sounds, massage, exploring resonance, dancing or moving while speaking, and working with a partner.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    1

    Targeted Vocal Exercises


    Connie de Veer Associate Professor Voice, Acting
    Illinois State University
    AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique
    Always first address issues of use. Its almost without exception the cause of
    vocal disorders.
    Breathiness
    Huh huh move deliberately from an aspirate sound h to fully phonated
    uh
    Sing the text, then speak it. The energy needed to sing is greater, usually,
    than that for speaking, so we often get in touch with how much energy is
    actually required for speaking.
    Speak one word of your text on one breath. I suggest you do this on all
    fours to allow your belly and ribcage as much space as possible. Make
    sure to keep the head aligned on top of the spine. Strive to get fully on
    your voice with each word. Notice if youre holding your breath before you
    speak or taking more breath in than you need.
    Backward placement/throatiness
    Blow through lips, descending pitch
    Heee on a siren pattern
    Horizontal yawn into KAAAAAH
    Middle of the voice* - Explore the sensitive, vulnerable voice that
    resembles a lost little child. It resonates in the area of the upper lip and
    middle of the face. Awakening this area often brings tears and a deep
    emotional feeling that frees the voice, creating more nuances of vocal
    quality and expressivity.
    Tight jaw
    Refer to the hip opening exercises in the Comprehensive Vocal Workout.
    There is a connection with inflexible hip flexors and a tight jaw.
    Place hands on jaw muscles, making sure to use palms, not fingers.
    Gently massage.
    Jaw drop: Allow the jaw to drop gently (avoid over-opening, as this will
    tighten already tense muscles) down and back.
    Jaw Walk: Allow jaw to be passive, direct upper jaw up and off bottom jaw
    (like a Pez dispenser), with your hands (jaw remains passive) bring bottom
    jaw up to meet top jaw. Continue until head is back as far as your necks
    strength and comfort will allow (Do NOT force). Reverse to return to
    upright position
    Jaw Shake: hold bottom jaw with thumbs and gently shake jaw vertically
    on a sigh of relief. Make sure this movement is quick and relatively small,
    especially if your jaw is very tight.

    Connie de Veer, 2009.

    Tense tongue
    Massage tongue root under chin
    Tongue moving sound forward: Tip of tongue behind bottom front teeth,
    moving front/middle of tongue up towards upper gum ridge: Heee yuh
    Hee yuh Hee yuh
    Hold tongue while speaking text, then speak text without notice
    difference.
    Pitch limited to upper register
    Free hips and abs see Comprehensive Vocal Workout
    Initiate a horizontal yawn, lifting the soft palate and keeping the lips in a
    soft smile. Dont complete the full yawn. Then close lips, speak maaaaah
    keeping an open throat and free neck. Allow the resonance to awaken in
    the chest.
    Lie on back or on all fours root breath, awaken chest resonance by
    tapping the chest with your whole hand while exploring the lowest part of
    your pitch range, gently at low volume. If it hurts, stop! This often
    stimulates profound emotions and sounds of grieving and wailing.
    Plie in second position, bounce into bent knees while producing a rich, full
    haaaaaaah
    Limited melody pattern and/or repetitive patterns
    Melody mirror Find a partner. Partner A will speak their text while partner
    B hums their melody pattern. This reveals limited pitch or repetitive pitch
    and rhythmic patterns.
    Speak a line of text. Then hum what you just heard. Speak the line again,
    trying to change the pattern you just heard yourself hum.
    Dance/move the piece while singing it like a bad operatic soprano. Brings
    resonance out of throat, expands range, connects breath.
    Nasality
    Exaggerate nasal resonance by holding nose and speaking
    Move from nasal to mouth to throat resonators mee-mee-mee (very
    nasal)-may-may-may (moving gradually into face, throat and mouth
    resonators) -mai-mai-mai (chest resonance up to skull at the top of the
    pitch scale.
    Inhale on kuh, then exhale Nggggg ahhhh The Archer
    Glottal Attack/hoarseness
    Free (even tire out) your whole self; Make sure teeth arent touching in
    back; Root breath deep in belly; Refresh Alexanders directions neck
    free, head to go forward and up, and back to lengthen and widen; produce
    a quiet, but fully on voice huh-huh
    Exercises below, especially 1, 2, and 3.

    Connie de Veer, 2009.

    The following may be done with any piece of text. Like most exercises, they
    address more than one condition:
    1. Dance/move and speak the piece moving only in a curvilinear way.
    Exaggerate open and rounded sounds. Opens the throat, eases a hard
    attack, slows down too fast a rate of speech
    2. Repeat the above and add an image or metaphor that activates your
    sensory preferences, such as spread butter, paint the room.
    3. Dance/move while speaking only the vowels. Connects breath to speech,
    helps with breathiness, nasality, and too hard an attack.
    4. Move and speak the piece using Laban effort shapes:
    a. Glide
    b. Press
    c. Wring
    d. Dab
    e. Flick
    f. Float
    5. Move and speak the piece in your middle voice. Allow it to not sound
    good.
    * See Linklaters Freeing the Natural Voice, chapter 14

    Connie de Veer, 2009.

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