Linklater Voice Warm-up Exercises

Jim Johnson
Physical Awareness/Loosening/Grounding
Evaluate emotional and physical state and address needs appropriately.
Yawn & stretch.
Allow mind to turn in and down to connection to the floor; then build up
through skeleton, allowing unnecessary tension to release.
Head and neck rolls.
Drop down.
Elbow points roll forward. Balloons attached to elbows float up; wrists;
fingertips.
Jaw, tongue & soft palate.
Breath Awareness
Stretch breathing muscles: Lying on back with knees to chest & open hip
sockets; diagonal stretch; folded leaf; umbrella stretch.
Allow focus to move in and down to belly: Outgoing breath is release,
relaxation; moment of nothingness; yield to the need for more breath. Let
your hand drop with outgoing breath to remind yourself of the
instantaneous release of diaphragm.
Breath arrives at the front of the mouth, lips: Think of an "f" onto lips. Wet
lips to feel breath passing over lips. Imagine the pathway the breath
travels, feeling the cool, incoming air passing over lips and hard and soft
palates and warm, outgoing air traveling the same path.
Touch of Sound
Picture a source of vibrations low in your belly or pelvis: pool of vibrations,
river, ball of light, energy, box, etc.
Drop a thought into the source, allowing vibrations to splash out on an
unformed, easy "huh." Alternate focus between ease, purity of sound,
relaxation, specificity of thought, breath, etc.
Add a bounce: "huh-huh."
On pitch: up and down two to three notes.
Allow a huge sigh of relief on sound.
Vibrations
With a relaxed jaw, hum onto lips.
Loosen lips: Blow out on breath, stretch & blow, add sound.
On sound, loosen your lips, gather vibrations and release them: "Bbb-
mmm-uh."
Touch on sound, gather vibrations and release them: "Huh-humm-uh."
Repeat on pitch with head rolls, on drop downs, in diagonal stretch,
shaking sound out through various body parts, etc.
Sigh out on sound; have a conversation.
Opening the Channel
Jaw: Massage; grab jaw and loosen on breath and sound.
Tongue: Tip of tongue on back of bottom teeth, stretch the middle or back
of your tongue out of your mouth; then release, allowing tongue to relax
back, settling in the lower jaw. Repeat stretch on sound, on pitch, feeling
sound extending over the tongue (not into tongue): "Huh-yuh-yuh-yuh."
Focus thought/sound forward with tongue gently stretched forward, then
relaxing back: "Hee-yuh-yuh-yuh."
Soft Palate: Yawn wide and encourage a stretch of the soft palate. Stretch
soft palate with a breathy "Kaa" in & out; repeat with physical stretches,
in squat, Atlas/bear/side/side, etc. Call out to a distant person: "Hi!" or
"Hey!"
Combine on bow and arrow: Draw arrow from quiver ("Kaa"); draw
bow/arrow back ("ng" into soft palate); release arrow, arching across the
sky ("Aaah"); add tongue stretch ("yuh-yuh-yuh").
Throat: Allow neck to extend as head tilts back; sigh out through an open,
wide throat with a deep connection to belly (furnace and chimney);
continue to sigh openly while bringing head to center, maintaining the
open feeling in the throat.
Channel Resonators
Chest: "Haa" with neck extended, head tilted back. "Fee, fi, foe, fum."
Mouth: "Huh" with head at center, thought/sound focused along roof of
mouth and out. (1-2 notes above easy sigh) Try cupping hands in a
megaphone to feel forward focus. "Jack and Jill went up the hill."
Teeth: "Hee" with head and neck released forward onto chest,
thought/sound focused into top teeth. "She feeds bees in her three leafy
trees."
Move from teeth to mouth to chest, back & forth, repeating.
Blend in "Hey." Add pitches on triads. Add movement, skipping, arm
swings, shaking chest, etc.
Increasing Available Breath
4, 6, Flutter: Using imagery, allow four huge breaths, then six medium,
and then move into a flutter or pant. Repeat adding sound.
Vacuum the lungs: Let all air out; plug nose and hold breath while
expanding chest; when you need air, allow yourself to breath in freely
through nose.
Sinus Resonators
Wake up face muscles: Work muscles; massage.
Allow energy/attention to build.
Allow yourself to become vulnerable; give up responsibilities. Remove the
mask.
Allow head to drop forward onto chest, thumbs on either side of your
nose, holding the weight of the head. Tongue relaxing out of mouth onto
lower lip.
Think "Heee" and release "Hee" on breath. Add vibrations on pitch (F# to
F# & back to down to C#) while massaging sinuses.
Nasal Resonator
Sniff repeatedly through nostrils, plugging one at a time.
Find the selfish child in you, stomping and throwing a tantrum.
Ping a "me" into the bridge of your nose: "Me-me-me-me-me!"
Spread it onto & through your cheekbones: "May-may-may-may!"
Open the sound into your mouth: "Mah-mah-mah-mah-mah!"
Play with pitch and sound: "Why fly? Why fly so high?!" "A-way, a-way, a-
way, a-way, a-way!"
Skull Resonator
"Hey" elevator: Imagine your body is a building, with the
stomach/diaphragm as the basement and each of the resonators as a floor
in the building. With the idea of the motor/power in the basement, use
the word "hey" to move the elevator up through each floor, using as many
breaths as you need. Repeat with elevator going down.
Repeat elevator on a drop down, letting it move faster with gravity. While
dropped down, call out "Kee-eey!" into the top of your skull on three
ascending pitches. Allow the elevator to return to the basement while
building back up the spine. Repeat calls on "Kee-eey!"
Shake out a sigh of sound and a "Hey" while playing with pitch.
Articulators
"Puh-tuh-kuh-tuh" on breath.
"Buh-duh-guh-duh" on vibrations.
"Muh-nuh-nguh-nuh" on vibrations.
Tongue twisters; over-articulate a monologue.