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Improving the voice starts with the breath
The voice
is the richest, most versatile communication tool we
possess. It is also the most overlooked and underrated
in
terms of the attention we give it when thinking of our
presentation skills. Most people take their voices
entirely for granted. Ninety percent of Americans have
never taken a course in singing, breathing, enunciation or
any other subject that would improve their vocal skills.
That's a shame, because just a little time and effort can
bring valuable rewards.
To create a more pleasant, powerful and effective vocal
instrument, we must start with our breathing. When we were
born, we breathed naturally from our diaphragms. A newborn
can scream at the top of its lungs all night long and not
wear out its voice. Why? Its voice comes out unimpeded
because vocally, it is completely relaxed. Its voice is
a force of nature and the center of power is in its abdomen.
Most adults are vocally shot by half time of the
basketball game. What's happened? Tension has brought the center of vocal power up to the neck and upper chest.
Would you like to have a clear, resonant voice again, with
the power to fill an auditorium and the stamina to speak
as long and as often as necessary? Then you have to rid
yourself of that high vocal tension and drop your power
center back where it belongs in the lower abdomen. This
means learning some good habits or more precisely,
unlearning some bad ones. Begin with a full stretch and a
conscious relaxation exercise to rid tension from all parts
of the body. It is strange but true, that the whole body is
the vocal instrument and even tension in the feet affects
the voice.
Our first task is to breathe correctly, from our natural
power center. If you lie on your back on the floor,
supporting your head with a book or small cushion, you will
probably find yourself breathing correctly. Your belly
should rise with each inhale and fall with each exhale -
quite naturally. You need to be fully relaxed for this to
occur spontaneously. If it doesn't seem to work that way for
you, it means your bad habits are well established and
you'll have to pay more conscious attention to your
breathing for a while.
Imagine that your torso is a rectangular elastic box. With
each inhale you inflate the box on all six of its sides -
front, back, left, right, shoulders and pelvic floor. When
you lie on your back, the front seems the most elastic. Now,
roll onto your belly, support your forehead on your hands or
turn your head to the side. Now where does the breath want
to go? Into your back and sides, doesn't it? Can you fill
the spaces around you kidneys and between your ribs and
pelvic bone with air? Now imagine that your pelvic floor
too, expands with each breath. Your chest and shoulders,
restricted by all those bones, is not so easy to expand, is
it? Now you are breathing from your power center - low.
Relaxation is the key to great vocal performance. Take
care not to overdo these exercises. Hyperventilation is not
our goal here. Just take nice, easy breaths - exploring deep
and shallow ones, light and strong, from a center below your
navel. Once you've been able to establish abdominal or
"belly-breathing" on your back, you must bring it to work on
your feet. Keep the sensation of breathing low as you work
with the exercises on the next page.
Exercises for the Voice
There are countless exercises for relaxing, strengthening
and focusing the voice. These are only a sampling for you to
experiment with.
Stretch. Big muscles first, arms, back and legs - reaching
for ceiling, bending sideways, flopping over and hanging
from the waist, arms dangling, knees relaxed. Then roll up
back from pelvis, one vertebra at a time.
Shoulders, neck and face. Jam shoulders up to ears and hold
for ten seconds, then drop them with a sigh. Roll head
gently around in a circle, releasing tension in neck.
Alternately squeeze and stretch muscles in face. Shake it
out and let face go rubbery.
Yawn. Yawning is the best way to relax and open your
larynx. Experiment with yawns vertically and horizontally.
Shake out face and blow out lips between exercises. Vocalize
a sigh as you release tension.
Sigh. Good release for tension anywhere in the body.
Breathe it out on a sigh. Breathe deep into your torso. Let
a sound appear on the next exhale: "Fa-fa-fa-fa" very quiet.
Repeat three times allowing yourself to breathe in a normal
rhythm. Jaw is loose and dropped, posture erect and centered.
Breath originates below the belly button.
Now vocalize: "Ha-hum-ah" gently. Repeat and hold the "Hum"
a little longer. Find the vibrations in your sinuses.
Sing "May, Me, My, Mo, Moo" on an ascending scale, as long
as it is comfortable.
Pay attention to the placement of the tone in your mouth,
head, throat and chest. Then substitute consonants "L, B, G
& K"
Vowel Placement - from "fit" to "fall" - play with where
they occur in the mouth. Call "He-e-e-e-y-y-y-y" as though
to a friend some distance
away.
Extend your range - Practice singing the scales from lowest
to highest pitch: sing "goog, gug, mi, ma, mum, no, nay" by
turns, going up third, fifth, octave and back down.
Count to ten, tossing a ball to another person - one number
per toss.
The objective is to focus the voice and carry it to the
listener in the same way you make sure the ball reaches
them.
Articulators - "P - T - K" unvoiced, using only the lips
and tongue.
Then, voiced, they become "Buh - Duh - Guh." Repeat with a
brisk rhythm.
(C)2005 Michael F. Landrum,
http://www.coachmike.com/
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