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2023.04.30 – 0850 – Vocal Trauma    A secondary problem comes when you release that breath through the previously tightened folds.   Added together you have the very real possibility of ‘vocal trauma’, serious damage to your folds.   Think through the vocalisations that often come with the gym-strains of ‘glottal attack’ – using that pressure behind the larynx to give added str...

2023.04.29 – 0849 – Sub-Glottal Pressure   VOICE BOX Sub-glottal Pressure   OK, so ‘sub’ is ‘below’, so this is the pressure below the glottis. A ‘glottal stop’ is the stop-start airflow from your throat in a word such as ‘uh-oh’ or when the word ‘butter’ is said without the middle t’s: ‘buh-er’. Indeed, ironically, the word ‘glottal’ also includes a glottal stop.   Those sounds are...

2023.04.28 – 0848 – Help! The Gym Has Wrecked My Voice!   But beware: ·        Strong physical exertion soon before a presentation can cause physical exhaustion which will be heard in your voice ·        Weightlifting and working out your upper body and neck and shoulder area can cause stress and tension · &n...

2023.04.27 – 0847 – Fit Body Factors: intensity and balance Factors to consider: ·        Exercise intensity – how hard you push yourself and for how long o  Especially on days that you will be performing o  Be careful of ‘red lining’ – there’s usually no need to push things to the max o  Muscular damage or failure can be painfu...

2023.04.26 – 0846 – Fit Body, Fit Voice   Physical fitness and training Of course, your voice needs the rest of you to be in shape, your overall health, fitness, strength and posture, not just the actual vocal mechanics! And that means the right kind of exercise: ·        Core and aerobic exercises help you with strength and breath control ·  ...

2023.04.25 – 0845 – Birthday Candles   Birthday candles Stand as previously described, with your feet firmly on the floor shoulder-width apart, knees very slightly bent rather than locked, with dropped and relaxed shoulders. ·        Put your hands on your diaphragm area to help you feel and picture the following process ·     &...

2023.04.24 – 0844 – Sue-eeeeee Sue-eeeeee Stand as previously described, with your feet firmly on the floor shoulder-width apart, knees very slightly bent rather than locked, with dropped and relaxed shoulders. ·        Put your hands on your diaphragm area to help you feel and picture the following process ·        St...

2023.04.23 – 0843 – Let It All Out Let It All Out Focussing on full exhalations helps expand your diaphragm. ·        Lie on the floor in a semi-supine position (the ‘sit-up’ position described earlier). ·        Exhale all air through your mouth ·        Relax and let air drop b...

2023.04.22 – 0842 – It’s Hip to Breathe Square It’s Hip to Breathe Square Square Breathing is used by US Navy Seals among others to create calmness and control. ·        Sit or lie down so you are relaxed and comfortable ·        Breathe in for a count of four as you draw one side of a ‘square’ in your mind · &nbs...

2023.04.21 – 0841 – The Crunch and Stretch The Crunch and Stretch Rib stretches open up the intercostal muscles (the ones that run between the ribs, and help form and move the chest wall), and release tension. Breath in through the mouth – as that’s what we tend to use when we are actually speaking. ·        Lie on the floor and bring each knee in to your ch...

2023.04.20 – 0840 – How To Know Your Air Flow How do you know, your air-flow? Watch the clock Take a standard breath (not a huge gulp) and then let it out as though gently releasing air from a balloon: ssssssssssss on your natural ‘home tone’ until the supply is exhausted. Then repeat the exercise with a touch of vocality to it, swapping the ‘sss’ for a long but gentle ‘zzzzz’ How long did the sou...

2023.04.19 – 0839 – Don’t Take Fish Gulps But be aware of you use of air: do you tend to gulp? Or are you squeezing out the final words in a sentence with the last ounce of air you have spare? What about your other breathing habits? Be aware that in certain situations you may feel short of breath: if you are recovering from an illness, if you are nervous, if you’re tense… If you take in too much a...

2023.04.18 – 0838 – Excessive Oxygenation  Excessive oxygenation You only really want to take in as much air as you will need to get to the end of your adlibbed phrase or sentence, or to read what’s been written. So how do you know how much that is? As for adlibs, it usually comes naturally; I mean, how many times do you see someone strain at the end of a sentence in a conversation as they ru...

2023.04.17 – 0837 – Efficient Air-Use Exercises Now consider these exercises to help you create: ·        The most efficient way to get air in to your body ·        The most effective way to use it to power your voice (and that doesn’t necessarily mean to give you a powerful voice) ·      ...

2023.04.16 – 0836 – The Deep Breathing Double Whammy So short and shallow breathing from your upper chest results in a tightening and tensing of neck and throat muscles (as well as affecting the pecs which raise the ribs, and the shoulders) which leads to a reaching and squeezing voice. Such breathing can be as a result of, well, ‘life’: nervousness, bad posture, the ‘stress of the day’… Better br...

2023.04.15 – 0835 – “Why Do I Run Out Of Breath?”   Running out of breath before the end of a sentence could be the effect of poor support (you did not take in enough to start with), or poor writing (the sentence was simply too long to be read in a single comfortable breath). Or it may be because of poor control (you leaked air as you spoke, wasting it in perhaps a breathy voice, caused by in...

2023.04.14 – 0834 – The Breath Control Process Breath control (or ‘ supportive breathing’ ) ensures that your vocal folds are getting just the amount of air based on what it is you want to say. [1] 1. Your brain has a thought and sends a message to your ribs and diaphragm muscles that you will need air to vocalise that thought. 2 . Your ribcage expands and that leads your diaphragm to drop, which...

2023.04.13 – 0833 – Breath Support and Breath Control     Breath Support and Breath Control These two terms are often used interchangeably (I do so myself), but there is a specific difference.   Breath Support Is maximizing the air capacity available to you for speaking, through best posture and best use of the diaphragm, lung health and so on.   Fitness of the diaphragm is key...

2023.04.12 – 0832 – Passive and Active Breathing A quick reminder that air is what fuels and carries your voice and that you invariably speak on the outbreath, when your stomach is coming in, a bit like an accordion. [1]   Breathe through the nose where you can (but don’t sniff) to warm and filter the air, although when talking, short sound-less snatches are taken instead. Keep topping up you...

2023.04.11 – 0831 – The Key Thing of Breathing BREATHING We’ve looked before at the importance of proper breathing, not just to give you life (!) but to give your voice enough support so your words are heard and you have enough fuel to feed your voice to the end of a thought. Additionally, your voice will sound ‘fuller’ (not ‘louder’ or ‘deeper’ but with more ‘colour’ and ‘resonance’), with more r...

2023.04.10 – 0830 – Lion Yawns Have a large, lion-like yawn to focus on getting the blood flowing into your throat and face. ·        Then move all the muscles of the face individually ·        Screw up your face and make the smallest face you can: close your eyes, purse your lips, frown. ·    &nbsp...

2023.04.09 – 0829 – Cooling Down After Voice Work Cooling down after voice work Most people know the importance of warming up the voice, even if not sure exactly how. But cooling down the voice? Not so much. But the truth is that if you have a high vocal demand, cooling down with give you more stamina, reducing fatigue and enabling better functioning.   As we saw earlier, a “ high vocal deman...

2023.04.08 – 0828 – Yoga For Your Voice Yoga for your voice Traditional yoga is an ancient form of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing. The main components of yoga are postures and breathing. As we saw earlier, one of the seven chakras, or energy centres, of the body, is the Throat...

2023.04.07 – 0827 – Stretching Cats and Wobbly Babies Tense and release ·        Actively applying tension to parts of the body and releasing and relaxing ·        (need more examples)   The cat arch ·        Onto your hands and knees and stretch your spine like a cat archin...

2023.04.06 – 0826 – The Forward Flop Forward flop ·        Stand with your feet hip-width apart. ·        Inhale and as you do so, raise your arms to the sky ·        Then slowly bend at your waist on the exhale and take your hands toward the ground. It doesn’t matter how far you...