This is a Voice - signed by the authors!
99 Exercises to train, project and harness the power of your voice
STOP PRESS: New signed paperback available now
This bestselling book from voice experts Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher is packed with exercises and tips for better singing, speaking and healthy voice use.
The book contains 99 exercises to improve your voice in speaking and singing and to experiment with new sounds. Gillyanne and Jeremy take you step by step through different types of voice use. How and why we warm up; what our voice is made from; how to speak more clearly; keeping your audience interested; the techniques of mimicry and ventriloquism; warming up for singing; opera and classical singing techniques; vocal sounds and style features for pop, rock, country, jazz and soul singers; cooling down your voice; troubleshooting if it goes wrong.
So if you want to sing better (classical or contemporary), speak with
more authority, discover how to mimic, start a ventriloquism act or
learn how to beatbox, this book is for you. Check out the images above for examples from the book, read the list of exercises below and buy your copy signed by the authors here.
Section: How your voice works
The book begins with a chapter on How The Voice Works, including the
anatomy and physiology of the human voice from newborn to old age, how
we make sound and pitch, respiration, phonation, resonation, the jaw and
nasal cavity, gender matters and phonetics.
Pre-exercise:
Finding your body balance
Section: Getting Started:
Speaking and singing warm ups
The most efficient breathing technique
Breathing in rhythm
Making space in your throat
Stretching the back of your tongue
Releasing the root of your tongue I
Releasing the root of your tongue II
Cleaning your teeth
Releasing jaw tension
Working your lip and face muscles with the five wows
Toothbrush talk
Warming up your articulators
Straws and bubbles
Ng glides
Puffy cheeks
Words with consonants
Words with unvoiced consonants
Note patterns
Section: Speaking exercises
Speaking effectively
The passage "Comma Gets A Cure" is included in full as text to experiment on.
Feeling the buzz
Using the buzz in running speech
Finding your personal volume levels
Changing volume and pitch
Finding the right speaking pace
And pause...
Consonant awareness
Toothbrush intelligibility
What's your pitch pattern?
The rising inflection?
How to sound nasal
Avoiding the nasal sound
Tongue twisters
Section: Ventriloquism and Mimicry
Ventriloquism
What to do with your mouth
Vowel modification
Replacing 'w'
Replacing 'y'
Replacing 'f' and 'v'
Replacing 'm'
Replacing 'p' and 'b'
Making merriment
Butting in
Mimicry
That reminds me of...
The clear-strong archetype
The breathy-light archetype
The edgy-bright archetype
Get that vocal 'tune'
The key phrase
Section: Beatboxing
Separating your mouth and nose
Using the air in your mouth
Kick drum
High-hat
Snare drum
Creating a sequence
Adding gaps
The inwards 'K'
Adding air to your kick drum
Kick drum variations
The dry kick
The techno bass or 808 kick
The reverse kick
Snare variations - adding fricatives
Snare variations - the 808 snare
High-hat variations - the open high-hat
High-hat variations - the reverse high-hat
The clave click
The side click
The classic handclap
The crab scratch
The electro scratch
Section: Singing exercises
Opera, oratorio and classical
When you need more air
The 'hover breath' and the 'smooth onset'
The 'diamond of support'
The SPLAT in-breath
Sustaining airflow
The 'whinge setting'
Low-larynx singing
Finding the 'sob setting'
Making clear vowels
Finding the extra 'lift'
Vowel tuning to 'ee'
Vowel tuning to 'ah'
Adding the chiaro to your sound
The messa di voce
Finding your legato line
Rock, pop, soul, jazz and country
The glottal
The breath
The gasp
The creak
The yodel/flip
The upward single-note approach
The downward single-note approach
The pitch-glide note approach
Volume changes
The 'strong-clear setting'
The 'breathy-light setting'
The 'edgy-bright setting'
Adding nasality
Adding whinge
Diphthongs and vowel transitions
Vowel resonance
Finding your dark R
Section: After the exercises
Cool downs and refreshers
Reducing your phonation threshold
Sighing into 'creaky voice'
Head, neck and shoulders
Spine, pelvis and sitting bones
Vocal hygiene
Acid reflux
If in doubt
Acknowledgements, further reading, exercise sources, other useful info
Glossary
Index
