Vocal Strengthening Exercises

For our final/spring performances, many TAs will be transitioning their students from intimate classroom to cavernous auditorium. Always challenging. So now may be the right time to introduce exercises specifically geared towards enhancing vocal power and projection. Here are a few...

HISSING “SSS”:
Put a hand on your lower stomach.
Start a hissing “sssss” out.
All students start hissing “sssss” out – while they are continuing the breath out, guide them saying: Shake it out! Hold it. Hold It. Hold it!
When all the students are empty of air and are about to burst for want of breathing in, Tell them: RELEASE, Air comes in!
So what did you feel after you hissed out all the air and then released?
Answers like “breath coming in” or “my body filled up”.
Great! And where did you fill up?
Answers like “stomach” or pointing to lower belly. (Lower back, chest, shoulders, and upper back are also correct answers, but focus on the lower belly if this idea is new to the group.)

VOWEL-BODY WARM-UP:
Each part of the body has an accompanying vowel sound (and emotion):
The belly has the “Oh” (emotion: distress, pain)
The chest has the “Ah” (emotion: relief, relaxation)
The neck has the “Ay” (emotion: happiness, calling out)
The nose has the “Ee” (emotion: bored, whining)
The top of the head has the “Ip” (excited, an idea)
We move up and down the body speaking our sounds, then back down.


TONGUE TWISTERS:
Unique New York, unique New York_You really need unique New York
Fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish, fresh fried fish
Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather
Are our eyes our own?


A LITTLE PACINO GOES A LONG WAY:
IF you can access You Tube in your classroom. Find a clip titled “Inspirational Al Pacino Speech,” from the movie “Any Given Sunday.” It’s an amazing example of how a voice can grow in intensity over the course of one short scene. Great example for students. Inspires conversation about vocal projection.


PROJECTION COUNTING:
1. Sitting straight, place one hand on your belly and another behind your back opposite your hand on your belly.
2. Breath in, attempting to move both hands out as far as possible. This is belly breathing.
3. Exhale quickly, but make no sound as you do so. Sound is an indication of tension.
4. Breath in again. Now, when you exhale, say the number “1.”
5. Continue until you reach number “10”. As you progress through the numbers, pretend that with each number you are speaking to a target farther and farther away. By the time you reach the end, you should be very loud and strong.

A/B PROJECTION:
Line students up in two equal rows, facing each other. Have one row say the lines marked "A" and the opposite row say the lines marked "B." After each interchange, have the rows take a giant step backwards so that the distance between them increases. The challenge is to say the line distinctly. If either member of the pair cannot hear the line clearly, they can raise their hand to indicate that their partner should try again.
A: I live in an ice house. B: I live in a nice house.
A: Summer school. It’s so fun. B: Summer’s cool. It’s so fun.
A: I see your two eyes._B: I see you’re too wise.
A: I have five minutes to eight._B: I have five minutes to wait.
A: Give me some ice. B: Give me some mice.