Naming Rights
I was chatting with a friend this morning about a pair of speakers she heard recently. Both had less than common, potentially hard to pronounce names. One of these women, acknowledged the difficulty and broke it down for the audience…
Sing: Language
I am currently working on From The Diary of Virginia Wolff by Dominic Argento. A work I have performed many times before. Besides the fact that I feel rusty still (thanks, pandemic), it feels like putting on a favorite coat.…
Articulate: Finding Clarity
I was recently chatting with a woman who is back to work as a server in a restaurant. She expressed the concern that people couldn't understand her and were asking her to repeat herself often. This is a valid concern.…
Variance: Speaking In The Mask
Once upon a time in voice pedagogy, singers were instructed to place their sound "in the mask." The term referred to the zygomatic and frontal bones ie. the cheekbones and forehead. Many singers, myself included, worked to place sound in…
Articulate: Surprise
Our love of novelty is perhaps the most endearing and frustrating characteristic of the human-animal. But, since we can't change it we might as well engage it. Directing attention to your speech can be as simple as changing volume, using…
Articulate: Do You Know Who You Are?
I had an interesting chat with a stranger yesterday. We got onto the subject of work and when she found out what I do, she said an interesting thing. "It's so interesting how people embody themselves, vocally." We spoke further…
Articulate: ARRRRR
I live and work in Boston. Which means I live and work with non-rhocity. That is fancy-speech for under-pronounced or completely absent /r/ sounds in speaking. I'm not talking about the typical Southie accent either, I mean people who are…
Articulate: Mumble Wumble
Mumbling is defined as speaking in a quiet or indistinct way. In practice, it is a little more complex but the end result is the same. We cannot understand what is being said. Mumbling can be constant, or situational. For…
Articulate: Let it Flow
I can sometimes be guilty of thinking of articulation only as it applies to individual sounds, and over conversational phrases. It is an effective method for making certain that clarity exists in diction. However, it ignores the very musical qualities…
Articulate: Baby Got Back
Back of the tongue that is. The tongue is a large and dynamic muscle which is capable of a lovely array of sounds. Interesting for me is how we as American English speakers neglect some of the juicy variations made…