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…
When was the last time you thought about where exactly your tongue was as you pronounced a vowel? Never? You are not alone. Vowels are lovely and necessary, and far too often, nebulous. This can make language hard to understand…
If you do only one thing when you are faced with an audience of listeners, it should be this. Make eye contact with multiple people in the room. Breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. Just that -- inhale and…
The tongue is a giant muscle. Well, giant for something meant to fit in your mouth. It has quite a few jobs including being the main taste organ, helping with chewing and digestion, and importantly for our purposes, enabling speech…
Last week, I taught a class in accent adaptation where most of the attendees were English speakers with a different language of origin. I was struck by how many of the people in the room were completely fluent in English…
About 20 years ago, I participated in a blood drive. The process itself was uneventful. Afterward, I was led to a table where I was to eat a cookie and have some juice. That is where things got interesting. I…
Countless hours, and dollars, are spent on communication. We need to be heard and understood. This is true in human personal relations and in professional life. In fact, all of our relationships are built upon communication, it is at the…
Have you ever had the experience of hearing your own voice on a recording and being shocked at the sound? Whether you like the sound of your recorded voice or not, there is a reason it sounds foreign. You aren't…
In the partner article to this piece, we discussed vocal hygiene. Vocal Hygiene is an umbrella for those behaviors that assist one in maintaining the daily health of the voice. This week we will delve into vocal health care which…
Over the past weeks, I have described components of the vocal instrument working my way upward, and now we arrive at the source of sound, the vocal tract. First a definition, the vocal tract is the cavity where sounds are…