Why are the exercises you have chosen important for vocal development/ you personally?
The exercises I have chosen in my videos are The diamond point exercise and drop and release.
The diamond point exercise helps me identify where the power comes from in my body, the diamond points are the "pubic bone, below the breast bone, the hips and lower back" these points pulse when you pant which shows how powerful your diaphragm is and where the most power is coming from. I identify that the most power comes from below my breast bone and my lower back, the muscle always feels stronger coming from here than it does in the other diamond points on the pubic bone and hips.
This exercise helps me as I can feel how strong my voice is when I pant, and it helps me identify where I need to improve on.
The drop and release exercise is a really good exercise for me as it helps me to project my voice after inhaling. It sounds quite breathy which is good and my chest and diaphragm opened up when I exhaled and said a line from my performance " we can't help you"
With practice I feel everyone can improve on this exercise you just have to focus on the breathing and not on what you are saying and how well you are breathing.
Describe how you used pitch, pace, pause and inflection, vocal idiosyncrasy/accent in your monologue?
The monologue I performed today was quite slow paced and serious, yet soft. It was not an angry monologue like the one I performed last week. It had quite a soft pitch but it did have "fuck" 3 times, in which I emphasised the word fuck to create more of an effect.
I think my pace was really good as I kept it quite slow throughout and used good pauses, especially after the word "fuck".
My articulation has improved I was pronouncing my T's better at the end of my words.
The feedback I was given by my tutor was to vary my voice range next time and perform a monologue which conveys a posh accent and quite a high pitch. My tutor also said that I disconnected with the words in my monologue and really went for it, which is a good thing as some people find it difficult to loose themselves in a monologue, I find this quite easy to do as when I choose a monologue to read I make sure it is something I can really get into and understand fully. If I don't understand a piece of text then I cannot perform it to my best abilities.
Next week I will pick a monologue which is quite romantic and soft, which also requires quite a posh accent and a higher pitch as I feel I can definitely range my voice a lot more by varying the styles of the monologues I choose.
Video of the 2 exercises I chose in today's lesson; diamond point and drop and release
Why are the exercises I have chosen important for vocal development for me personally?
The two exercises I have chosen shown in the videos below are important for my personal vocal development as the "Initiating supported speech from the lower belly" exercise helps me to project my voice and have more power and force in my voice. I feel naturally I have a good projection and quite a rich voice but I am always looking for ways to make my voice even stronger and better pronounced.
I have learned to make sure I always have enough breath in my lower belly as this supplies my diaphragm with great power in enable to project my voice even louder than I can naturally.
Example of this exercise: Stand feet parallel and hip width apart, knees and hips should be loosening and the spine lengthening and shoulders widening to get as much power in your voice as possible. Keep attention on your belly where your hands are and project your voice and pronounce " Yuh x4 YOU resent them!
Yuh x4 YOU resent the time I spent with them!"
The second exercise shown in the videos below is finding the "Diamond Points" in your body. These are located on your hips, your lower back, below the breast bone and below your belly button.
This exercise helps me improve my voice as it allows to feel the little pulse that happens in the diamond points when I speak, if they are quite light and not very powerful this shows me that I need to project my voice more. Especially on my hips and lower back as this is very near to my diaphragm.
Example of this exercise: Stand feet parallel and hip width apart, place your hands just below your breast bone and pant quickly and you should feel a pulsing in the muscles. Do the same with your hands on your hips, the lower back behind the hips and just above your pubic bone.
The feedback I was given when I performed my monologue
I was happy with the feedback I was given and was aware of what it could be, I was told I have;
- Good projection
- A strong clear voice
- Powerful emotion
- Great inflection
- Good pause and pace
The things I need to work on are my;
- T's, most of the time I don't pronounce T's at the end of words as well as I could due to my "southern accent"!
- More of a range in my voice, I naturally have a loud voice so I naturally find performing loud, angry and powerful pieces easier. I want to be able to perform soft and sad emotions just as well as I can angry so I am going to perform a softer monologue in the next lesson in order to improve my range ability...
