Click the link below for an audio file containing the basic voice practice or warm-up.
Download Basic Practice MP3
Introduction to Voice
Open body
- Grounding/alignment
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- standing on the whole foot
- getting the bones under the body, standing on the bones
- rolling up and down the spine
- Belly/side ribs/back ribs
- pulling in the belly and letting it drop
- side bends to the right and left
- hands on knees, breathing into the back
- Shoulders/neck
- shoulder rolls (backward, forward, alternating, then reversing)
- neck stretches (right side, left side, back of neck)
- Jaw/tongue
- pressing the thumbs under the cheekbones while opening and closing the jaw
- letting the tongue rest on the lower lip (wide, fat, flat and still)
Open breath
- Deep vs. big breath
- feeling the waistline expand with the in-coming breath
- allowing the shoulders and chest to be still
- Mouth breath vs. nose breath
- feeling and enjoying the larger opening
- permitting the inspiration to “fall into” the belly
- Receiving breath vs. working at breath
- allowing time for the inspiration to reach all the way down
- allowing the breath to enter rather than “pulling in” the breath
- Sigh of relief/pleasure
- feeling the sigh begin and release from the belly/pelvis
- fluttering the lips with the breath
- Open pipe
- straight pipe, rotating the head backward, removing the bend in the pipe
- imagining the inside of the pipe being very large and smooth as glass
- allowing the movement of the breath to be absolutely silent
Open sound
- Body connection
- releasing a simple “huh” from the lower belly
- voicing a sigh of pleasure
- shaking out sound (bouncing the knees, wiggling the shoulders)
- rolling down the spine while sighing out sound
- Channel
- lip flutters with sound
- combining lip flutters and releasing “ah” forward
- releasing sound through a straight pipe
- Resonators
- feeling vibrations (torso, face)
When I started voice and speech training with you, we set three goals for improving an area of my business. After taking the lessons and applying them fully, I’ve found it has not only helped what I initially wanted, but improved every aspect of my life. I sound and feel stronger, I’m more confident, and I see things in a different way.
Before I started with you, if someone told me voice lessons would affect far more then my voice, I would have laughed them off. How wrong I would have been!
I spoke at two different events today and came home with a clear and strong voice – a deep resonance in my chest, and no hoarseness at all. My daughter and my wife both commented on the difference in my voice. Thanks!