10.10.2013

Why are the exercises you have chosen important for vocal development/you personally?

The exercises I chose were half neck circles and drop and release. In half neck circles, you start in neutral, dropping the head forward. Then you roll your head over to your left until your left ear is alinged with your left shoulder. In this position, breath in and as you breath out, roll back to the centre. Now repeat the same with your right side. This exercise helps you to loosen your neck muscles to open your throat and diaphram.
  In drop and release  which helps you with releasing your voice and so helps with projection. You start in neutral and as you breathe in, öift your arms upwards. Then, with your out breath, release the ankle, knee and hip joints so that your legs bend and your upperbody drops down. Also, in your out breathe try saying a line or a sentence to see how you release your sounds.

Describe how you used pitch, pace, pause, inflection, vocal idiosyncrasy, accent in your performance of text.

For next week, i am thinking about doing a monologue from the play Uncle Vanya. It is  Sonyas monologue, where she talks to her uncle how afterlife will be much better than their life is now. I am planning to use pace differently to create excitement or assurance, slowing down when I need to be more assuring.

26.9.2013

Why are the breathing exercises you have chosen important for vocal development or particularly for you?

The two breathing exercises I chose were the in-breath and the diamond point bounce. On the in-breath you practice to breathe properly, so that you will be able to use your voice to its full advantage. In the most efficient way of breathing, the lower ribbs move outward and upward, to help you take as much air in as possible. This exercise is important to understanding how body works as well
   In diamond point bounce you practice to know where and how you breathe and to be more aware of the different parts of your body. These are very important for projection and breathe control

2. How can you use pitch, pause, pace and/or inflection to convey a particular emotion?

The poem I chose was the Twelve songs by W.H Auden. I tried to use pauses to create a calm but some what sad mood for the poem, using lower pitch and slower pace to help with that.

19.9.2013

1. Why are the exercises I chose important for vocal development?
I chose the exercises neck roll and spinal peels. The neck rolls allow you to release tension in your neck, which will help you woth your voice production. The spinal peels can help you to strench and again relax your spine, which helps you to have a better posture. This allows you to breathe properly, which is agaim very important for using voice.

2. One thing that I personally would like to work on for my vocal development.
The biggest thing I would like to work on is my announciation. Since I am actually Finnish and so english being my second language I tend to announce some words wrong and have an accent. If I ever were to work as an actor in the UK, it would important for me to speak a 'neutral' accent.

1. Why are the exercises you have chosen important for vocal development or me personally?
   The two exercises that I chose to present in this blog were the bouncing sounds from the diaphragm and forming the 'oomph points'.

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The first one, bouncing sounds, are supposed to help with building a sense with the diaphragm when making sounds and speaking. This exercise healthily train your vocal strength and helps you to announce the vocals in a right way, which I find very important for me especially, since because of my accent, I might swallow some of my sounds as I speak.

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The second exercise initiates supported speech from the 'oomph points', points that really make your voice clear and helps you to project your voice louder and better. In this exercise it is important to engage your diamond points and be aware of their placement. I think a right way to project your voice is very important for everyone and knowing how to breath the right way helps you with that significantly. Also, when you are projecting your voice the right way, you will be clearer in your speech as well.

2. What feedback have you been given when performing text?
    I think my biggest problem is, that English is my second language, and since I have lived at different dialect regions, my own accent and way of pronounce English words has mutated into something quite strange. I especially have problems with my 'd' sounds, since in Finnish language, we do not use that kind of pronunciation, and if we do, it is very rare. Also, I need to focus more in relaxation, since I tend to tend up, especially if I am not completely comfortable with my piece or the situation.