BY RENA COOK

HOW DO YOU KNOW the difference between the sound of a violin, a cello, and a standing bass? What is it about the quality of the sound that identifies each instrument? How would you describe a trumpet’s sound in contrast to a tuba? Can you describe the difference between the voices of James Earl Jones and Fran Drescher? Or Gwyneth Paltrow and Roseanne Barr? Resonance We use words like high and light, smooth and smoky, warm and mel- The vibrations that determine low, piercing and bright, to describe vocal tone. Just as each musical in- the quality of your voice strument has a distinctive quality, each human being has vocal at- tributes that are unique. In addition, the human voice is flexible, changing with emotions, objectives, and given circumstances. It is the actor’s task to maximize flexibility and freedom so the voice can be heard clearly, so it can be warm when called for, stern if neces- sary and even ugly in response to the emotional and situational de- mands of the character. One key component of vocal quality is resonance. The sound cre- ated at the vocal folds is amplified, enriched, and filtered in the resonat- ing chambers of the body. In a very general way, I think of resonance as what happens when disturbed air (breath that has been set in motion by the vocal folds) bounces around the hollows of the body that make up the vocal tract—the throat, the mouth, and the sinus cavity. The sound gains energy, and some quali- ties are amplified while others are dampened. Resonance is your body’s natural amplifier. The trombone has a larger, deeper, lower tone than the trumpet. Why? Because it has a bigger reso- nating tube. Likewise, the tuba will always have a bigger, deeper sound than the trombone. The throat, mouth, and nasal cavities that make up the human resonating tube give

MAY 2007 • DRAMATICS us an advantage over brass instru- ments, because they are flexible. We

can make our vocal tract longer, SANDRA BENT shorter, wider, or thinner. With prac- tice, our resonators can be more free, open, athletic, clear, strong, and re- sponsive. What happens when you put a mute in the end of the trumpet? The sound is muffled. The jaw, tongue, and soft palate can be our mutes, dulling, choking, and stifling the tone if we let them. Our task then, as ac- tors, is to insure that our resonators are open and free of tension so we can be loud or clear, beautiful or ugly, warm or strident, whatever our character requires, in a healthy, safe, and reliable way. Massaging the jaw hinge. In order to maximize resonance, we need to look at the jaw, the space between the back molars. The I frequently speak of resonance in tongue, the soft palate, and the jaw should naturally drop straight terms of vibration. When resonance is throat. All can be affected by hidden down as it opens and surrenders to activated we feel vibrations in the tensions that dampen and restrict gravity. Keep in mind that tendons throat, jaw, face, chest, and sometimes resonance. link the jaw to the throat and finally even the top of the head. Our job as The jaw is a large hinge that serves to the larynx itself. Tension in the jaw speakers is to maximize vibrations, to as a gatekeeper to aid in the control radiates to tension in the vocal folds. open our body up to vibrations. of strong emotions. This results in If the jaw remains held or tight, the The following set of exercises pro- tension, which will also affect the vocal folds will also tighten and con- motes the opening of the vocal tract throat as it stifles or closes off strict, causing them to work harder. and the releasing of vibrations, thus resonation. To maximize space in the The result is fatigue and loss of maximizing the resonance of the voice. throat, we need to relax the jaw. It is power, ease, and clarity. not about creating big space at the The tongue is a huge muscle that The jaw front of the mouth, it is about releas- often seems to have a mind of its To release the jaw, use the heel of ing the jaw at its hinges, creating own. The root of the tongue can hand to massage the jaw hinge in carry tension that we are not even downward motions. The focus is on re- aware of, pulling back and down the leasing the jaw to gravity, not forcing it throat, muting our sound, dampening open. With each pass of the hand the About this series clarity and warmth. jaw releases a bit more. Repeat five THIS IS THE THIRD of four articles The soft palate, at the back edge times at a slow rate of speed, remem- on vocal training, a series as- of the hard palate, has limited mobil- bering to breathe normally. sembled by Rena Cook, professor ity but what it has can be maximized. Take hold of the jaw with both your of voice at Oklahoma University, in The soft palate also has few nerve hands, thumbs underneath, forefingers which nationally prominent voice endings, so it is harder to feel and on top, and open and close the jaw and speech coaches introduce our challenging to control. A flat or lazy with your hands. Imagine that the jaw readers to the fundamentals of their palate can dampen sound and give is passive, that the hands are doing the work. The series: the voice a nasal quality by allowing work. Remember to keep breathing March—Alignment and the air to escape into the nasal cavity. and maintain a sense of length in the voice, by Antonio Ocampo-Guzman Our goal is a lifted palate to create a back of neck. April—Breathing and the voice, big space in the back of the mouth. Chew lightly in forward circles as if by Judylee Vivier The throat above the vocal folds can you are eating a very chewy taffy. Do This month—Resonance, by be widened. There are muscles there not move the jaw side to side. Think Rena Cook that constrict and narrow the space, of easy circles that go down and up. September—The articulate ac- even press down on our vocal folds, Repeat ten times. tor, by Dudley Knight keeping them from vibrating easily. We Relish the feeling of a loose jaw, re- want to create a big wide opening. leased, hanging, lips can be open or

DRAMATICS • MAY 2007 Tongue-speak. A big yawn opens the back of the throat. gently closed as long as you maintain articulators, free of tension and not soft palate, through muscle memory, a feeling of space. attempting to artificially create a the raised position for confident louder sound. speech that carries effortlessly. The tongue While the jaw is hanging loosely, re- The soft palate The throat laxed to the pull of gravity, shift your Yawn widely with the tongue laying When you laugh easily all the muscles focus to the tongue. Be aware that the gently against the bottom teeth. Enjoy in the throat open. Try having a good tongue is resting on the floor of the the yawn. Stretch your arms as if you laugh out loud to see what I mean. mouth, gently touching the bottom have just awakened from a restful Now make the laugh smaller, at a level teeth. night’s sleep. Be aware of a huge of about number four on a scale of one Allow the tongue to fall out of the space opening at the back of the to ten. Next, imagine that you want to mouth past the lips. Feel it lengthen throat. Do this several times to re- laugh but don’t want it to show on gently toward the floor. Then stretch it mind the throat that open and re- your face; just feel an inner smile gen- gently toward the ceiling. Allow the leased allows for optimum resonance. tly retract the throat. tongue to gently clean the lips as if Imagine that you have a big, red Another easy way to find this sense you have just taken a bite from a big juicy apple in your hand. Lift it to of opening or retraction is to imagine juicy peach and you don’t want to your mouth and sink your teeth into you are looking at a puppy. What is miss a drop. it as if to take a large delicious bite. your instinctive response? You breathe Feel the lift of the soft palate. Repeat in and sigh out on an “ah.” Imagine Tongue-speak and just before your teeth are ready to you are looking at the puppy; you Continue to let the tongue hang out sink in say, “Hello,” or perhaps, “To- draw in a breath and before you voice of your mouth. Count out loud from morrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.” the “ah,” feel the throat retracting open. one to ten, keeping the back of the Repeat the bite of the apple, creat- We’ll call this the “puppy posture.” neck long. Relax the tongue back into ing a large yet easy open space. At On an easy inhale open the throat the mouth, letting it rest where it nor- the moment of readiness say, “Why with the inner smile or the puppy pos- mally does. Count out loud again with fly so high,” or “But soft, what light ture—whichever works best for you— a sense of a released jaw and tongue. through yonder window breaks,” or and say “Tomorrow and tomorrow and Try a piece of text, a few lines of a “When shall we three meet again.” tomorrow.” Try counting one to ten, or speech, a poem, or a nursery rhyme, You can use any lines of text, or try one of these phrases: “When shall in tongue-speak, allowing the tongue even bits of poetry. On each breath, we three meet again?” Or “Now is the to hang loosely out of the mouth. bite the apple to keep the soft palate winter of our discontent.” Then speak the text with the tongue high. This will warm the sound and Before each sentence or phrase, easily back in the mouth. enhance resonance. breathe in gently and think of the in- Pay attention to the ease that is Through this exercise you are ner smile or puppy posture. You are created when the tongue and jaw building an awareness of the lifted building a muscle memory of the open take their rightful places as relaxed soft palate. You are also teaching the and released throat. MAY 2007 • DRAMATICS Humming to increase vibrations creases the strength of vibrations and nent of quality and can be maxi- Humming is one of the easiest ways begins to loosen the pitch range. mized by opening the vocal tract to to release vibration and increase reso- To bring vibrations forward say: create a space so vibrating air can nance. Start a comfortably low hum “Key, key, key, key, key.” Speak on a be amplified and enriched. More with a big space in the back of the middle pitch, keeping the back of resonance translates to greater vo- mouth. Hum until you feel the need your neck long. Aim these vibrations cal ease with more clarity and car- for a breath. Stop the hum, breathe on the back of the upper teeth. rying power that can be responsive and start the hum again. Tap gently to the changing needs of character on the chest to loosen the vibrations. Intoning and situation. Feel that you can fill your upper Finally take the bit of text, poem, or You don’t have to be James Earl chest with vibrations. Keep the back monologue you have been working Jones or Gwyneth Paltrow to have a of the neck long and the space in the on and intone it: sing the whole confident, warm, authoritative or flex- back of the mouth wide. monologue on one note. Choose a ible voice. It is not something that Raise the pitch a little and con- note that is comfortably in the middle you are born with, that some special tinue to hum with a long, straight of your range. Breathe at the end of few have and others don’t. You can neck and big space between your each thought until you have intoned practice your way to greater vocal back molars. Move the hum around the entire monologue. Feel the vibra- freedom by keeping the jaw released, on your face, or chew so that the fa- tions forward in your mouth. Then the tongue forward and down, the cial muscles are moving the hum speak the monologue with attention soft palate lifted, the throat wide and around. Explore various pitches in to the spot where you felt the most the sound moving forward. Then you the lower to middle part of the voice vibrations while intoning. can claim your spot along with the as you continue to hum. actors whose voices you most Blow through the lips on a hum admire. ▼ (think of horse lips). Let the pitch TO SUMMARIZE: each individual has vary in small loops as you blow, wid- a unique vocal quality that through The author wishes to thank Rocco Dal ening the loops of pitch as you con- practice can be more flexible. Vera for his assistance in the prepara- tinue to hum. This gathers and in- Resonance is an important compo- tion of this article.

DRAMATICS • MAY 2007 Originally published in Dramatics magazine. More info: Schooltheatre.org