Dear Reader,
This monograph is based on a questionnaire completed by ten voice teachers: Joanna Cazden, Yvonne R.
Dechance, Marty Heresniak, Mary Howland, Flloyd Kennedy (Ms.), Nancy Krebs, Lissa Tyler Renaud,
David Smukler, Maggie Surovell, Phil Timberlake.
The monograph is 44 pages and offers and in-depth discussion of over 30 questions related to teaching
resonance and range to actors, singers and private clients.
Please Note:
If you wish to cite any of the responses, please do so in the following form:
Smith, D'Arcy, comp. "The Teaching of Vocal Resonance and Range: A Survey of Voice Teachers".
2005. York University. (date of access) http://www.yorku.ca/dsmukler/voicesurvey/voicesurvey.pdf>.
Thank you,
D’Arcy Smith
April, 2005.
THE TEACHING OF VOCAL RESONANCE AND RANGE
A Survey Of Voice Teachers
Created and Compiled by D’Arcy Smith
© 2005
Contributors:
(In alphabetical order)
Joanna Cazden
Yvonne R. Dechance
Marty Heresniak
Mary Howland
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms.)
Nancy Krebs
Lissa Tyler Renaud
David Smukler
Maggie Surovell
Phil Timberlake
Acknowledgements:
I wish to acknowledge the work of Ruth Rootberg and those who contributed to her monograph – Teaching
Breathing: Results Of A Survey. These contributors included:
Barbara Adrian, Christine Adaire, Ellen Margolis, Eric Armstrong, Jane Heirich, Lise Olson, Marina
Gilman, Marth Munro, Mary Howland, Michael Barnes, Natalie Stewart, Phil Timberlake, Lynn Watson.
I also wish to thank those who have advised me during the creation of this questionnaire:
Ruth Rootberg, Eric Armstrong, Gary Logan, Dale Genge, Dawn-Marie McCaugherty, Mark Ingram, Brad
Gibson, Meg Davies.
About D’Arcy Smith
D’Arcy Smith has recently completed his MFA requirements in the Theatre Performance program at York
University in Toronto. He is also completing his Diploma in Voice Teaching at York U. where he has been
teaching Thea 2060 Voice and Speech for the past two years. He has studied extensively with David
Smukler and will be returning to Vancouver to work as an associate faculty member at the Canadian
National Voice Intensive.
As a teacher he has also trained actors at The Drama Workshop and The Lorraine Kimsa Theatre For
Young People as well as numerous private schools in Toronto.
As an actor he received his BFA in Acting at York University and has worked professionally in film,
television and voice over.
About the Contributors:
(In alphabetical order)
Joanna Cazden
A speech pathologist for people with damaged voices, for the past 12 years. She has been the Director of
small community chorus, for 15 yrs. Before that she was a singing teacher and occasional taught
classes/workshops for actors. Altogether she has been teaching voice for 29 years. Most consistent
theater training was Linklater, but also studied Fitzmaurice, Estill, bel canto, and a variety of methods used
in speech pathology. She holds a BA, Acting/directing, MFA theater, MS and licensure, speech pathology.
Other experience includes, lifelong music training including approx 5 yrs (total) of private singing lessons
and 8 yrs choral singing.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Works at The University of Tampa as a technical singing teacher (as opposed to a coach); she works with
singers in both the Voice Performance track (Classical) and the Performing Arts track (Music Theater). In
her independent studio, she has worked with a wide range of students, from post-graduates continuing their
vocal studies in classical music, to beginning students in classical, theater and some popular styles, to
professional speakers who used singing lessons to improve their speaking skills. She has also taught
privately in Texas, California, and Virginia, and on faculty at East Carolina University. Altogether she has
taught voice for 13 years.
She holds a D.M.A in voice performance from The University of Texas at Austin, a Masters degree in
voice pedagogy and performance (also from UT-Austin), and a B.A in Music with a minor in Drama from
Whitworth College in Spokane Washington.
“I've been trained in Italian, German, scientific and other techniques, and certainly draw upon many
sources in my teaching. My teaching is undoubtedly influenced by all the pedagogy writers I have read,
including Vennard, Reid, McKinney, Doscher, Bunch, Miller and many others, plus the many group voice
texts I have read and/or taught from, including Christy/Paton, Ware, and Lindsley (the latter a particular
favorite). Yet I often find myself annotating those books, and substituting their vocal exercises with those I
feel work faster or better.”
Marty Heresniak
Is a singing teacher, working primarily with non-classical singers. A large proportion of his studio is made
up of students preparing for careers in drama with whom I share the training with their voice/speech
coaches. Another large part of his studio is made of up actively performing jazz and popular singers. Still
another part is students who have come to me to fix life-long problems and with whom I work on a
therapeutic level. The rest are just folk who want to sing.
He has been teaching for over 20 years.
He holds a Bachelor of Music (in Music Education, Voice), Master of Music (in Music Education, Voice),
Permanent New York State Public School Certification, K-12 Music.
“I draw on many approaches, but mostly the teachings of my mentor. My students and other practitioners
insist I'm really more of a body-worker than a voice teacher and that may be true. I draw on general
knowledge of anatomy and physiology, physical therapy principles, chiropractic, Feldenkrais® Method,
Tai Chi, Alexander Technique, and recent research in voice science on the physics of sound production.”
Mary Howland
Describes herself as a “teacher of voice to trainee actors.” She has been teaching voice for five years
She holds an MA in Voice studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama, Training in the 'Vocal
Profile Analysis', various workshops on the Estill Voice Training System.
“My work makes use of Rodenburg, Berry, Linklater, Roy Hart and Arthur Lessac.”
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms.)
Describes herself as “Primarily a voice and acting coach for actors and student actors, some singing
students.” She has been teaching voice for about forty years. She has an Associate Diploma in Speech and
Drama (Australia) granted by the AMEB in 1966, a BA in Music and Philosophy and a BA Hons in Drama.
She has been influenced by: “First and foremost, eastern European methodologies as practised by
Galendiev, of the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg, Andrej Sadowski (Mandela Theatre, Poland),
Andrei Serban, and Anna Petrova of Moscow Art Theatre School, also Roy Hart, Linklater, Berry and
Marcia McCallum (Brisbane).”
Nancy Krebs
Nancy Krebs has been teaching the Lessac approach for over 20 years and attained Master Teacher status in
2002 from Arthur Lessac himself. She has been teaching the Lessac approach as the Senior Voice
Instructor and Vocal Coach for the Theatre Department at the Baltimore School for the Arts since 1981.
She is the Associate Director for the Lessac Intenisve Summer Workshop where she instructs along side
Arthur Lessac and Senior Master Teacher, Sue Ann Park.
Nancy Krebs started singing at age 3, and hasn't stopped yet! Nancy has performed with professional
regional theatres such as Center Stage, Alaska Repertory Theatre and Meadowbrook Theatre. In 1980 she
joined the theatre faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts and since 1981 she has been a member of the
Interact Story Theatre.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
“I have an M.A. and Ph.D. in Dramatic Arts. I bring to this work a lifetime
of diction study and performing, years of piano and cello study, years of
language study (French, Italian, Japanese), over 25 years of voice and
speech teaching, and six years of bel canto study with soprano Christine
Sanders, M.A. Voice, now on the faculty at the University of New Mexico. I
am convinced that vocal instruction is made most fruitful by simultaneous
training in physical alignment. My alignment teaching is inspired by the
work, among others, of Mabel Todd, Joseph Pilates, Feldenkrais and the
writings of F. Matthias Alexander, as were my own teachers.”
“I was trained in Skinner, Linklater and Berry by William I. Oliver; I have
also studied the work of Lessac. I have taken workshops in a wide range of
other approaches, as well. My primary interest is in teaching the classical
bel canto technique as it applies to the speaking voice, in conjunction with
approaches to physical understandings of the body which lie outside of the
conventional medical model.”
David Smukler
David Smukler is on the faculty of the Department of Theatre at York University where he supervises the
MFA Voice Teacher Diploma, conducts professional training for Equity Showcase Theatre , and regularly
leads workshops across Canada.
David is the Director of Canada's National Voice Intensive.
One of the country’s most outstanding teachers of voice and text, Mr. Smukler’s coaching experience
includes film, television, theatre, and opera in Canada, the UK, the US, and the Netherlands. He was
Director of Voice at the Stratford Festival for many years. After his actor training with Edith Skinner and
Kathleen Stafford, he was one of the first teachers trained by Kristin Linklater.
Maggie Surovell
Describes herself as a voice teacher for actors. At the time of this questionnaire she had been teaching
voice for 3 semesters
"I received by BA from Temple University, at which I studied voice with Donna Snow. I studied with
Michelle Cuomo for one year at University of Georgia and I completed Part I of my Fitzmaurice
certification program last summer ‘03 and will hopefully receive accreditation after this summer."
"I teach 95% Fitzmaurice and I do include some Roy Hart exercises."
Phil Timberlake
Describes himself as a teacher of voice and speech to actors. However, some private students have included
teachers, pastors, and business people. He has been teaching voice for six years.
He holds a MFA in Voice and Speech Pedagogy, Virginia Commonwealth University (Janet Rodgers, Head
of Voice and Speech), BA in Theatre, Purdue University (Marya Lowry, Voice and Speech). He is an
Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, was a Fulbright Fellow at the Roy Hart International Arts
Centre and studied at the Pantheatre (Paris) actor training program. He has also participated in Master
Classes/workshops with Kristin Linklater, Arthur Lessac, Richard Armstrong.
“I use primarily Fitzmaurice Voicework and Wolfsohn/Roy Hart approaches in terms of voice work. But
my experience with Linklater and Lessac are also influences. I haven't studied with Berry or Rodenburg,
but I'm sure that reading their books has influenced me as well.”
THE TEACHING OF VOCAL RESONANCE AND RANGE
A Survey Of Voice Teachers
PART A
Definition of Terms
A1. How do you define each of these terms in your teaching? If you use the term, why is it important and
what is its relevance? If you prefer a different term to describe one of these concepts, what is it, how do
you define it and what is your rationale for this choice?
Resonators:
Joanna Cazden
don’t typically use unless client uses the word first, showing some familiarity. Tend to use “amplifier.”
Yvonne R. Dechance
Any structures or spaces that create resonance; resonators increase the resonance of the initial tone
produced by the vocal folds. In my voice classes and studio lessons we tend to speak more generally of
spaces to sing in, or spaces that ring; they learn for instance that the shaping of the pharynx considerably
alters sound quality, and that singing “through the nose” is actually the opposite. In Voice Pedagogy we get
more technical.
Marty Heresniak
a partially enclosed body of air. It is important that students learn where the available spaces are so they
can access every possible resonator and play with resonators for accent or character work.
Mary Howland
Areas of the vocal tract that can be changed in shape to alter the quality of sound that passes through. Those
structures being the larynx (its shape and position), the pharynx, the soft palate, the tongue and lips. I
would also include the nasal cavity in this. It Is Important because It allows the student to Identify where
and how a vocal quality is being produced
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
A resonator is a space in which sound waves bounce around, with the vibrations bumping into each other
and into the walls of the cavity, giving rise to more vibrations. I encourage students to look it up in a
dictionary, to take on board all the definitions, including those from physics. The body of a violin is a
resonator, the wood of which it is made is also part of the process, as the way in which it conducts the
sound waves also affects the quality of the sound. I usually compare wood with concrete, the latter being a
poor conductor of sound because of its higher density. Air, being extremely low density, is a great
conductor of sound, and is also part of the process which leads to a particular quality of the voice. That
includes the air inside the body, as well as the air in the space around us.
The whole body is a resonator, and different areas of the body are often thought of as resonators providing
unique resonant qualities. As the human body is immensely complex, the voice can also be very complex,
being the result of sound resonating in different sizes of cavity, and through a vast range of different
substances. I tell students how I was originally taught that the "Chief Resonators of the Body are the thorax
(chest cavity), the larynx (voice box), the pharynx (throat above the voice box), the nasal cavities and the
bones of the head", and then I explain that because of the way resonance works, practically every part of
the body, including the mouth itself, can contribute to the resonance factor, and that some parts are more
easily and obviously identified than other
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Note: All of the following terms are used loosely and variously by many
professionals, so that any voice user should feel free to ask how a specific
word is being used when it isn't clear.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The parts of the body that vibrate and amplify sound.
David Smukler
A pleasurable experience, a vibration. An emotional energy and thought connecting to the scene partner. A
tangible, touchable connection
Maggie Surovell
I teach both resonance and resonators by having the students explore vibrations in their facial resonators
and chest resonators by using voiced vowel sounds. Some of these exercises include humming scales with
the lips pursed together and allowing the scale to start with vibrations at the lips and allowing this vibration
to travel to the third eye. To begin with it is helpful to figure out where the students resonate naturally in
the mouth. Is the sound resonating in the back of their mouth or in the throat? Then I try to get the
students experiment with sending the resonance toward the front of their face. Using Fitzmaurice’s, focus
line helps do this naturally. Other exercises I do are purely explorative for the student to see where and
how many or how few body parts the student can get to resonate. I use the Fitzmaurice tremor to help
students open up resonators throughout the entire body, which the students may not have used before.
I teach both resonance and resonators by having the students explore vibrations in their facial resonators
and chest resonators by using voiced vowel sounds. Some of these exercises include humming scales with
the lips pursed together and allowing the scale to start with vibrations at the lips and allowing this vibration
to travel to the third eye. To begin with it is helpful to figure out where the students resonate naturally in
the mouth. Is the sound resonating in the back of their mouth or in the throat? Then I try to get the
students experiment with sending the resonance toward the front of their face. Using Fitzmaurice’s, focus
line helps do this naturally. Other exercises I do are purely explorative for the student to see where and
how many or how few body parts the student can get to resonate. I use the Fitzmaurice tremor to help
students open up resonators throughout the entire body, which the students may not have used before.
Phil Timberlake
I define resonators as the areas of the body that amplify the sound waves created by the action of breath on
the vocal folds.
Resonance:
Joanna Cazden
don’t typically use with patient, but often use in documentation of voice sessions because it is accepted
terminology. Relevance is for vocal efficiency, e.g. how to get most sound for least laryngeal effort.
Yvonne R. Dechance
“intensification of tone through sympathetic vibration.” I usually demonstrate sympathetic vibration by
opening an acoustic piano’s lid, releasing the dampers on the strings and having each student take turns
singing into the instrument and hearing their fundamental tone and as many overtones as their resonance
level is capable of at that time. I then sing full-voice into the piano myself so they can hear what mature
resonance technique can do. Resonance is very important in my training; so many singers want “more
power” and developing resonance is the best, safest way to achieve that.
Marty Heresniak
the quality added to the sound when it is allowed to bounce around inside a resonator, gaining richness and
depth. Compare an acoustic guitar with an electric guitar with the amplifier turned off. The acoustic guitar
has a hollow body and therefore a greater natural resonance.
Mary Howland
A sense of vibration in the body, coupled with a particular sound produced. Being aware of the physical
sensation of the voice allows the student to monitor the quality of sound being produced.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
The primary sound created when the breath agitates the vocal folds is practically inaudible to the human
ear. The sound waves/vibrations which are created in this way go on to bounce about in the various cavities
of the body, such as the belly, the chest, the voice box, the back of the throat and the mouth, the nasal
cavities and the head, creating more vibrations which mingle with the initial, or primary sound waves to
create audible voice.
Resonance is the mix of sound qualities which result after the initial vibrations have been set in motion, and
those vibrations, or sound waves have gone on to move and vibrate within a cavity (which could be the
body, parts of the body, the room or a glass of water), and have been conducted through parts of the body
(bone, muscle, organs, skin etc) and through external substances (clothes, walls, other people's bodies). The
'Resonance Factor' is what makes our voices sound rich, thin, dark, bright, light, heavy… (I usually ask for
contributions to described vocal qualities). The resonant pitch, independent of vocal pitch, is dependent
upon the size of the cavity and the size of the opening: the larger the cavity - the lower the resonant pitch;
the smaller the opening, the lower the resonant pitch. I use the example of identical glasses or bottles with
different amounts of water in them, which will give off different pitched sounds if tapped gently,
explaining that it is the space left in the glass or bottle, and size of the opening which determines the pitch.
These descriptions are a simplification of the process, which is relatively easy to comprehend. I describe it
in this way, because after years of practice it is the way I experience it in my body, and I encourage my
students to develop a powerful sense of self-awareness, to use their whole body and to appreciate and to
comprehend that sound does not just happen in the voice box. It has a life after it has been initiated by our
want or need to express ourselves.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The sensation of vibration as sound is conducted through the skeleton via tissues, ligaments and bones; the
hearer's experience of the fullness, liveliness or movement of the sound.
David Smukler
The Intention being reinforced
Phil Timberlake
I differentiate two kinds of resonance (from Jon Eisenson, Voice & Diction, Macmillan, 1992): FORCED
RESONANCE, the sympathetic vibrations felt in the bones of the body, and CAVITY RESONANCE,
amplification arising from the spaces in the pharyngeal, oral and nasal cavities. Most of the time in my
teaching, I ask the students to focus on feeling the vibrations (resonance) in their bodies. I am most
interested in the students having that subjective experience.
Channels:
Joanna Cazden
do not use in relationship to resonance. Don’t know what it might mean.
Yvonne R. Dechance
not a term I use in teaching nor in fact could completely pin down even when I looked it up.
Marty Heresniak
are what you can change when you have control of the remote. I've never heard the term in relation to voice
work.
Mary Howland
I do not use this term. The term I use that that approximates most is VOCAL TRACT. I use this term when
teaching student about the technicalities of voice production, but very rarely in teaching the practice of
voice production.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I don't use this term.
David Smukler
The open column through which thoughts and needs are communicated
Maggie Surovell
I use the word channels to describe the meridians in the body, which run from the toes through the body to
the finger tips, and I encourage the student to allow his or her breathe to fully enter these channels. In
addition I describe the breath as one large clear tube that runs from the root chakra, below the sacrum, and
travels to the seven chakra, the crown of the head.
Phil Timberlake
I don't use this term
Registers:
Joanna Cazden
Only use if client has prior training. If it slips out, or I’m otherwise asked to explain: these are different
types of voice production, kind of like different gears in a car. [Didn’t get this from Sundberg’s book but
was pleased, on a re-reading, to see that he has a similar concept.]
Yvonne R. Dechance
any consecutive series of neighboring pitches that are produced in the same manner. One of the things I
stress to my students, especially in group Voice Class, is that you can produce most pitches in more than
one register; learning to choose the right sounds for your vocal health, character and style should be part of
a performer’s training.
Marty Heresniak
are what I teach my students to ignore. There are changes in the musculature of the larynx as the pitch
moves up and down the range, but, as we have no direct or conscious control over these inherent changes,
we cannot and should not influence the changing mechanisms. I have no 'break' and, once they've been with
me a while, neither do my students. Since we have no direct control over the intrinsic muscles of the larynx
we should learn as well to avoid adding effort to the extrinsic muscles and just allow the voice to do its
thing. The voice is an automatic, not a standard. It is the added effort in the extrinsic muscles, trying to 'do'
something to make pitch changes happen, which creates the break. It takes some doing, but if they stay with
me and stay with the idea, my students eventually have one continuous instrument with no breaks, registers,
or shifts.
Mary Howland
I do not use this term itself, but will instead use head/chest/body voice, thick or thin fold voice, or some
kind of Image - metallic, wooden, rounded, childlike, rich, young, light, etc. The terms 'thick or thin folds'
relates to the Estill based singing training that Is used In our Institution, where vocal quality Is determined
by particular positions of the vocal structures. Students are taught in singing anatomy how to create these
specific positions to create particular voice qualities, and so this is a term that has no ambiguity with our
students. Because of this, I may also use the terms 'above or below the break', I.e., the pitch break.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I don’t use this term particularly in resonance work, but at a stage where it appears relevant because of
where the students are in the process of developing their vocal potential. Then I explain that this term is
helpful to understand why our voices seem to break or crack sometimes, that we can all identify various
'registers' in our voice, just like different gears in a car. I give them exercises to explore their registers, to
yodel, [this work is based on the work of Frankie Armstrong, Harriet Buchan, Roy Hart and Marya Lowry]
and also to move smoothly through the various stages [I will use classical singing exercises for this], so that
they have a range of devices at their disposal.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I am of the school that does not teach registers in the voice. I give my students a chance to experience
"chest" and "head" voices, so they will know what these mean when they hear them or work with people
who employ these ideas. Caruso calls these the "traditional, time-worn divisions of the voice into three
registers," and writes: "…there are no physiological needs for the break[ing] of the voice into registers" and
"were a clear conception of the natural voice to exist, nobody would bother about registers."
David Smukler
I don't like this term.
Maggie Surovell
I use the analogy of a clarinet to discuss the break in the register. On a clarinet there is a key that the player
needs to push in order to enter a higher register of notes. I explain this by having my students sing scales
naturally and allow them to feel when they need to switch registers (chest voice to head voice). Although a
lot of people understand their higher register as their “head voice,” I try to stripe this term away by getting
the students to see their voice without a break and as one clear channel. In other words a clarinet that does
not need a break key, i.e. a piano. This is important so that the student do not feel they need to switch vocal
techniques in order to enter their higher register. I believe a lot of the head voice sounds and techniques
stem from fear that certain notes are unattainable without using typical head voice resonators. It is this fear
that creates tension and makes it difficult for the voice to hit higher notes using chest voice resonators. (Of
course eventually the head voice resonators are necessary for very high notes, but I believe most people
have a larger range in the chest voice than they are aware of.)
Phil Timberlake
I don't use this term
Chest Voice:
Joanna Cazden
only if student knows the term. Prefer “normal speech level”
Yvonne R. Dechance
Voice: a non-scientific but sensation based term referring to heavy-production register. I do use this term,
since it is so prevalent in the literature and the profession, but I make sure my students understand that just
because a pitch is low does not necessarily mean it has to be such using this registration, and that taking the
chest voice up too heavy and too high takes us out of realm of belting into screaming—it also can limit a
singer’s useable range.
Marty Heresniak
a closer-predominant (i.e. adductors) vocal use. I don't use the term. I acknowledge it exists but I get my
students to realize that any use of the voice which predominates in one set of muscles is not the whole
voice.
Mary Howland
I do use this term, but generally to refer to a sound that is too high, reaching or straining. I am more likely
to use the term, 'body voice' to encourage the student to think more about breathing into the belly and back.
This may come again from the Estill training, where students are asked to take a 'surprise breath into the
chest', moving the sternum. So a link is made with the chest and a high, shallow breath. I find this tends to
produce a thin, weak sound In the spoken voice, so by using the term 'body voice', the student tends to
breath more using the lower ribs and abdomen, producing a richer, more rounded, powerful sound.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
For singing students only: the deeper sounding voice which can occur in the mid to lower range of the
voice. I only refer to it if the student does, or if there is a specific block in one area or another.
For acting students, I prefer not to use terms which may tempt them to try to use parts of the body in
isolation.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Vocal production that results in an exaggerated sense of the voice's vibrating in the chest.
David Smukler
Dominate secondary vibration acting as a primary.
Maggie Surovell
I will refer to putting vibrations of the voice into the chest, but I don’t use the term in the standard way. It
is very useful to breakdown the voice using the terms chest and head voice. Especially, if a student is
creating different characters and wants to specifically use a chest voice for one character and a head voice
for anther. I want my students to be able to explore specific resonators, like the chest voice to develop
specific characters and find vocal variety.
Phil Timberlake
I use this term referring to voicing and feeling the vibrations primarily in the chest area.
Head Voice:
Joanna Cazden
only if student is a singer & knows the term. I do not explain it in detail unless they ask.
Yvonne R. Dechance
like chest voice, an old but much-used term. Head voice is actually a more problematic term, in my
opinion, because 1) not all teachers seem to identify it in the same manner, especially when compared to
“Mixed Voice” and 2) there are differences in working with head voice in males vs. females. Many singers,
especially those who some to training from a theater or pop background, equate head voice with a weak,
light sound, while most classical singers consider it as a natural extension or inclusion of a mid-ranged
mixed—and resonant—voice. Some male singers have difficulty differentiating between head voice and
falsetto. In my classes I use the term, but am careful to demonstrate my expectations—including
resonance—as well as defining the term.
Marty Heresniak
a stretcher-predominant (i.e. crico-thyroid) vocal use. I don't use this term either but also acknowledge that
it exists. My students learn to sing so that both opposing sets of muscles are always in use - mix.
Mary Howland
Again, I do use this term, or 'heady' voice, but am more likely to ask students to adopt a particular quality
of voice, like above the break, light, bright, forward, etc. By working with a quality of voice rather than a
location, the student seems to have more flexibility with the sound.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
For singing students only: the lighter, thinner sounding voice which usually occurs in the mid to upper
range of the voice of untrained singers; or the fine upper range of trained singers, who have identified and
developed their middle voice. I only refer to it if the student does, or if there is a specific block in one area
or another.
For acting students, I prefer not to use terms which may tempt them to try to use parts of the body in
isolation.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Vocal production that results in an exaggerated sense of the
voice's vibrating in the head.
David Smukler
The Primary resonators- the second last step in the chain of communication.
Maggie Surovell
(see the latter two explanations)
Phil Timberlake
I use this term referring to voicing and feeling the vibrations primarily in the head
Range:
Joanna Cazden
can mean pitch range (how high and/or low voice can be) but I also measure intensity range. It is important
as a measure of vocal health and flexibility. Informally, in non-clinical settings I also use it to describe
how high/low music goes e.g. “this song has a range of an octave + a third”
Yvonne R. Dechance
Literally, the full range of tones one can sing, or the range required for a certain song or role. However,
many singers confuse range with register, and even we as teachers often muddle the two. There is also
additional overlap with the actor’s idea of “range,” which is actually more closely related to the classical
singer’s concept of fach. Despite all the books and hype about “Voice Building” I don’t make a big deal
about range in my classes, other than to test range for new singers, and to encourage developing their full
singing range. While some singers naturally have a large singing range even at the beginning of training;
most find access to several additional pitches by the end of even one semester of proper training.
Marty Heresniak
The limits to which the voice can be taken, although not necessarily for public use.
Mary Howland
I use this to refer to pitch range, i.e. the full range of pitch notes available to the student. Whenever
working on pitch range, there will always be a lot of breath work first, to encourage the students to work on
a well supported sound whatever area of their range they are using.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
For me, this term includes vocal pitch range; and resonant pitch range. I usually differentiate between the
two in class.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The movement of the voice through the pitches; also used as a shorthand to describe the highest and lowest
notes one can achieve in the voice.
David Smukler
The Potential. The notes or tones that are available to my thought or need to communicate.
Maggie Surovell
I have used the term “range” in class when we’ve identified the students’ most comfortable speaking range.
In addition, I regularly have my students explore their full range by having them improvise scales with
random notes that they feel comfortable producing. I believe a student can create more variety and
understanding in their text if they use more pitch range in their text.
Phil Timberlake
I teach range as all the pitches contained in some grouping - it might be all the pitches available to an
individual, or all the pitches used at a certain time in a specific text.
Pitch:
Joanna Cazden
Formal definition would be sound frequency (Hz) as perceived by the ear/ brain. In practice I use “pitch” &
“frequency” interchangeably, preferring pitch because it is more familiar to most people
Yvonne R. Dechance
the highness or lowness of a sound. Often overlapped with intonation, but pitch in general refers to which
note you are singing. Students usually need to have explained to them that they are not expected to have
absolute (“perfect”) pitch, but are expected to work towards developing excellent relative pitch, in which
one interval is found given a starting pitch.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Vocal pitch: the highness or lowness of the voice which is established by how long, and how thick (or
dense) the vocal folds are at the moment of vocalization - i.e. what we normally associate with the pitch of
the voice.
Resonant pitch: That quality of the voice which makes it seem higher or lower, deeper or thinner, although
the vocal pitch does not change.
Marty Heresniak
frequency of vibration. It is absolutely imperative that the student understand that the pitch is the frequency
of the vibration of the vocal folds. To change pitch one must change the frequency of vibration. Thus,
changes in lips, teeth, jaw, tongue, mouth opening, palate and/or head position are absolutely worthless in
changing pitch, since it will change solely by the work of muscles inside the larynx.
Mary Howland
There has been some discrepancy in the past between pitch and quality, especially when working on
character voices and vocal transformation, where students confuse a high pitch with a light quality. So
when teaching anatomy, they are taught that pitch comes from the frequency with which the vocal folds are
vibrating, and quality comes from altering the resonators to amplify either the brighter or darker tones in
the voice. We do also work on the idea of ‘optimum pitch’ – the note at which the voice works most
efficiently – to avoid students raising their pitch when expanding the voice; aka ‘shouting’.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The note in the voice as it corresponds to the notes on a piano. The listeners experience of "high" and
"low," for example.
David Smukler
Specific tones.
Maggie Surovell
I have used the term “pitch” for exercises that help make a piece of text more colorful and to demonstrate
different ways to articulate specific words and sounds.
Phil Timberlake
I've never had to define pitch! I use it to refer to a specific musical tone.
Inflection:
Joanna Cazden
pitch changes in speech that correspond to meaning and/or emotional tone.
Yvonne R. Dechance
a change in pitch or loudness. Many teachers also use it to refer to changes in interpretation. Not a term I
personally use in teaching.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Tune of the voice when speaking, i.e. the way it rises or falls over a phrase, depending on the intention and
mood of the speaker.
Marty Heresniak
the combination of pitch, articulation, vocal tone, vocal timbre, and emphasis that establishes a "word
color." Incredibly important, but an advanced thing. Too many singers are working to get their instruments
assembled and working to be able to think about such things. This is a third year thing.
Mary Howland
This term I use primarily to refer to the musicality of a phrase, connected to its intention. For example, a
rising inflection to indicate a question, or a falling inflection to indicate a statement. I have heard of
students being asked to give the voice 'more colour' or 'more musicality'. When working on poetry I can see
a purpose in this, but in dialogue, I will work with students to get the intention of the line out - what do they
want to achieve. If this is clear, the changes of pitch happen naturally. It is also a term I use when teaching
accents with reference to general trends of musicality - RP tending to fall, Ulster accents tending to rise.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Pitch changes within a word.
David Smukler
A term to describe the rising or falling of a voice which communicates the subtleties of a thought or need.
Maggie Surovell
I do not teach Inflection, Intonation, Tone and Timbre in my class. However, I should note that I am a new
teacher and my students are beginner voice students so my goal for my students at this point is to open up
their breath and to get them exploring their voices as well as their entire bodies.
Phil Timberlake
I use inflection in reference to a change in pitch or quality used to highlight a word or phrase.
Intonation:
Joanna Cazden
Do not use, rarely relevant. My definition would be, accuracy of pitch in relation to an objective standard
(e.g. a tuning system or reference such as musical instrument)
Yvonne R. Dechance
in singing, refers to the accuracy of tuning of a pitch. This can be confusing to some singers who have had
speech classes when intonation refers more to general rise and fall of speech, but most have heard of
singing sharp or flat. I do discuss this in my classes, and let them know that most intonation problems can
be corrected through improved singing technique.
Marty Heresniak
conscious control of pitch. Intonation is a secondary thing. I focus on vocal technique primarily. If there are
problems in intonation, I work through all the possible causes. Usually a freer use of the voice corrects the
problem, less often we need to work on cognitive or otological problems. This is far more involved than
can be answered here. I've an article coming out on this in the September 2004 issue of the Journal of
Singing.
Intonation:
Mary Howland
I use 'intonation' to refer to not only inflection, as defined above, but also to the way stress is used in the
phrase - whether a syllable is elongated or given greater vocal emphasis. This would include considerations
of rhythm and tone in the shaping of the phrase as well. This is the term that I will use more often when
dealing with accents, and again connected to the speaker's intention behind the line.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
In singing, accuracy of vocal pitch.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Pitch changes over a phrase or sentence. The pattern created by the combination of changing pitch patterns
and emphases.
David Smukler
The variable attributes, colors or layers which hover around or give subtle variance to a tone or pitch.
Phil Timberlake
I don't use this term.
Tone:
Joanna Cazden
use loosely, e.g. emotional tone; sometimes use to refer to quality or timbre of sound
Yvonne R. Dechance
literally refers to any specific pitch, but (like pitch) is one of the more maligned words in our vocabulary.
Singers and teachers commonly use tone to refer to timbre, intonation, and many other nuances not implied
in the literal definition. I have to admit, I didn’t know the difference myself until I taught Music
Appreciation, and still find myself using “tone” more to refer to the quality of a pitch than the pitch itself.
Marty Heresniak
the basic sound, the fundamental, before it is messed with or put through a vowel and resonance
processing.
Mary Howland
This is used to refer to a quality of sound, for example a bright tone, a rounded tone, a dark tone. Students
are encouraged to explore a range of tones, to give them the freedom to express a range of atmospheres,
characters and just find sounds that are useful to them, again for different purposes, either dealing with
acoustics or for different intentions i.e., to annoy, to seduce, to coax. I am more likely to use the word 'tone'
in written reports - in class, I am more likely just to say 'sound'.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I hardly ever use this, unless a student raises it. Then I use it as an excuse for a discussion on all these
terms.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
A) clarity of sound, and b) the emotional sense of language
David Smukler
Pitch/Texture
Phil Timberlake
I don't think I use this term specifically.
Timbre:
Joanna Cazden
don’t use; prefer “voice quality” . This is the perceptual correlate of acoustic complexity and character, e.g.
what overtones/ formants/ harmonics are contained and in what proportion.
Yvonne R. Dechance
the unique “color” of a sound. For vocalists, timbre is what makes our voices unique, but we also need to
develop an “artist’s palette” of vocal colors to give variety to songs. Timbre is one of the words I make sure
students can pronounce properly, along with “Mozart” and “accompanist” before I let them out of my
classroom.;-)
Marty Heresniak
the quality of the sound, as determined by the inherent qualities of the instrument, the available resonators,
vowel quality, articulation, and breath.
Mary Howland
I do not use this term, but I would take it to be interchangeable with 'tone' as above.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Quality of the voice dependent on the resonance factor, and on focus; unique quality of each individual's
voice.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The characteristic of the sound
David Smukler
Quality. or texture which is derived probably more from physical, emotional and linguistic information
than intellectual.
Phil Timberlake
I don't use this term.
Vibration:
Joanna Cazden
rhythmic alternation of position or pressure. Do not typically use or define in actual sessions
Yvonne R. Dechance
refers in general to oscillation. A term I use but expect students to understand. More common questions
arise about sympathetic vibration, “a vibration produced in one body by the vibrations of exactly the same
period in a neighboring body” and about vibrato, the 5-8 time per second pitch variation that does not
sound “too operatic,” is not fully understood even by voice scientists, but is known to add beauty and help
maintain the health of the voice.
Marty Heresniak
When dealing with a sound source, a moving back and forth that sets air in motion and produces sound.
When dealing with results of a sound already produced some will say they feel vibration in this or that part
of their bodies.
Mary Howland
A physical sensation. I may also use 'buzzing' or 'warmth' to help students identify the sensation. When
dealing with the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants, I will ask students to feel the front of
their throat (i.e. the larynx) and notice that in a 'z' they can feel a vibration, for example. When working
with resonant placement, I will again ask them to feel a sensation of vibration with their hands through
bone conduction of the vibrations in the larynx, e.g., feeling the crown of the head to find a heady
placement, the lower ribs to find an embodied sound, or everywhere when working with Lessac's Y-buzz.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Alternated with 'sound waves' – the physical form which sound takes, and by which it travels through space
and objects. Vibration exists, it can be measured by machines, it can be felt in the body and in objects
which conduct it. It can be felt in the air, close to the body, and it is part of the experience of hearing, as
vibrations pass through the listener’s body, as well as impacting upon their ears and being transformed into
electrical signals. Therefore, vibration is how we communicate, and how we understand and interpret what
we hear.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The fact and sensation of the voice's "buzzing"
David Smukler
The oscillation of sound waves.
Maggie Surovell
I teach vibrations first using the Fitzmaurice tremor, in order to open up the students’ resonators, to release
her or her tensions, and can help find emotional release. In addition, I give a very technical explanation of
the vocal folds to describe how the breathe, pitch, volume effect the frequency of vibrations on the vocal
folds.
Phil Timberlake
I have never thought to actually define this term. When I use it I am usually referring to the vibrations that
one can feel in the body when one is voicing. I have my students focus on vibrations a lot.
Other Terms:
Mary Howland
Modulation - changing intonation, pitch, tone and other aspects of the voice to express a particular thought
process.
Quality – used interchangeably with ‘sound’ or ‘voice’. May be applied to any feature of the voice; tone,
speech, resonant placement, etc.
Placement – altering the resonators in such a way to locate a sensation of vibration in a particular area of
the body. I use this mostly with regards to ‘forward placement’, encouraging the sound to be felt in the
front of the face, creating a bright, clear sound appropriate for RP and clean articulation.
Dynamic - changes of pitch, volume, tone, etc.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Tension: as in, tension kills vibration. Unnecessary tension in the body means fewer vibrations, less
resonance and reduced resonant range – as well as reducing the performer’s capacity for creative
physicality, and for greater sensitivity of response to him/herself, and to others.
Phil Timberlake
Quality: Rather than the terms TONE or TIMBRE, I tend to refer to different QUALITIES. This is general
enough to serve many purposes. It is especially handy because it does not necessarily have a musical
context, and many of my students have great fear about “singing.” So I can talk about using different
qualities without preconceptions about “right and wrong” sounds. My goal is to train actors capable of a
variety of full-bodied vocal options/qualities; I'm not listening for a specific sound beyond that.
PART B
Teaching Resonance and Range
B1. Do you teach that resonance is of value to the performer? If so, what is it?
Joanna Cazden
Performers whom I work with already know about it. For non-performers I use approach above, e.g.
efficiency, ease of projection, to protect vocal folds by enhancing their sound. Occasionally teach
adjustments for what sounds better, but generally that is not primary concern with my clients.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Yes. In classical singing and operatic singing, resonance is a key component to performing at a competitive
or professional level. In other styles of singing, it is less stressed in performance; however, singing with
resonance is helpful to all singers to keep their instrument healthy, limber and versatile.
Marty Heresniak
Resonance is incredibly important to a performer. It is by finding and manipulating vocal resonances that
we are heard. Volume is actually a small part of the equation. The specific resonances of the formants give
the singer, and by corollary, the actor, the structures of the world of physics on which to hang the tone so it
will carry through a large space, an orchestra, or intervening noise.
Mary Howland
Yes. The value is in increasing the range of qualities that the voice can produce which can then be applied
or accessed to achieve particular effects, be they artistic or technical. For example, because our students
work in a wide variety of performance spaces, they need to know very early on how to adapt the voice to
complement the acoustics of the space. by working on a variety of resonant placements, the students are
able to alter the quality of their voice to cope with a small, intimate studio space by brightening the sound,
or to be able to take some of the brightness out to be able to control the echo in a bright 'school hall' type
space. this then also allows them to be able to create the impression of, say, an intimate domestic
conversation by using a well-supported, more embodied sound with little bright carrying power when
working in a big, open space. We also work on it with reference to vocal characteristics - a heady sound
could be used to express an extroverted, young or nervous character, a more embodied sound conveying an
older, introverted or depressed character. An ability to alter resonance will also allow them to access a
wider range of modulations for work on poetry, or for different accents.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Yes. The performer who has extended his/her resonance range has a larger voice and a huge range of
different vocal qualities to access, as well as more complexity to the voice and the potential for greater
subtlety.
Nancy Krebs
Yes, of course. The performer has to understand physically that in order for the voice to function
optimally, there needs to be vibration on the hard palate moving up into the bones of the face and head.
With this proper placement of the voice, the performer can then use sensation as a guide to keep the voice
forward.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I teach each student differently.
David Smukler
If resonance is the embracing of a scene partner or the audience with the actor's need in order to make it
safe for the audience to receive the intention. The technical work is on the bones and cavities of the body,
which need to be make safe, open and available for the intention, need, thought, word to be revibrated.
Maggie Surovell
I teach that resonance is very important for the performer. I teach through process toward a result. I teach
exercises that expand the possibilities and capacity for resonance. I use the analogy that the human body
and rib cage are similar to either a violin or an upright Bass. If we are able to swing our rib cages open, we
will be able to create a more powerful instrument with more room for resonating sound. In addition,
opening up and understanding facial resonators is important in order for the student to control places for the
voice to resonate. In class we do improvisational exercises that use specific facial resonators and we create
voices for different character types.
Phil Timberlake
Absolutely. The amplification of the initial sound vibrations of the vocal folds is essential to performing. I
also aim to train actors with full, embodied voices that use as much of the body as possible to resonate.
This rich, body-centered sound is part of my preferred aesthetic, although each voice will sound distinctly
different since each body will resonate in a different way.
Finding resonance/vibrations that are focused in different body resonators will also create different qualities
of sound that can be useful for a full range of expression. This includes character work as well.
I also believe that these focused vibrations/resonance can open up a dynamic inner life. The different
qualities released when focusing on different resonators can tap into the actor's inner life, releasing
imaginative, emotionally connected sound - and therefore imaginative and emotionally connected acting.
B2. Do you teach that pitch range is of value to the performer? If so, what is it?
Joanna Cazden
It is important for professional reasons, e.g. demands and expectations of audiences, producers, etc.
Naturally it adds interest and emotional expressiveness to the voice, but if someone doesn’t state that as a
need, I don’t address it. If they have lost some range, that becomes a treatment goal. Generally I follow the
client’s lead in this area.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Yes. While some popular singers rely on “studio magic” and charisma to sing using a very limited range,
having a wide, usable range is to every performer’s benefit. Even when singers restrict their singing range
in performance, they do well to warm up and vocalize using their full range.
Marty Heresniak
Pitch range is of value as long as it is achieved without undo tension and there is beauty of tone in all
aspects of the range. If there is no beauty of tone then it's just 'practice range'. I have a high Bb, but I'd
never use it in public.
I do not push students for volume or range. Both will come when the voice is ready to produce them. I
teach in the middle of the range, finding the freedom that comes from a naturally produced voice. One the
freedom is achieved, and the brain learns to accept this freedom as appropriate to singing, then we can
move the new, free, comfort zone elsewhere in the pitch and volume continua.
Mary Howland
Yes. I mentioned optimum pitch before, as being part of 'finding the student's own voice', but again, an
ability to alter pitch allows the voice to stay interesting when connected to intention, can also be part of
creating a character voice, could be used to create or indicate an emotional effect (the holding back of a
rising emotion, for example), or to adapt to a particular acoustic. we also work on the pitch break, either
crossing it smoothly to keep the voice full in a thin fold (head) sound, or to stay on the pitch break to
explore its emotional connotations - a voice 'cracking with emotion'. I also use the Sven Smidt 'accent
breathing' method - this uses physical rocking and strong connection to abdominal support connected with
different stress patterns and intonations. This means that students connect physical activity in the support
mechanism with lively intonation and stress patterns in speech, and keep the voice well supported when
going into higher pitches - using breath support to increase the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds
thus avoiding tension in the throat.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Yes. [Do you mean ‘what is pitch’ or ‘what is it’s value’?]
Vocal pitch: the highness or lowness of the voice which is established by how long, and how thick (or
dense) the vocal folds are at the moment of vocalization - i.e. what we normally associate with the pitch of
the voice.
The value of an extended pitch range is that the greater the range, the greater and more comfortable the
middle range of the voice, and the more vocal possibilities at the performer's disposal - especially for
situations involving powerful emotions.
Nancy Krebs
Pitch range in the conversational voice should be in what we (in the Lessac world) call the "Y Buzz / +Y
Buzz area"--which means that the individual can feel a vibration or buzzing just at the upper gum ridge
extending into the upper front teeth. When he/she feels this vibration--the voice can be channeled
to this forward position, keeping it out of the throat and moving smoothly forward, creating a resonant, rich
quality at all times.
David Smukler
We are working to make available to the actor 4 to 5 octaves of vocal/emotional range. Increasing the
range increases the possibility of more choices available to the actor’s thoughts and needs.
Maggie Surovell
I teach pitch is very valuable, for both creating diverse characters as well as bringing variety to a piece of
text. For any antithesis (in Shakespeare or other texts) pitch variation is one way to make the distinctions
clear.
Phil Timberlake
Again, yes. One value is its use for inflection - using a change in pitch to highlight a word or phrase. I find
that most of my students need to learn to use pitch inflection with text.
And as I stated in my discussion of resonance, an exploration of pitch range can create a fuller range of
expression and a connection to the inner life.
B3. Do you teach resonance and/or range in terms of anatomical function? If so, at what point do you do
this? How in-depth is the information? What are the main points you want your students to understand? If
you do not teach resonance and/or range in terms of anatomical function, is there another format you use?
Joanna Cazden
Register: I do not address anatomy unless asked.
Range: If there is a problem with pitch or pitch range, I give very brief concrete explanation that VF’s
stretch & relax to make different pitches, “like a rubber band.” Sometimes there is a medical condition that
is making this difficult, & I may explain how the medical diagnosis interferes with stretching or thickening.
Again I use very simple analogies, “the nodule is like a spot of glue on fabric, it just won’t stretch at that
spot.”
Yvonne R. Dechance
While I teach that range and resonance development can be helped considerably by proper body alignment
and a reduction of unnecessary tensions throughout the body, I don’t typically have to get too anatomical in
teaching range—I simply teach most students the importance of discovering their full range, and teach
them the advantages of doing regular scale and vocalize work, especially those patterns that can be
transposed by half steps.
As for resonance, we get a bit more technical—I often point out that the spaces that singers make in their
pharynx (and to a lesser degree their tongue and lips) helps determine the amount and quality of resonant
sound they can produce. For some singers, nasality or denasality is an issue; I usually explain this in
anatomical terms. But most resonance work can be done through the singer’s experimentation with vowel
shapes, and through demonstration, as quickly as any other method.
Marty Heresniak
I absolutely use anatomical structure and physiological function.
For range:
I teach that pitch changes inside the larynx. Period. (See PITCH under the definitions section.) We spend
several sessions learning to slide a pitch from the middle of the range out to the moderate extremes without
any changes in lips, teeth, tongue, palate, head position, mouth opening, or vowel sound. This is all about
isolating the pitch changing mechanism and leaving all the other nearby mechanisms uninvolved. I also
discuss the movement of the crico-thyroid muscles in moving the joint in the larynx and how this joint will
not be free to move if there are ancillary tensions in the neck around the larynx.
For resonance:
I teach the basic structures of the head, neck, and torso so that the student can know and identify the major
resonating chambers within the body. I also teach a feeling of 'ballooning' in the nasal and oral pharynx.
This is the natural back-pressure that feels just like 'popping your ears' when descending a hill. This
blowing up inside the head is the same feeling that comes from a pleasant surprise, so I approach good
vocal resonance from both the physical (ballooning) and the emotional (happy surprise) paths. I try to get
students to feel the physical reaction inside the body, then let it go and let the mood do all the work.
Mary Howland
Yes. Because the singing teaching at our institution uses the Estill terminology to very good effect, if
makes sense to keep working with the technical, anatomical focus when working with the spoken voice as
well. Students study vocal anatomy as part of the very earliest stages of voice training. they learn all the
structures involved, down to the principal abdominal muscles of exhalation (rectus abdominis, transverse
abdominis, internal and external obliques), they learn the function of the pharyngeal muscles, the groupings
of tongue muscles and their function, along with a rudimentary understanding of the aero-dynamic, myoelastic theory of phonation - how speed of air flow affects the frequency of opening and closing of the
vocal folds. The rationale for teaching this is that it gives the students a scientific explanation for all their
practical voice work, so that they understand that each exercise they do is developing the strength or
function of some part of this mechanism, because they have identified it, and can sense it working more
easily. In learning about voice production through anatomy, they also understand that they share structures
and function with the whole human race, and that it is only range of function that will determine how their
voice sounds. Because they know this, they are more confident about exploring the range of sounds that
they can produce by using their vocal structures in different ways.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I mention anatomical function at a fairly basic level, to help the students become more physically self
aware, and to provide a foundation from which they can explore further if they wish. I also use it to
demonstrate that if they try to do their exercises 'anatomically' they will create inappropriate and
unnecessary tensions in the body, reducing resonance and hence vocal possibilities. Understanding how it
works in the body is one thing, but using the imagination within a dynamic and flexible body is something
much more powerful and, in my opinion, more appropriate.
Nancy Krebs
To a certain extent--I first introduce how the voice functions anatomically, then how the voice wants to
function optimally--meaning without any adverse conditioning. Part of this training includes
kinesthetically feeling the vibrations as they travel to the hard palate, sifting up into the nasal bone and
forehead and so on.
David Smukler
There is value in the student’s knowing that the they can prepare the resonator work is a simple technical
way and then get on with their actor work.
Maggie Surovell
YES. For example, I teach that range or pitch is a higher frequency of vocal fold vibrations, verses lower
notes.
Phil Timberlake
I give a basic overview of range and resonance at the beginning of training. I want my students to
understand the basics of anatomical function - the role of breath, vocal fold vibration, and resonance. When
I begin teaching the Wolfsohn/Roy Hart inspired work, I review resonance and range
B4. Do you teach that there is a difference between resonance and/or range? If so, what do you teach your
students the difference is?
Joanna Cazden
They are very different concepts to me – except that mask resonance in speech is (conveniently) strongest
when the person is using their healthiest pitch. So I’ll use the sensation of resonance (buzz) to help them
find & recall & monitor whether they’re using the target pitch range. This is usually (not always) easier for
non-trained speakers than trying to “hear” when their pitch is good.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Resonance is the ringing quality of the sound; Range is the number of pitches a singer possesses, or may
refer to a specific area of pitches for a singer (ex. Chest range, passaggio range. Many singers make
adjustments in how they produce (or even perceive) resonance according to what area of their range they
are singing in, but should not confuse resonance with range. Any pitch can be resonant, or lack resonance.
Marty Heresniak
Of course there's a difference between resonance and range! What a weird question. Range is the spectrum
of fundamental tones that the voice can produce. Resonance is how those fundamentals are amplified by
interaction with the resonating chambers of the body. Resonance supplies the overtones of the acoustic
spectrum of each individual fundamental tone.
Mary Howland
Yes. Resonance is defined more by quality of sound, range by the 'height' of the note - the acoustic
frequency/pitch. A bright resonance/quality and a high pitch may go together, but do not need to. They may
also be used interdependently to amplify the voice for particular artistic or technical effects.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Resonance itself is an element of the voice and something which can be demonstrated through physics;
range is what happens to it depending on where it is (size of cavity, size of opening).
Nancy Krebs
Resonance takes place in the bone, wave reflection in the open cavities. The combination of both creates
the quality of the voice. Range will be affected by feeling the movement of the vibrations from the
smallest focus pocket on the hard palate (near the upper gum ridge) to the largest--covering the entire
hard palate. As the pitch ascends, the sensation will move up into the head and upper face bones.
David Smukler
They overlap, resonance feeds range. The freer one frees the other
Maggie Surovell
I do teach resonance and range separately. Regardless of where the student is resonating, I still want them
to explore vocal variety (pitch and volume, syncopation) within this resonator.
I want my students to understand the relationship between resonance and range. By exploring and
expanding the body’s resonance, one can expand his or her range. I teach that different areas of the body
will resonate with different sounds, similar to a drum set.
Phil Timberlake
I teach that resonance is about vibration and range is about pitch. They can act independently of each other,
but also are connected. For instance, it tends to be easier to feel vibrations in the torso on relatively low
pitches, and often is easier to feel vibrations in the head on higher pitches. But this does not have to be the
case - one can find and encourage torso vibrations on high pitches. One can explore pitch and resonance
either together or independently.
.
B5. Do you have a particular progression before moving into working on resonance and/or range with a
student? If so, what is the preparation?
Joanna Cazden
Highly individual. Most often I would say that I train resonance mid-way through the therapy process, after
basic lifestyle & health issues are improving, and as a component of vocal endurance (efficiency). Range
(meaning extent of pitch range) is used more as a measurement of progress than as something I directly
teach.
Yvonne R. Dechance
I believe the best singing in general comes from a whole-body approach, working from body alignment to
breathing and from there to resonance and range.
Range is tested from the very beginning, and (mostly traditional) scales and patterns are assigned with the
goal of encouraging the student to gently begin to extend their range. I have a handout of favorite scales,
and ask singers to sing in logical half or whole step progressions for most exercises. I also assign simple
vocalizes from the Vaccai books in addition to repertoire chosen to slightly extend a student’s beginning
range. Most students come into college-level lessons with a better-developed or more comfortable low
range than high range—especially in theater singers, but there are exceptions where higher voices have yet
to develop a useable chest or mixed tone production, and as a result avoid singing lower notes.
I do not emphasize breath work at the beginning of training, as many teachers do; instead, I emphasize
body alignment and freedom of tone. From these foundations, I encourage the student to make a variety of
sounds and begin to play with resonance. I typically sing with resonance myself, so that tone model is
always available. Once those foundations are in place, I ask students to attempt to finetune or maximize
their resonance, often using a vowel series based on Delle Sedie (and similar to Coffin’s work); for more
advanced or analytically-inclined singers I explain in detail why I’m choosing certain vowel shapes to
begin from, but the result is more important than the exact method they use to get there.
Marty Heresniak
I have no particular progression in any of my teaching. My teaching changes to meet the individual needs
of each new student. Some things are usually taught before others, but not necessarily. Resonance and
range are parts of the whole voice act. I plug in the lessons on these two aspects of voice when it is
appropriate for the student.
Mary Howland
I follow the structure we were encouraged to use on the MA course at the Central School of Speech and
Drama - Body, Breath, Phonation, Tone and Word. So before work can begin on altering the quality of the
sound, the body should be able to align and work without unnecessary tension, and the breath support
system be in place to allow the vocal folds to work to maximum efficiency. Without a flexible, calm body,
the breath cannot work efficiently, and without efficient breath support, the sound produced at the laryngeal
level will be thin, without a range of vocal harmonics that can be shaped to produce different voice
qualities. This five-point structure then applies to vocal warm-ups and other voice work, e.g. accents and
characterisation.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
The preparation begins at the very first lesson, lying on the floor after a reasonably vigorous physical
workout, sighing and then humming. The students will have experienced a variety of different approaches
to get them humming, ah-ing, hum-ah-ing, and mah-ing, directing the sound from the centre to the
extremities and then out into the room, over several lessons before the subject of resonance is raised. In
this way, they are beginning to become accustomed to the feeling of sound waves vibrating through
different parts of their bodies before they realise it has a technical term and is a vital aspect of their vocal
process.
I demonstrate resonance first by sitting in a tight circle with the students and whispering through the
resonance scale from 'ee' through 'ah' to 'oo', and back again, and getting students to observe the way the
'wind' seems to go from high to low in pitch. [I learnt this from Harriet Buchan, who may have acquired it
from Roy Hart.] After they experiment with it themselves, I then explain what resonance is, and how it
works in the body.
Nancy Krebs
In the Lessac Approach, we always start with feeling the connection between the body and the voice--and
the benefits of posture/breathing/alignment before moving into actual voice work. Feeling pleasurable
sensations associated with relaxer-energizers like humming, laughing, singing, swallowing, dancing,
yawning, shaking all lead the student to physically understand that all these pleasureable activities should
be part of the gestalt of voice and actor training.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Each student is different.
David Smukler
First, make sure that they are centered and voices are rooted in their bodies. Then once the voice is free
connect through the primary resonance of the face, then balance the open channels, the sources, the
resonance system and then the scene partner.
Maggie Surovell
Before encouraging my students to makes sounds I put them through a deep breathing and relaxation
technique. I believe that it is crucial for muscles in the body to be released and relaxed before doing vocal
exercises. In addition, I do an exercise where we partner up into pairs and have one partner lay in corpse
pose while the other partner places their hand on different areas of the body (such as the knees, elbows,
feet). I begin by telling my students to only focus on putting the breath into these different body parts, that
their partner is touching. Next I instruct the students to put voiced sound on this breath and to see where
they feel vibration or movement. As a result I notice that as they attempt to voice specific body parts, they
produce a varied range of notes and sounds.
Phil Timberlake
I start with breathing and release work. But the release of habitual tensions will increase the body's ability
to resonate. So in a sense I am teaching resonance work, although I don't talk too much about it.
Before I move into deep work on resonance and pitch, I teach breath support (Fitzmaurice Restructuring).
B6. Is there a particular paradigm you use when teaching resonance and/or range?
Joanna Cazden
Resonance:
Most commonly, I use tactile feedback (“put your fingers on your face” or “use one finger to make a Hitler
mustache”) combined with humming and “umhumm” on different pitches and pitch slides, until student
can identify feeling of “best buzz”. Then I repeat this without the manual feedback, to focus on internal
sensations of buzz. Apply this to nasal syllables, nasal-initial words, sentences, etc. week by week until it
becomes natural/ familiar for them to speak with this production.
I do not use this approach with absolutely everyone, but it is typically what I try first, then adapt as needed.
Range:
I don’t teach range directly. Even with singing students, I approach increased range as a result, measure, or
validation of all other aspects of voice working well. Students always want to increase range, so as soon as
they can create more pitches, they run with it, without my doing much more than counseling patience and
reinforcing the REST of the process!
Yvonne R. Dechance
See response above. There is more than one way to teach anything, and different students learn differently,
but I have found a simplification of the Delle Sedie chart helpful for most students, whether I show them
the chart itself or just incorporate the techniques into want to know when they get the sound right. (I’ve
translated the Delle Sedie chart into IPA and used ranges of vowels rather than one unique sound for most
pitches seen in both Delle Sedie, Coffin and other new studies).
Marty Heresniak
The only paradigm is what is right for the student's voice. Whatever brings out the naturally free tone with
the full, relaxed sound that comes from the body being well coordinated. Each voice is different. Each
student mind is different. I have to change my work for each lesson.
Mary Howland
Yes. I have already mentioned the Accent method to connect breath support with intonation, I also use
Lessac's Y-Buzz to encourage forward placement and the strong sensation of physical vibration connected
to resonance. I have also made some use of the Chakras - locating vibratory sensations of sound in
particular areas of the body, and certain elements of Roy Hart work to encourage in depth exploration of as
wide a range of vocal pitches and qualities as possible - this is largely physically based, with lots of
pushing against walls or fellow students, coupled with encouraging the students to work away from their
own personalities, so that they do not let their voice be limited by their own persona.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
No, I use anything that works for me. I have adopted ideas from teachers, students, fellow actors and books
by the various voice gurus. I also make things up as I go, and encourage students to do the same.
Nancy Krebs
We use the term optimum--meaning that no matter what the situation calls for--there will be an optimum
amount of resonance, an optimum range, an optimum need for all the vocal energies.
David Smukler
Yes. See Above.
Maggie Surovell
I use the body. I use anatomical diagrams to show the breathing pattern for the body and to show the
students where their organs are placed. However, ultimately I want the students to close their eyes and go
instead their own bodies with an observational third eye.
Phil Timberlake
Much of my teaching of resonance and range are influenced by what I call the “Wolfsohn/Roy Hart
approach.” I was a Fulbright Fellow at the Roy Hart International Arts Centre in France, and have worked
with many teachers who were students of Roy Hart and Alfred Wolfsohn. There is no specific “technique,”
and each teacher has his/her own approach. But an exploration of pitch and resonance was always a key
part of my training.
And all my teachers have shared an investigative property - an exploration of the entirety of human vocal
expression: high and low pitches, resonance qualities, traditional “male” and “female” sounds, squeaks,
growls. Part of the philosophy is its appreciation of both the beautiful and the beastly in the human voice.
B7. Do you employ the use of images, metaphors or visualizations to achieve change? What types do you
use? (E.g. animal, structural, etc.) Please give examples. (E.g. The body is a house with 3 levels, imagine a
ladder with many rungs on it, etc.) Please discuss what you hope to teach the student with each of these
images and the phrase in which you put it to the student.
Joanna Cazden
I use imagery only when experiential approaches don’t work. Clients learn by feeling, sensing the changes
within the body. If THEY use a particular image to describe what they’re discovering, I work with that.
Yvonne R. Dechance
I never enjoyed imagery much as a student, and use as little as possible in my own teaching. The problem
isn’t with imagery itself, but with the different interpretations that students can create from it, often missing
the original point. I do however reference many of the traditional images taught in singing, so my students
will have an idea of how to interpret other teachers’ comments and training when they encounter it; I point
out that many of these translated-from-the-Italian images make more sense to the singer once they have
experienced the sensation or skill being developed. “Think down to sing up” for instance, makes more
sense to a student who has experienced the freedom of singing an upward leap while bending their knees
and opening their mouths simultaneously on the highest pitch.
In resonance training in particular, I describe what the sound might feel like to a student, but rely more on
asking “What did that feel like to you?” One of my students hit a quite resonant note and told me “That
note had more stuff in it.” That feedback was easy to relate to the complexity we see in analyzed patterns
of resonant notes, which made perfect sense to that student.
Marty Heresniak
Are you kidding? I'm the King of Analogy. I constantly use analogy and metaphor, but must admit I tie
their uses into the student's background. If the student is a skater, I use figure skating images. If the student
dances, I use dance images. I have to get into each individual student's mind and use analogies that work
for that mind. There are some images I use often. I use a lot of driving metaphors (singing is an automatic,
not a standard), architectural images (the throat is a ventilation duct: what do engineers do to design a silent
duct?), walking and dance metaphors (don't stand as though you're walking on ice - with the hips locked).
In keeping with your specificity of the survey, I'll discuss images used for resonance work.
"Always inhale with just a little bit of the air coming in through your nose. Not mouth breathing. Not nose
breathing. Both simultaneously." This sets up a softness in the walls of the pharynx and in the velum that
allows the sound to roll around in the oral pharynx and nasal pharynx and to access the nasal passages
through the open velum.
"Don't project!" Project is a dirty word in my studio. The idea of projection is that of throwing the sound
directionally forward, to the proverbial 'little old lady with the hearing aid in the back row.' This kind of
imagery means the student will make arrangements to push the sound forward, usually by hardening the
soft palate and bouncing the sound of it. this ricochet is responsible for much of the bright nasal twang
heard in musical theatre and popular singing. I ask students to "fill the whole space" with a sphere of sound
that expands in front, behind, above, below, and to each side. If there is a particular tendency to sing with a
forward push, I will ask that they sing to the back wall, which seems to soften the muscular tensions, round
the sound, and provide more internal resonance space.
"Sing for yourself, within yourself, and the world can't help but overhear you." This is a direct quote from
my mentor, Carl Gutekunst. It works. If you stop thinking about the tone you want to put out there and
think more about letting that tone have a nice home inside you, it will be a better tone and it will carry
farther and be understood better. "Let the sound do a back flip." This ties in a bit with the 'no ricochet' off
the soft palate idea. Instead of having the image of the sound coming up the throat and making a right-angle
turn out the mouth, I ask students to imagine the sound making a 270E turn, first back toward the spine
then down, and then forward out the mouth. This image of a back flip helps students to visualize a larger
internal resonance space at the back of the mouth.
Recently I have been using a lot of painting and drawing images. I hand students crayon, colored pencil,
felt marker, ball point, paint brush, etc., and have them draw on a piece of paper on their thighs. I ask that
they concentrate on what the thigh feels: are there different pressures for the different writing implements?
Then I take their attention to their glottis and ask what 'writing' pressure they feel at the glottis? Most say
pencil. Some are close to Jackson Pollack. I ask that they try singing with a water color pressure (the
lightest) at the glottis. BINGO. Flow phonation.
Then, as a continuation of the imagery, we go back to drawing. Most will find that for the harder
implements -- ballpoint or pencil, they use the fingers, hand and wrist. As the pressure required on the point
becomes less, they seem to move the work farther from the hand -- felt tip pens from the elbow, water color
strokes from the shoulder. I take the analogy back to voice and note that a 'water color' glottis requires the
work to happen as far down in the torso as they can get. I get more light bulbs going off from this than from
any other imagery.
Mary Howland
I will ask students to work with a lot of imitations, for example to find a high, twangy nasal resonance, I
will ask students to imitate motorbikes, bagpipes, Kenneth Williams or bratty children. Or to find a bigger,
more embodied sound, ask them to speak text as if they were an opera singer/Pavarotti. Working with
imitation encourages the student away from self-perceptions of their own sound, exploring vocal dynamics
that they do not associate with ‘themselves’. This imitation also comes into work with extending pitch - I
may ask students to lie down and imagine that they are at a firework display, and they make the noise of the
fireworks (and the ambulance that comes along when the fireworks land in a crowd of small children). By
working with a happy image like this, the pitch range comes very easily and without straining. To work on
a wider range of pitch in intonation, I may ask students to deliver text as if in a restoration comedy, as if
imparting out-RGEOUS gossip, or as if talking to a small animal or child. Again, by using happy images
the range is achieved easily, and by putting the focus on the intention and effect, the range is used in an
exaggerated but authentic way. In terms of how it is put to the student, I rarely ask them to ‘imagine’, but
say ‘there is a small animal in front of you’, or ‘you are lying in the park and there is a firework display
going on.’ This seems to allow the student to enter more fully into the reality of the situation, because it is a
given, rather than taking time to put the brain into the moment. Another exercise I have used to good effect
is taken from David Carey at Central, where students are asked to be ‘beasties’ – ‘you are all yawning
beasts/beasts with metal noses/belly beasts – go round the room and talk to your fellow beasts in your
yawny/metal nose/belly language’. Again, taking students out of their own persona encourages exploration,
and it all being a little ‘silly’ keeps it all relaxed and vocally safe.
For forward placement, I use an image from Kevin Crawford of the roof of the mouth expanding, floating
the ‘top jaw’ off the bottom one. For students with little control of the soft palate and/or with a high tongue
rest position, this works well to find a different physical relationship between the surface of the tongue and
the roof of the mouth, creating more space in the mouth to give a brighter, cleaner quality to the voice.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I always use images, metaphors or visualizations. Here is one example. It is based on one of Linklater's,
which I first learnt from an actor (Ed Porter) in Columbia, Maryland, and which I have probably adapted
quite a bit over the years.
Stand with weight evenly distributed over both feet, soften your knees and look straight ahead. [We
are working on our posture] Now, imagine that you are a castle, a lovely strong castle standing on a
grassy hill, overlooking the rest of the kingdom. Your legs are strong foundations going deep into
the earth. Tilt your pelvis slightly forward and be aware of the whole of that part of your body, your
centre, in the middle of your belly, and the whole of your belly right down to your groin. [We are
establishing our centre of gravity, our groundedness, our self awareness, and creating the basis for
a deeply supported inbreath] Now, this is the dungeon of your castle, the bottom floor, but you don't
keep political prisoners in there; this is where you store your treasure, all of your most precious
possessions, your sweetest memories, everyone you have ever loved, your passions, your fears, your
ambitions and your regrets, your hopes and your dreams. [This ties in with our breathing and
humming work, which sometimes uses the same image of the treasure storehouse - I got this image
from Shauna Kanter. This idea also creates a sense of conscious ownership of that part of the body
which is instinctively inhibited, and it allows for conflicting emotions to occur, and to be
recognised] And in that dungeon, guarding your treasure is a HUGE, HUNGRY GIANT - because
he thinks it is the most AMAZING treasure he has ever come across, and he loves it so much he is
prepared to stay there guarding it for you, just so he can enjoy it. [This is a comforting image, but
also allows for a sense of size in the centre, a sense of power which is always under our individual
control] So he stays there, and all he asks of you in return is that you feed him.
Now tilt your head very gently backwards, leaving your mouth open, leaving your bottom jaw
behind, all the way back till there is a vast cavernous opening from your mouth all the way down to
the dungeon, so that the GIANT can call out for his dinner without exploding your whole body apart
[reinforcing the SIZE of the giant, and of his voice, while reducing the temptation to push]. And he
says "Feed me!" without shouting, because he is so BIG he just has a huge voice and doesn't need to
shout. And his voice comes from the depths of the dungeon, way down there in your centre. [I
demonstrate, so that they begin to hear the difference between the held, or pushed sound, which is
'edgy' or 'tight' and sometimes glottal, and the flowing sound which is deep and richly resonant. It
usually takes some practice, and developing of self awareness, for the student to begin to feel the
vibrations in their bellies. To get them to open and relax their throats, so as to access the lower
notes in their pitch range, I may get them to let the breath in through the mouth, pointing out that
there is no blockage on the way down, so why should there be on the way out?]
Always float your head back slowly.
Now attend to the chest area, from waist to collar bone. This is the ground floor of the castle, with
picture windows all round, a grand room full of light. A very friendly man lives here, an artist who
likes to spray paint murals. He looks out of the wide open windows and says to the world in general
"Hey! Hey Man!" He's a bit of a New Yorker at heart, and sometimes even uses the ‘F’ word in his
friendly New Yorker way – which is how I was taught it by a very nice New Yorker. [We are
aiming for an open sound, resonating in the chest cavity, which can be directed in any direction - a
great way to demonstrate how to 'talk through your back']
The next level is the first floor, taking in the area from the collar bones to the top of the cheek bones
([I'll say, 'including the "mask" if there are singers present, because they may have learnt the term,
not because I use it.] In this room lives a very mean child, so mean that she looks out of the
windows and sees the village children playing on the other side of the moat, and she wants their
toys, so she says "MMMAAAAAeeenn!" [getting the sound forward-focused, a good buzz on the
lips, a lovely open, loose-jawed 'ah' for the word "mine". This ties in with an exercise I use - from
Valerii Galendiev of the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg - for sharing the voice, using it to
connect with each other and with our audience. It involves saying, and meaning 'mine' to each other,
to anything in the space, to the (invisible) audience, and alternating it with 'thine' meaning I am
Yours. It also ties in with another exercise I use to get students to recognise the value of vowels, and
the value of having a relaxed jaw.]
[During the Mean Child element, I usually have to remind students that the Child is the Giant's
grand-daughter, he supports her in more ways than one. In other words, prepare as if for Giant but
speak Mean Child.]
Upstairs, in the attic, all around the eye area from upper cheek bones to hair-line (and all around the
head), lives a very Polite Child, cousin to the Mean Child. This one looks out at the village children,
and asks, most politely, "please may I?" She really wants to play, and she is really polite. She is also
supported by The Giant. Her voice never goes into falsetto or head voice, it goes to the top of the
normal speaking range. [The male students usually need extra help here, and I encourage them to
feed the voice with more air, which will relax their throats enough to get some extra range].
Finally, in the dome of the tower, (the dome of the head) - which happens to have a tiny window
right at the top - lives a beautiful little bird with multi-coloured feathers and a beautiful voice. He
likes to visit the Giant every now and then to share the treasure watching, but he gets so excited he
just has to fly right back up to the dome and straight out of the window to sing his joy to the world.
[This is the ringing 'bell' sound, ee-i!; or phonetically: :- ! with pure head resonance]. Open up
the lift shaft, the huge channel all the way down the middle of your body from dome to dungeon, so
that the bird doesn't damage his wing tips against the walls, and just let him go. [This helps identify
the feeling of letting the breath into the belly just by opening up the inside of the body, from mouth throat - trachea - as if all the way down, and allowing the sound to seem to bounce from the belly
straight up through the top of the head. Some get it straight away, others have to be encouraged to
say, out loud: "Yes!" after every attempt, which usually releases whatever is in the way. Others get it
by standing on their toes and dropping on their heels as the bird flies out.]
Then we roll down the spine, through the whole range, from Bird to Giant. We roll up again, from Bird to
Giant.
Nancy Krebs
The Lessac Approach does not rely upon outside imagery, rote drill, or ear training, so all the imagery that
is created comes from within each student--born of his/her own experience. Arthur Lessac does suggest a
series of images that can be used as organic instructions to the body in his book "Body Wisdom". They are
direct images, semi-direct, indirect, and inspriational images that come serendipitously.
I'll elaborate:
direct image: When you suggest to your body to "yawn-stretch" instead of a
pull or a push.
semi-direct image: When you suggest to yourself that "you are in a body of
water" and recalling how this feels, can image-feel yourself floating your
muscles to a softer, more buoyant feel.
indirect image: When you shift your identity to imagine yourself as a 'plant
at the bottom of the sea' for use as instruction
inspirational image: When you imagine with your eyes closed that you are in
a 'spaceship hurtling through your inner space' while wafting and waving from
side to side in a standing position.
All these images are used by the student to act as 'organic instructions' to
the body--to assist the body to function optimally while doing an activity
that the student does not do exceptionally well (at the beginning of training).
The Lessac work always assists the student in becoming his/her own
'self-teacher'. so, all instructions that are given as coaching include "search for the
bone-conducted tone" rather than 'throw your voice to the back of the
theatre'. 'Fill the theatre of your head with tone, and your voice will fill the
theatre that you are in!" And yes, we have used the lovely tiered image of the
theatre (the orchestra is the hard palate, the first balcony is the nasal bone,
the second balcony is the forehead and the cheap seats are in the cranium!)
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Some students respond to images and some do not. If a student wants to talk in terms of images,
sometimes I suggest something, but often I ask the student to suggest the image.
David Smukler
Yes. Everything. We work on the sensory system to develop a full sensory range. The fuller the sensory
system, more present the individual.
Maggie Surovell
I use words and colors that may be associated with different chakras and I have my students explore the
differences in sound and emotion that result from putting the image or word in a specific place in the body.
I choose words like “father, home, love, ice-cream, flowers, etc.,” with the hope that these words will
trigger different feelings and memories for each student. Sometimes I have the student move the words
into different places of the body to see if some places have stronger reactions than other places. I also have
my students explore different centers and images other than chakras. For example telling them that their
heads are expanding into a huge marshmallow. Or that their feet are growing into feet suit for a giant. I use
images for all purposes beyond changing pitch, tone and resonance. In fact, I pretty much use images and
metaphors for all of my exercises. I think it is really important for the acting students to exercise their
imaginations. Therefore, even when we are doing the tremoring poses in a Fitzmaurice destructuring
sequence I will still have my students image that they are acrobats in the circus and that they are attempting
the impossible by simultaneously extending and bending their legs, or arms (depending on the pose).
Phil Timberlake
I do use images to suggest sounds for exploration, many of which I create in the moment and forget by the
end of class. They often include animals (bird, lion/tiger, bear, mouse, bee, mosquito) and emotional states
(sadness, wailing, laughter, celebration, anger).
The primary images I am using currently are linked to the next question (B8) about specific areas of
resonance. These are based on a model created by Alfred Wolfsohn, and is used by many students of
Wolfsohn and Roy Hart. (As I've alluded to before, these teachers in the Wolfsohn/Roy Hart tradition each
have their own ways of teaching, and they don't necessarily agree with one another or define terminology in
the same way.) Wolfsohn's model, in my experience, is the following:
“Violin” = Head Resonance
“Viola” = Chest Resonance
“Cello” = Abdominal Resonance
These can be heard on a recording of Wolfsohn's students, “Vox Humana,” available from Smithsonian
Folkways Recordings.
My current model uses these placements in the context of characters from “The Wizard of Oz.”
Dorothy = Head Resonance (with a light, breathy quality)
Wicked Witch = Head Resonance (with a hard, strong quality)
Oz = Chest Resonance
Cowardly Lion = Abdominal Resonance
This model brings together resonance, range, character, imaginative, and emotional circumstances.
B8. Do you teach that there are specific areas of resonance and/or that some are primary areas of
resonance? If so, how many resonating areas do you teach? (One, two, three, infinite, other?) Where do
you teach these places specifically are in the body?
Joanna Cazden
Primarily front-of-face (mask) resonance since that is of most benefit to untrained speakers. IF there is time
for a more relaxed discussion, or if student asks about head, chest, throat resonances, I’ll acknowledge
them & make suggestions. Occasionally I refer to the whole body as a resonator, but more as philosophy –
and to reinforce the need to stay in touch with entire body – than as specific training or technique.
Yvonne R. Dechance
I let my students know that the vocal folds themselves make little sound, and the spaces and surface
textures the singer creates above the larynx (the pharynx, mouth, and articulators, and in cases of special
effects like nasality, cutting off the flow to the nasal cavities) is as important as anything they do in the
voice box itself.
For many singers, resonance does feel different according to the range or kind of production of voice
they’re singing with (high vs. middle or low; chest voice vs. mixed or head voice.) Add to that, teaching in
an area where allergies are common, and for these reasons I try to get my students to focus less on where
they might “feel” resonance on any given day, and more on the quality of the sound they produce.
Marty Heresniak
I teach that any and all spaces of the body can be used for resonance. I specifically focus on
1) the area to the back of the mouth and keeping the tongue from encroaching on the necessary resonance
space,
2) the nasal pharynx and nasal vault and other nasal passages and keeping the velo-pharyngeal port open
for optimal resonance. If the port is kept open and free all the other types of nasal resonance will follow
without conscious effort: open the door and the breeze will blow through.
3) the entire torso and the involvement of the muscles of the walls of the torso (appoggio) to keep air
pressure in the lungs and keep the chest open for sub-glottal resonance.
I do not work to shape the lips, pucker, or in any other way make the mouth seem overused. This
overworking of the front of the face can only get in the way of articulation and adds little or nothing to
resonance (which should have been established by the time the voice stream gets to the front of the mouth,
anyway).
I also avoid working with the position of the larynx. When breath is controlled with the muscles of the
torso, the larynx will be free to float to its own level. Pulling down the larynx for a depth of resonance is
ill-advised, as this pseudo-depth can lead to functional problems and never achieves the fullness of tone
available through a free larynx and increased torso strength.
Mary Howland
Yes. The main areas I identify are the belly, the lower ribs, the sternum/high chest, the mask (front of the
face), the pharynx and the crown of the head. Of course there are others that are explored in the process of
developing the whole vocal mechanism, but these are the ones I refer to most often. The first three are more
to do with locating breath movement, the second three to do with locating vibratory sensation.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I teach specific areas, such as belly, chest, lower face, upper face, head, and then ask them to mix and
match, to create more subtle sub-divisions, to mix head and belly, or chest and upper face, for example. I
also teach that we can get any part of the body to resonate/vibrate if we focus our attention to it, including
the legs, that the whole body is a resonator, and I encourage them to experiment to find other specific areas
for themselves.
Primary for me is the whole body. I do not focus on particular areas, unless the student has a problem with
one or another. I am aiming for an overall flowing, powerful, rich and complex sound which will
automatically transform to reveal different qualities depending on the performer’s physicality, emotional
state or other aspects of the character.
In the rare instance where a performer is working outdoors, I will concentrate their attention on to the
various areas of the head, but it will be with insistence that the sound always originates in the centre.
Nancy Krebs
We teach primarily that the most effective resonance takes place on the hard palate, the bones of the face
and head, extending to the cranium. The reason being that Lessac work posits that we can only train what
we can consciously control. Obviously, there is resonance taking place in other parts of the bony
matter in the body--but we can't control these areas--we can control the placement of the voice and the size
and shape of the buccal (oral) cavity.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I teach that the whole body resonates--that is, participates in the sound.
If there is interest, I show pictures--literal or not--of the cavities of
the head and the bones. There may also be pictures or images of the parts
of the body that expand with breath, and/or to suggest how resonance
connects us to the space/listener.
David Smukler
Yes. All for one and one for all. Whole body and specific spots at the same time.
Maggie Surovell
I try to avoid explaining what I hope the students will feel through the exercises. I think that what is
anatomically inevitable will be clear to each student depending on their own personal body. I will try to
help my student explore their range and resonance as well as which areas and notes are comfortable and
most efficient for their speaking voice. I do exercises focusing on the tongue, lips and teeth to explore the
effects these articulators have on facial resonators.
Phil Timberlake
See B7.
PART C
Physical Considerations
C1. In what specific physical positions do you have your students when teaching resonance and/or range?
(E.g. standing, lying, sitting, etc.) What is your rationale for this choice?
Joanna Cazden
Sitting, using hands or fingers on their own face to feel vibration. Rationale: comfort (natural interaction
sitting in therapy room) and speed/efficiency
Yvonne R. Dechance
In a group setting, I will sometimes have students work in a prone position. Lying down often deepens the
breath and reduces tensions, and can enhance resonance training. Table work done by an Alexander
specialist (when we have access to them and their equipment) can also achieve similar results, and
dramatically improve overall alignment when students return to a standing posture.
In individual studio lessons I tend to have students work toward an alignment that will be useful in
singing—first standing, with hip-wide stance, wide chest space, head floating above body, etc—then
including aligned walking and sitting work that will also be required on stage. Good alignment encourages
good resonance, and gives success and confidence in building range.
Marty Heresniak
There is no one position for teaching either resonance or range that works as a magical answer. As in all
voice work, the body must be in good natural posture. Any body position which leads to tensions will keep
good voicing from happening. However, teaching that 'this is the resonance posture' will pretty much
guarantee that the student will have trouble finding good resonance when in other postures. The work must
translate to whatever position they might find themselves in while performing.
Mary Howland
Initially, resonance work is done lying down. The rationale for this is to allow the students to put their
relaxation techniques into practice, and to feel how much easier it is to sense the transference of vibration
when the body is relaxed. By the second year/second tem for one year course students, there is rarely any
lying down - this is to keep the students seeing voice work and full resonance as something active and
controllable while alert. working on brighter, forward placement is usually sitting or standing, though as
part of the process of location the sensation of forward placement, students are asked to vocalise while
folded forward, having rolled down through the spine. They then roll back up while vocalising, so that they
keep the change in centre of gravity of the tongue and feel the sound in a brighter, more forward position in
the mask. I use an exercise from Kevin Crawford to work on exploring extremes of range and resonance
through thorough engagement of breath support, where the student lies semi-supine, with the balls of the
feet resting on a wall, the heels on the floor. This position allows the pelvis and back of skull free
movement, so that rocking the pelvis engages the deep core support muscles, and the free rocking of the
head keeps the airway open and released. When teaching screaming, which combines specific resonant
placement with extremes of pitch range, students are asked to 'push the wall', one foot in front of the other,
keeping the spine straight and back flat, to allow for full and active engagement of the 'anchoring' muscles
in the back. When working with the y-buzz, I ask students to sit, either on a chair or upright on the floor,
kneeling or cross-legged, to maximise the potential for bone conduction of vibration throughout the whole
body, so that when they find the right tongue position, they can feel vibration right down into the pelvis,
tips of the fingers, even the floor.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I have them lying down at first, before I introduce the concept of resonance, sending sound through the
whole body; then either lying or standing, depending on the imagery being used. (e.g. a lying down
resonance exercise involves imagining the sound is a train traveling in different directions, stopping at
different stops, experimenting with where the stops might be. A standing up exercise involves imagining
the sound is different coloured rings flowing out of the body, playing hoola hoop with them, expanding
them out into the room)
The rationale is that they are resting after vigorous exercise, that the body is in the most relaxed state
possible, with minimal tension, and mental concentration, and therefore they are more likely to be able to
identify sensations of vibration in the body.
Once they have shown some understanding and development through this process, over several classes, we
move on to specific resonance work, standing up or lying down..
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Lying, sitting, standing and moving. With both interior and exterior focus.
David Smukler
Primarily standing, lying secondary, and hanging thirdly. In order to engage in total body awareness.
Maggie Surovell
I use lying down, numerous yoga poses and at the end of a serious I will get my students on their feet to do
exercises standing up. I think my students have more trust and faith in their voices when they experiment
on the floor in a relaxed corpse pose. In addition, I encourage experimenting with higher and lower notes
when my students are destructuring in tremor poses. I believe that these poses help the students focus on
relaxation and help eliminate the fears and tensions that usually occur when a student’s goal is to vocalize a
specific sound or note. In other words I want my students to focus on different intentions in order to
produce their desired result. I also feel that it is essential for my students to wind up doing these exercises
on their feet because it is inevitably a position the performer will end up in. Therefore, after doing relaxing
and confidence building exercises on the floor, I make sure to put the student on their feet. Although,
sometimes if a student has a breakthrough on the floor, I will not push them to get on their feet that day,
because I believe it is important to let accomplishments settle before taking a chance on deflating the
student with an additional challenge.
Phil Timberlake
For body resonance, I often begin with students on the mats. Lying down often allows them to explore new
sounds/awareness without having to fight gravity. I also use partners to actually vibrate each others rib
cages.
Eventually, they have to be standing, as that is the physical position they will be doing most of their acting.
C2. Do you have your students adjust their physical position during work on resonance and/or range? If
so, when do you do this and what is your rationale?
Joanna Cazden
NO.
Yvonne R. Dechance
See above response
Marty Heresniak
If the body posture is inhibiting free body use, yes, I have them adjust while working on any aspect of
voicing.
Body postures that particularly effect resonance are a forward head, collapsed cervical spine, rounded
shoulders, an uneven weight distribution on the feet, and any ligamental locks - especially in the hips and
knees. The Feldenkrais pelvic clock exercise is particularly good for teaching awareness of the hips and
sacroiliac.
Physical positions which can effect range are a forward head position, collapsed cervical section o the
spine, and any stretching in the front of the neck which will lead to tension in the larynx and inhibit
freedom of pitch adjustments.
Mary Howland
I have already mentioned the rolling up through the spine when working with forward placement, and the
rocking of the pelvis in the semi-supine exercise. To encourage a more open sound, I may ask students to
think of themselves as opera singers, opening the arms, palm up, as they walk down an imaginary staircase.
This keeps the chest open and lifted, while also encouraging a sense of confidence, 'exposing the heart'.
Working on range, especially in screaming, when wall pushing, the students are asked to increase the
amount of pressure they put into the wall as they go up in pitch. When we come away from the wall, they
are asked to find a similar effect by thinking of flattening the back of the neck as they go up in pitch.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
We do a host of different physical technique work with voice, which involves exploring different resonant
qualities dependent on different physical states. For example, seven states of tension in the body each
produce different vocal qualities because the resonance factor is affected. Working with different
archetypal states also produces different physical qualities, which affect the resonant qualities and lead to
different vocal qualities
Lissa Tyler Renaud
So they can get to know the sensations of resonance in all positions.
David Smukler
Yes. Channel resonators. (Tilting of the head forward or back). Digitally working on facial resonators.
Maggie Surovell
Yes (see C1)
Phil Timberlake
It is my understanding that tilting the skull so that the chin is closer to the chest is conducive for voicing
higher pitches, and tilting the skull so the chin is farther from the chest is conducive for lower pitches. So I
have students practice those pitch extremes with the skull tilted in the appropriate position.
.
C3. Do you teach your students to do more or less of anything while teaching resonance and/or range?
(E.g. increase or decrease the breath flow, etc.) If so, what is your rationale behind this choice?
Joanna Cazden
NO.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Not in general. Most undergraduate singers are already concentrating at first on developing a mid-to-low
breath for singing. The only exception I make is for notes in the highest parts of the range—I caution my
singers not to over breathe for those notes.
I do often ask singers to increase their nasality when first learning to increase their resonance; exaggerated
nasal vowels are quite helpful in this exploration.
Marty Heresniak
There are no particulars which come to mind. Often to achieve resonance one can let go of a feeling of need
for volume.
Mary Howland
Certainly with range, I do a lot of work on increasing breath support as the pitch rises, so that the air flow
encourages the folds to vibrate faster (the aero-dynamic part of the theory of phonation) without effort in
the throat. Other than that, there is no major physical instruction.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Yes, but nothing technical like increasing or decreasing the breath flow. We work with different movement
and acting exercises, and we incorporate developing resonant qualities and range into all of our work. The
idea is to reinforce the wholeness of the performer, that the vocal instrument is the body, that resonance is
affected by what we are doing, thinking and feeling. I am aiming for performers whose voices arrive out of
characterization, and out of the body, rather than performers who manipulate the way they sound in order to
give a particular impression.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I help them learn to pay attention to how what they do changes the quality
of resonance
David Smukler
Make sure that the breath is alive. That there is a commitment to a thought or need and to releasing the
breath.
Maggie Surovell
I have my students experiment with extremes of voiceless sounds to effortless short voiced sounds to loud
long sounds (for these elongated sounds I tell the students to use a focus line that goes all the way to the
sky). I believe this is important to show the students how little work their body needs to do in order to
produce sound. As well as showing them how much work their bodies do and try to help them find an
moderate place where they will begin to teach their transverse muscle to do work that their larynx and
abdominal muscles have been doing.
Phil Timberlake
In order to explore abdominal resonance, I encourage students to use a “breathy” voice. I have found that
this “breathy” sound makes it easier to feel the lower ribs vibrating. I also believe that a “breathy” sound is
a part of possible expression and should be explored.
C4. Do you incorporate physical activity when teaching resonance and/or range? (E.g. shaking out the
body, jumping, running, etc.) If so, what do you hope the student will learn from this?
Joanna Cazden
NO.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Movement accomplishes many things: it reduces tension, distracts the singer from over-analyzing the
sound or the process, can help align the body, and adds energy to the sound. I frequently have students
loosen the body before singing, and have them walk around during warmups or difficult singing passages.
While running in place doesn’t create great tone, it is an effective means of energizing a singer and
activating the abdominal muscles—this can help the student both in terms of perception of where energy
and coordination stem from, and often leads to singing higher with less self-awareness and vocal effort. I
am also fond of having students perform a “hoedown” bend—in technical work only, never on stage—to
aid in a feeling of depth when singing leaps or extensive scales. Energy and alignment are key components
in achieving a reasonably midline laryngeal position. Acting-oriented students also like the sense of
freedom and character they can incorporate into this kind of movement work.
Marty Heresniak
There is no 'press here, get this result.' All available resources must be brought into play at one time or
another. I will use movement to teach a student to feel a freedom in the hips, knees, and spine.
Mary Howland
Other than exercises mentioned above, yes there is often shaking out. This is to release any physical
‘holding’ of muscles which may inhibit breathing or resonance. I may also ask specific students to speak
text while jogging or running, then to stand still and speak the text again. The purpose of this is to get the
breath free and very active, which then results in a fuller sounding voice. And again, it helps to release any
physical tensions. I also teach students the New Zealand Haka to encourage a low centre of gravity
(‘grounding’) and a sense of physical strength, which again encourages a more embodied sound.
With regards to range, I do not work specifically on developing range, but to widen intonation patterns, I
may ask students to find how the text suggests they move – almost creating a free dance routine to go with
the text. As the body finds highs and lows of activity and movement, the breath is also finding a range of
dynamics, which transfers into a range of vocal dynamics. All of this physical activity is to instill a muscle
memory in the students which connects physical activity with vocal activity – voice as a whole body
activity.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
See C2 and C3. I hope the student will learn to keep the voice and body totally integrated, to be able to
communicate with a wide range whatever the body is doing, and to have fun with the voice as a physical
activity.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The body will resonate no matter what the students are doing if the vocal production is free. Any swinging
motion can be useful in addition to other natural movement. I am not drawn to a shaking movement, but I
let my students know that some people use that in case it proves useful for them in a way that it hasn't
proved useful to me--yet!
David Smukler
Yes. We do physical activities in order to distract them from their efforts and to create possibilities.
Maggie Surovell
Yes, I have my students get into tremoring and arched destructuring Fitzmaurice poses.
I hope my students’ bodies will physically memorize how to put resonance in parts of their bodies that are
not accustomed to vibration. By moving around, the students will not memorize how the vibrations feel in a
specific physical position, but rather the focus is placed on the vibrations in the body part itself.
Phil Timberlake
I have previously discussed the use of characters and emotional circumstances. I have my students
physicalize these as much as possible. So physical activity is a key part of that.
Some specific physical activity:
Stomping (to keep vibrations in chest/body resonance), Opening Arms Wide (to open chest to vibrate),
Wide Stance with Knees Bent (to feel abdominal/body resonance). Again, these activities are tied to
imaginary circumstances. (Godzilla Stomping, A Lover Opening Arms Wide).
PART D
Speech Considerations
D1. Do you use any specific vowels, consonants, words or text when teaching resonance and/or range?
(e.g. [i]) If so, which ones? What considerations do you make when selecting these? What is your
rationale for these sounds?
Joanna Cazden
/m,n/ and front vowels for increased mask resonance; /g, k, l, and back vowels for increased oral /
pharyngeal resonance, e.g. “gold, “golly. “ago”. This not usually needed with my population, as much as
the mask/ front resonance is.
Yvonne R. Dechance
For general range work, I tend to begin with the traditional /a/ sounds, making sure singers know that 1)
this works better as an Italian/Spanish vowel, not the duller American “ah” and 2) they are encouraged to
modify this vowel at any time it gets tight or otherwise uncomfortable. As pitches ascend, /ae/ and /u/ are
good choices for male voices to try; the schwa or any “uh” variant often help female voices.
From the mid-range to low-range, typically little work needs to be done, other than to find a good sense of
resonance in general. In the passaggio, I find many students respond well to (first singing on, and later
modifying toward) mixed vowels, including /œ/ and the o-slash. I also ask singers to work with “ugly”
sounds, finding that nasal vowels and consonants can help students find resonance. A nasal version of /njæ/
moving toward /a/ is a favorite. Sometimes I am quite specific in the vowels I ask for, while at other times I
just ask the singer to experiment until they find a ringing resonant sound.
Marty Heresniak
In teaching range, we want to isolate the function of the larynx as much as possible. A neutral tongue and
mouth position is the best beginning, thus an /m/ hum to start, opening to /^/, is the best range specific
exercise. I often have students work with the 'bulimia method,' lying the little finger of either hand down
the middle of the blade of the tongue, closing the mouth around it, and humming while the finger monitors
tongue movement. One should be able to hum throughout the entire range without any change in the
position or tension of the tongue. Working with the tongue out-of-play is essential for range work, as it
allows the intrinsic muscles of the larynx to establish their working patterns without interference.
For teaching resonance, I use Ingo Titze's /mui/ exercises (Journal of Singing, Volume 57, January, 2001,
starting on page 51) to establish an open resonance space in the back of the mouth and upper throat. Start
with an /m/ hum, feeling the back pressure of the build-up of air as the pressures are roughly equalized
above and below the glottis (also mentioned in answer to B3). This teaches the proprioceptive awareness of
the resonance space in the oral pharynx and nasal pharynx. Moving to /u/ maintains a small exit port for the
air, and makes it easy for the student to maintain the sensation of an open resonance space. Follow this with
/i/ and continue to learn the feeling of internal resonance space during voicing. From these three most
important sounds, I move students through the variety of all eleven English vowels, learning to keep the
resonance space open and engaged.
Mary Howland
Yes. We certainly do a lot of work with the nasal sounds - m, n and ng. I use these with relation to the
Lessac Consonant Orchestra, where the speaker Is directed to feeling sensations linked to specific sounds,
e.g. the edge of the tongue for the 'clarinet'/voiced 'th' sound. M Is used a lot with chewing and yawning to
encourage an open throat sensation with the making of sound. I also use It as part of developing forward
placement, being a sound that is made as obviously In the front of the face as possible. N Is used to develop
sensations of nasal resonance - linked to the bagpipe/motorbike noises mentioned earlier. I also work with
the Consonant Orchestra to encourage students to give full value to voiced consonants like d, z and v, to
maintain the vibration in the throat, so keeping the voice resonating more.
Vowel sounds I use as might be expected - fronted vowels to develop sensations of vibration in the mask
and front of the vocal tract, backed vowels to find more embodied sounds. As mentioned before, I do work
with the y-buzz, locating this high, fronted tongue position to maximise sensations of resonance throughout
the body. When working through breathing exercises In warm-up, these will always develop Into warming
up the resonators So a Chi Gung breathing exercise will use the breath just as breath to begin with, moving
onto voiceless fricatives, onto voiced fricatives, onto nasals then nasals opening Into vowels. These
exercises always end with the sound 'mee', to get the sound bright, forward and strong.
There is an exercise I do with 'oh', especially when beginning work on Shakespeare. Students so rarely
know how to use the 'o's as In 'O what a noble mind is here o'erthrown' - It is hard to get them to give It its
full emotional value, so we work with just the 'oh' sound to find its maximum resonance, both physical and
emotional.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I do teach the 'resonance scale' – (unable to reproduce the images at this time)
It leads on to work on vowels, helps students focus on mouth, jaw, tongue and palate movement, and
begins the process of understand how speech sounds are made. It also allows me to introduce the concept of
the open vowel as the conduit for emotion (while the consonants add intellectual meaning).
As explained above, when whispered through the resonance scale also provides a great example of how
resonance works, by revealing how the ‘pitch’ changes through increasing and decreasing the size of the
mouth cavity, and the size of the opening, without making a vocal sound.
David Smukler
M/n/ng as well as huh, hee, hah for the core resonating areas. He, ooo and ai for range.
Maggie Surovell
Although I allow free exploration of sound, I generally suggest the open voiced vowel ahhhhh to open up
the back of the throat during the relaxation and destructuring sequences. This sound does not require action
from the lips, jaw or tongue. Therefore these articulators and points of articulation can release and relax
and allow the breath to be the focus of destructuring. However, once I begin exercises with restructuring, I
encourage the students to include sounds of consonants and vowels. I have my students taste the different
continents and attempt to figure out where the sound exists between the vocal chords and the lips. In
addition, I ask them to observe how the airflow feels, how the articulators are either stopping or allowing
the airflow and what type of path the airflow has to move through. The combination of these characteristics
of sound will explain the differences between unvoiced verses voiced sounds and the difference between
stop-plosives, nasals and fricatives. In addition the students will feel the difference between bilabial,
alveolar, velar, glottal, labio-dental, dental and alveolar-palatal. Although, I do not teach my beginner
students these terms, they are learning the differences and definitions by making the sounds and identifying
the airflow, action of articulators and place where the action is happening.
Phil Timberlake
I often use:
Head Resonance - nasal consonants, [i], “hee-hee” laughing.
Chest Resonance - [A] (if my IPA font doesn't translate, this is the low, back vowel “ah” as in FATHER)
Abdominal Resonance - [o˘] (if my IPA font doesn't translate, this is the back “oh” vowel as in GOAT,
followed by a lengthening diacritic. I think this is accurate, rather than the GOAT diphthong.)
My rationale for these is simply that I have found these sounds useful in feeling the vibrations in these
areas.
In my “Wizard of Oz” exercise I have some text:
Dorothy = Head Resonance (with a light, breathy quality)
“Run, Toto, Run”
Wicked Witch = Head Resonance (with a hard, strong quality)
“Surrender Dorothy!”
Oz = Chest Resonance
“I am Oz the great and powerful”
Cowardly Lion = Abdominal Resonance
“Put `em up, put `em up”
D2. Do you link specific sounds with specific parts of the body? If so, which sounds with which parts of the
body? What is your rationale for this?
Joanna Cazden
NO
Yvonne R. Dechance
I really don’t, unless I’m showing a student (from the standpoint of diction or articulation) where or how a
sound should be formed. If a student feels certain sounds and equates them with areas of the body that’s
fine, as long as they realize that the perception may not equate with the reality, and that other singers may
not experience identical sensations.
Marty Heresniak
I've heard of people who do this, but I think it's pretty whacked. We want all sounds to resonate in all
spaces so the voice will be consistent throughout the range and through all vowels and consonants. Trying
to second guess where the sound wants to go is counterproductive and can never reach the efficiency of a
voice produced with a single resonance focus.
Mary Howland
Yes. As I said above, the Lessac Orchestra encourages the sensation of vibration in specific parts of the
vocal mechanism - the lips, the tip of the tongue, etc. this can then be taken into placement of voice
resonance as well as speech resonance. For example, working on forward placement, I use an exercise from
Berry and Rodenburg, where the student locates a sensation of vibration in the top of the head, then lets it
fall down the front of the face, like a waterfall, following its movement with the fingertips. when the
fingertips and sound land on the lips, It Is held there for a few seconds as an m - the m Is made with soft
lips, and the sensation Is like 'electricity In the lips'. Once this sensation is established, the falling sound
can then be opened into a vowel once it lands on the lips, then opened out into words and text. By working
on this sensation of the lip-'M', a forward placement has been located and established, to be maintained
when words are used.
When working with the 'oh' as mentioned in the previous answer, the students are asked to locate a
sensation of the sound next to the heart, and to feel It grow, 'nudging the heart to one side'. the aim Is not to
produce an emotional reaction In the student but to locate a particular quality In that sound that gives the
word emotional weight.
Tying In with the Estill system of singing teaching our college uses, we also use the 'nyah' sound to locate
twang. the 'ny' part of It Is firmly located In the nose and mask - Images of witches, bratty children, etc. this
helps again to get the sound bright and forward, secure In the tough bones of the face, than the softer
cartilages of the throat.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
No. I do use a version of Linklater's resonance scale through the body (see attached), not sure what she
calls it, as one of many resonance exercises. I also use Frankie Armstrong's version of "one note, different
voices", which requires singing the same note with different resonant qualities by focusing on different
parts of the body, from belly to dome of skull.
Sometimes I get students to associate different emotions with sounds directed from different parts of the
body, and I encourage them to explore different sounds in different parts of the body.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
No.
David Smukler
[i] for front of skull resonators, “ uu” as in moo for lips and back of head, “ah” for the fiery crotch, “huh”
for mouth, “eh” for fullness of range.
Maggie Surovell
While I encourage the students to experiment with putting different sounds in different body parts. For
example, I will suggest that the vowel eeee be placed in the third eye/ 6th Chakra, ahhh be placed in the 4th
Chakra/Heart and oooo be placed in the 1st Charkra/Sakram.
Phil Timberlake
Other than what I stated in D1, I don't think I do this.
D3. Do you ask or guide your students to use longer or shorter sounds? (E.g. lengthen vowels)
Joanna Cazden
NO
Yvonne R. Dechance
We speak of one difference between singing and speaking being the length of vowels is determined in
singing by the length of note the composer sets. Vowels in general are longer in singing than in speaking.
More importantly, the quality of the vowels is what carries most of the sound quality and meaning of text to
an audience; consonants are important but nothing carries to the back balcony like a well-produced vowel.
For this reason I often ask singers to exaggerate or elongate the vowel and keep the consonants very quick
and crisp.
Marty Heresniak
Lengths of vowels and consonants are functions of style and accent. I do teach how to approach
diphthongs, and purity of vowel sounds, choice of vowels, etc., but this is not part of resonance/range work.
The vowel, no matter how long or short, must have the fullest resonance available and be on the correct
pitch.
Mary Howland
Most of the time, when working with resonance, students are asked to work with elongated vowels and
voiced consonants, to give them more time to locate and establish sensations of resonance.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Yes, I encourage them to open their mouths more, to 'give the vowels their day in the sun' and to appreciate
that vowels are the open sounds which carry the emotional life of what is said or sung, therefore truncating
or clipping the vowels means holding back, while opening out and sharing them is an act of generousity.
For singers, more vowel means more music – you can’t invest many consonants with musicality. This
notion also works for speaking, especially heightened language – and what good text isn’t?
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I teach them to listen to sounds slowly so they can find their own production of that sound.
David Smukler
With resonance work - extend the sound in order to practice the commitment.
Maggie Surovell
During the beginning of the destructuring sequence I encourage short vowel sounds that require minimal
effort of muscle work from the body. I have my students investigate their bodies and attempt to make
sounds using as little physical work as possible while remaining released and relaxed. As the students move
more aggressively into tremoring poses, I will suggest that they go back and forth between short effortless
sounds and longer sounds that might require more work. However, the purpose of this exercise is to help
the students feel that they are most likely using more muscles to speak than is necessary.
Phil Timberlake
When working on both range and resonance, I ask students to lengthen sounds for easier exploration. On
very high or very low pitches, I may also ask for very short vowels, which makes hitting those notes easier.
D4. Do you use any unvoiced sounds in exercises to improve/alter resonance and/or range? (E.g.
whispering) If so, what is your rationale for this?
Joanna Cazden
NO
Yvonne R. Dechance
Not unvoiced sounds, although I’d be interested in hearing about any exercises that others find helpful.
Whispering in general is more work for the voice than singing, so I try to let singers know that, and to save
whispering for special effects. I do like consonants like /n/ and “ng” and /m/ to encourage resonance; these
sounds work particularly well with nasal vowels. One exercise I like is a deliberate reinterpretation of the
famous diva/divo opera warmup /mi mi mi mi/. I ask my students to sing the /mi/ repeatedly on one pitch,
at first extremely nasally (a bit like Kermit the Frog) and then reducing the nasality while maintaining
resonance.
Marty Heresniak
I do use unvoiced sounds on rare occasions to help the student feel the 'ballooning' inside the oral pharynx
and nasal pharynx necessary as resonance space. While it employs a tense tongue, an /s/ makes students
aware of the inner space and a different focus of the vowel.
I always work with a whispered "Ho! Ho! Ho!" when introducing students to the concept of space in the
back of the mouth. If they whisper this sound with the thumb in the mouth, thumb-sucking style, and the tip
of the thumb monitoring the velum, they can feel the correct "raised palate" for optimum resonance: an
arching of the FRONT of the palate, not a raising of the back. (As opposed to the regrettably more and
more popular idea that a raised palate is a closed velum.) After many, many, many thumbsucking hohos
they start to build a proprioceptive awareness of what this feels like and can recognize the feeling when
they get it while singing. And then the lights start to light up as they realize the resonance that accompanies
the hoho resonance.
Mary Howland
I only use voiceless sounds to develop appropriate breathing patterns, but as these contribute to the quality
of the voice, I suppose so - yes. Working with voiceless fricatives, which are wasteful of breath, develops
strength in the breathing mechanism. Exercises with k or the alveolar click encourage flexibility and
strength in the soft palate, which can then be used to alter resonant placement.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Only the whispering example given above
David Smukler
Whisper before moving on to voice - Sort of “F” sound at round of the lips and “sss” sound in order to get
the air stream going.
Maggie Surovell
I use unvoiced sounds working mostly with fricatives (f, th, s, sh) because these sounds can be extended (as
opposed to stop-plosives). It is important for one to understand all types of sounds and that some of the
sounds we use do not alter in range. I believe it is necessary to feel the difference between sounds that alter
in range and those that do not, in order to understand the intention with range and resonance.
Phil Timberlake
I don't think I use any unvoiced sound.
D5. Do you alternate between speaking, singing, chanting, or intoning during range and/or resonance
work? If so, what is your rationale for this?
Joanna Cazden
NO
Yvonne R. Dechance
I’ve never done a lot of this, but a chanting/intoning workshop session last year convinced me that there
can be benefit from this kind of work. I’m still working on developing the kind of overtone work they
demonstrated there—when I’m skilled enough at it to demonstrate it on demand, I’ll integrate this more
fully into my teaching.
For students lucky enough to have a resonant speaking voice, but do not bring this into their singing, I do
work back and forth from speaking to singing. I would do the same for performers who sing with resonance
but do not speak with enough resonance. Even though my primary focus is their singing voice, it is one
instrument and one performer and must be treated as a whole.
Marty Heresniak
I do often ask students to switch between singing and speech, giving their lyrics as a monologue out of the
musical rhythm. I do this primarily to get them to stop being too 'singerly' and messing around with
unnatural word formations. Too often students try to do too much in singing and I take them back to speech
to see how little they really need to do to form words well. These exercises are not particularly geared
toward range and resonance work.
Mary Howland
Although I have talked about utilising systems and techniques that work across singing and spoken voice
production, I do not use singing per se when working on resonance and range. I do use intoning, and what
might be termed speaking on pitch (or what Estill users might term, 'speech quality'). The reason for using
intoning before going into speech is that it encourages the student to use a strong breath flow to support a
steady, alive sound. Students are more aware of devoicing or dropping breath support if the sound is on a
musical note. And again, there are more and stronger vibrations for the student to sense and get used to.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Yes, because it is effective and because it is fun. It indicates to the student that they have more range than
they think they have, and introduces them to the understanding that there are many ways of expressing
oneself vocally.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
We work with a variety of dramatic and poetic texts, each of which requires a different vocal quality or
style of delivery--some more colloquial, some more heightened, and make sure their voices are resonant for
all material.
David Smukler
Probably - I don't think about it - I just do it.
Maggie Surovell
I do encourage my students to alternate between speaking, chanting and singing because I want them to feel
that although the resonance changes, the function of the muscles in the body remains the same and all of
the styles of sound making require the same technique for breathing.
Phil Timberlake
While exploring pitch/resonance, I often have students extend sounds, but I usually avoid calling it
“singing” as that implies a certain quality of sound. But we do explore singing within a certain character
(e.g., an opera diva).
The rationale is, again, what works. It also adds a sense of play and fun to the work.
PART E
Body/Mind Connection
E1. What sensations, if any, in the body are you trying to encourage when teaching resonance and/or
range? If you do, how do you describe these sensations to your students?
Joanna Cazden
“the buzz in front of your face”
Yvonne R. Dechance
I don’t encourage or discourage sensation, because not all people experience resonance in the same way. I
do tell them what they might feel, including buzzing sensations, feelings of sound in or around the head, the
sensation of the voice leaving the body entirely (a mark of truly fine singing), or of forming a column in
front of the singer’s mouth (exceptionally fine resonance often creates this sensation.) Some singers, myself
included, perceive strong resonance as such a disturbance that it seems to faintly color the air (this may be
related to vision and the amount of vibration we experience during this kind of singing). But if a singer
feels nothing, or feels something totally different, and yet is singing well, that’s great too.
Marty Heresniak
As noted previously I teach isolation of the intrinsic muscles of the larynx during range work and a
sensation of internal resonance space in the oral pharynx and nasal pharynx for resonance. For the former I
ask students to concentrate of the complete relaxation of the tongue, jaw, palate, and unchanging head
position. For the latter we work with the 'ballooning' found with the /m/ hum.
All this presupposes, of course, a tension free posture.
Mary Howland
Sensations of activity, alertness, engagement, commitment. Feelings of warmth, buzzing, piercing, ringing.
These are the types of terms that I use when describing sensations during resonance and range exercises.
Certainly there should be sensations in the body when making sound – without them, the voice is remaining
cut off from the body; of course the body is doing something even if the sensations are not noticed, but in
being aware of them, the student is better able to judge levels of effort, and to judge what the quality of the
sound is that is being produced, which may be useful in certain acoustic spaces where the voice does not
bounce back to the speaker that they may judge how they are sounding from aural feedback. The physical
sensations of voice also allow the speaker to be (literally) moved by the voice, and if it is moving them, it
may well move the audience emotionally too.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I encourage them to observe the sensations of vibrations in the body, to - in effect - listen to themselves
with their bodies, as well as their ears. I want them to be able to feel their voices, and to feel any subtleties
within their vocal experience.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The buzzing sensation in the bones, with special care in the joints.
David Smukler
Vibration. Intellectual, Emotional and Sensory commitment.
Maggie Surovell
I want my students to feel relaxed during all exercises and trust that their body will assist their voices and
breath when they speak, sing, whisper, and shout. I encourage students to touch their own bodies and to
feel the different vibrations produced in different parts of the face and upper body when sounding different
vowels and consonants. I describe the sensations of these vocal vibrations in comparison to an electric
message device. I have my students move their vocal vibrations to different parts of the face and to
observe which sounds produce more or less movement. In addition, I also get my students into child pose
and have them vibrate their foreheads on the floor and feel vibrations in their lower back and sacrum.
Phil Timberlake
I'm not sure I'm encouraging any specific sensations, but I want them to feel vibrations in the body.
E2. Do you attach any kind of adjective with the creation of sound during the teaching of resonance and/or
range? (E.g. a pleasurable sound) If so, which adjective do you use?
Joanna Cazden
Sometimes “younger” helps to increase both pitch and front resonance
Yvonne R. Dechance
From working with so many students, as well as my own memories of first learning these skills, a better
adjective to use with beginners is “The sound may seem ugly (or nasty).” Even if (and with the increased
divide between pop/theater styles and classical this is a big if) the student comes in with an appreciation for
the sound of resonance in other singers, we don’t hear ourselves the same way. The first experiments with
resonance and range are often disturbing for a singer. They may hate the way they sound, or the way they
feel while making that sound, and until they have enough confidence and technique under their belts,
they’re in fact hardly likely to make great sounds at first. I ask my students to trust my ears, at least at the
beginning of the process, and to record themselves if they can handle hearing themselves the way others
do—then I make a point of telling them which sounds they’re making have the most resonance. That way
it’s a quantifiable experience, not a judgement in whether the experience is pleasurable or the sound is even
desirable for their performance goals.
Marty Heresniak
I don't really use adjectives, but I do speak of a the feeling of a pleasant surprise, the feeling of the sound
doing a back flip, and of singing for oneself, not for the audience.
Mary Howland
The type of adjectives used are usually to do with quality - bright, metallic, round, etc, as discussed above.
I tend to steer away from emotive adjectives to begin with - for example when working on sobbing/crying,
I will ask them to make technical adjustments to the sound - thinking of a yawn, widening the throat,
warming the sound - before noting the sound's resemblance to an emotional expression. Once the student is
aware of the quality they are producing, they can then tap into the emotional side more if they wish,
allowing themselves to be moved by the sound, or add little details that emphasise that emotional quality.
When learning the fundamentals of resonance and range in terms of simple voice production, the adjectives
will on the whole be positive terms – either directly positive, like warm, bright or comfortable, or positive
in the sense of funny or silly, like the ‘wicked witch’ image connected to nasal twang.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I use colour, texture, taste, anything I can think of to stimulate the imagination and creativity, and facilitate
self awareness.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I quote Carl Stough: "Any part of the body that resonates does not get sick." I teach appreciation for the
comforting sensation of the vibration.
David Smukler
Probably, depends on who is working at that moment.
Maggie Surovell
Although I am not opposed to doing this, I have not worked with an exercise that explicitly does this. The
only type of exercises that produce a similar result, are choosing pleasurable and uncomfortable images for
the students to imagine while expressing sounds. For example, I will say, “eat an ice cream cone and pick
your favorite flavor” or “play with a cute puppy” or “lay under a clean water fall” or “see a person that you
usually avoid” or “eat something that tastes horrible” or “walk down a very crowded street where everyone
is pushing you to get out of their way.”
Phil Timberlake
I do, in the moment. It is connected to what I see happening with the student: what imaginary/emotional
circumstances do I see developing? How can I encourage them?
For example, some nasal resonance and higher pitches may sound like a witch. In order to encourage the
student to play in that resonance or with that pitch, I might have them portray a witch (like in the “Wizard
of Oz” exercise). It connects the voice with the inner life (imagination and emotion) and with the idea of
playing a character.
E3. If you answered yes to the above question, what is your observation of the effect that this adjective has
on the student?
Joanna Cazden
A brief embarrassed giggle, then they shrug and try it.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Most of them agree with me that their first resonant sounds are ugly or nasty. Sometimes they physically
jump away from the sound they make. This is a particularly fun experience in a group environment, where I
can immediately ask one of their peers if the classmate sounded ugly to their ears. In individual lessons I
often sing a resonant note for the student and ask if it sounds ugly to them (fortunately I’ve not yet heard a
yes on that question;-)) and explain to them that it necessarily sounds different to my ears than to theirs.
Marty Heresniak
There is no one effect. There are as many reactions as there are students.
Mary Howland
Well, I suppose the effect is that the student produces the quality of sound that you want them to make.
However, some students may react badly - they may perceive it as 'silly' and refuse to do it - now why they
perceive it as 'silly' is another matter. It may be to do with them having physical sensations that they are
unused to and are not completely happy with experiencing, so they call it silly to justify not doing it. Some
students find it hard to engage their imaginations with what they are doing, so another explanation or image
has to be found, or a way of getting them to achieve the same effect technically/structurally. On the whole
though, these types of adjectives tend to get the students brains involved with what they are doing, and they
will start to go into characters, or get their bodies engaged in what they are doing.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Some words and images will work for some, others for others. It helps to vary the approach
Lissa Tyler Renaud
Every student is different.
David Smukler
“too many possibilities”
Phil Timberlake
It depends. If I've touched on something that connects with them, then the sound often takes on more of that
quality, or opens up an imaginative/emotional connection to the inner life.
If not, they may become confused, and I go back to what they were doing before.
E4. Do you link resonance and/or range work with the student’s emotional process? If so, how do you
communicate this?
Joanna Cazden
I may use emotive or attitude cues to help them find a tone/ sensation in the beginning.
Yvonne R. Dechance
No two students are exactly alike, and some have an emotional process going on through all or part of
college that is far removed from (but still can affect) their vocal training. In general though, success breeds
success. Even if a student isn’t in love with creating an “opera sound,” when they hear their range of
pitches and available sound qualities increase—and get easier to access consistently—their confidence
usually increases as well.
Mary Howland
I am not quite sure what you mean by emotional process. I am taking it to mean the student learning to
access emotion. I do work with this, insofar as students are asked to produce certain emotional effects screaming, crying, shouting - and the voice department is asked to help with the safe achievement of this.
This may be to do with 'British Reserve', but it is often difficult to get our students to find reserves of
heightened emotion that they can recall and use safely and predictably. So I work with qualities of voice sob, scream, pitch break - to 'imitate the sounds of emotional distress', rather than get them to have the
emotion itself. I work with different breathing patterns to access feelings of adrenalin which can then be
used to initiate anger, sadness, joy etcetera, but I will refer to using the body's emotional response to a
situation, rather than the brain's - the body's response being easier to control. Our school has several holes
in its walls where students have lost control during emotional recall exercises, which tends to make them
very uncomfortable about repeating them again - they become afraid of expressing emotion for themselves,
but in working on particular voice qualities, they may end up moving themselves into a heightened
emotional state, but I will ask them to focus more on what it is doing to the audience. When working on
emotionally charged Shakespeare speeches for example, like Marcus's speech from Titus Andronicus when
he finds the mutilated Lavinia, of course I ask the student to appreciate what Marcus in confronted with and
how his relationship and feelings for his niece will inform what he says and how, but I will focus more on
the feedback from fellow students and their reactions to what they have heard - did they believe it? How
did it make them feel? - than on 'how was it for you?'
Marty Heresniak
I do not link to a student's emotional state at any time. That is not my business. They may notice
something. I may notice something. But I am not a trained psychologist and that is where I work. If
something happens we may or may not discuss it, depending on the student. They must initiate that
discussion.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
I try to link physical states with emotional states, physical states with resonant qualities, and therefore
emotional states with resonant qualities – at any given moment, not to create rules, or even guidelines. I am
endeavouring to facilitate creativity and self awareness, not to establish that specific vocal qualities indicate
specific emotional states. I do not want the performer to do ‘funny voices’, I want him/her to embody a
character, whose situation and physical and emotional state will dictate how the voice sounds. I do want
them to become aware that an emotional state will be communicated through a freely resonating voice; that
it is necessary to experience the emotion and allow it to be communicated, rather than attempting to make
the voice sound ‘emotional’.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
No. Some students may make this connection, but this often seems to have
been suggested to them by a prior voice teacher or in some kind of
experimental therapy.
David Smukler
Yes. I establish from the beginning that resonance work is about to expand the emotional communication.
Maggie Surovell
The students all respond to these images. The ice cream cone and puppy makes most students smile (unless
the student is has an allergy) and the crowded street image will make some students nervous. Overall their
physical state of delight or anxiousness produces different sounds.
Phil Timberlake
I'm not necessarily looking for emotion. I want them to connect their voice with their inner life, and I think
range and resonance can aid that. I try not to even introduce this idea until it actually happens with a
student. It's something that must be experienced.
E5. If you answered no to the above question, do you bring the range and/or resonance work back to the
emotional life of the performer? If so, how do you do this?
Yvonne R. Dechance
In the very personal sense, I try not to. Without encouragement, many singers try to confuse voice lessons
with therapy sessions, and while I am always interested in anything that affects my students as singers, I try
to keep the emotional overhead to a minimum.
But as a performer teaching performers, that’s a different story. To create a wide range of characters we
need a wide range of sounds and sound qualities available to us, and we need to be [reasonably] fearless in
exploring those sounds and the emotions that might suggest or trigger them for a character. I often ask my
singers to “create a character” during even simple warmups so they are emotionally as well as vocally
engaged in every note they sing. And while as a technical teacher I do ask my students to spend time on
each new song concentrating on getting the notes produced properly first, as soon as the song is off the
ground technically I remind them that only character and passion can truly bring the song to life.
Marty Heresniak
At the most, I invite them to learn the feelings of the resonance 'ballooning' that we can achieve through
physical exercises and then to establish those physical feeling by approaching through the mood. "Let the
mood do it."
Mary Howland
Although I answered yes, I would like to respond to this question. Again, though I am not certain what
exactly is meant, it seems to be making the distinction between the character and the actor - the dramatic I
and the Real I, this question dealing with the Real I. In using certain breath patterns and voice qualities to
imitate and inspire specific emotions, the student is being encouraged to explore the emotional potential
within them – to recognize what it feels like to be angry, to be grief-stricken, to be overcome with joy – but
in a rather Taoist way, letting it pass through them, not to get stuck. Switch it on and off as a when it is
needed. I will usually make a joke when we work on sob/cry that they try it on their bank manager and see
if they can get an extension to their overdraft. The question that arises from this, which has provoked long
debate with my acting colleagues, is whose emotion is it? If it is being imitated or ‘acted’ well enough,
does it then become the real thing? Is the ‘real thing’ defined by duration? My own experience and opinion
is that is need not be long lasting – it takes skill and an emotional availability to be able to turn it on and off
that deep that fast – but with practice and confidence, changing breath patterns, resonant placement, etc can
help the actor access a wide range of heightened emotions as deeply as required for as long as required. As
Olivier apparently said ‘Just try acting, dear’.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Only in the sense that if I can hear a performer consistently using one narrow resonant quality or range area
when they are trying to engage a particular emotional state - in that case I will draw the performer's
attention to what I perceive as an attempt to manipulate the voice, to pre-judge what it will sound like if
emotionally engaged, or perhaps a lack of observational sensitivity to what they are doing themselves.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
No.
David Smukler
Asking them to observe their choices and their process.
Maggie Surovell
I believe that resonance and range are connected to the emotional process. Starting on the first day of class,
I make sure that the environment we are working in is safe. I lead a discussion on respect, openness and
philosophical ideas that give each of us the excuse to let down the masks we try so hard to keep up during
the day. Luckily my students are all really into the work I teach and have no shame or self-consciousness
about the work we do. At the beginning of each class I encourage my students relax and release and to
allow their bodies to be aware of any physical or emotional tension. I encourage them to open up each
chakra and to explore how each area of the bodies makes them feel emotionally. Although I NEVER ask
my students questions about how these emotional places, I have them do exercises in which they breath and
release unvoiced breath, breath and release effortless voiced sound, and then breath and release voiced
expressive sound. While I avoid criticism in my classes and I want my students to feel free to make any
sounds they desire, I try to encourage relaxation during all exercises. When I first started to work with
these students, I had a student who would feel tremendous emotion because she would enter a place of pain
(most likely the student started to resonate and open up in a part of the body that may have been closed off)
and as a physical response the student made tight fists and clenched her teeth. When this occurred I
immediately went over to the student and praised her for finding this interesting spot in the body but also
made sure she opened her jaw and stay released and breathing through an open channel. After relaxing, the
student definitely continued to have an emotional response, but rather than being locked in one painful
place, she began to travel into other areas of the body and feel a mixture of different emotions which
produced an eclectic sequence of sounds. Thus, as a result she naturally used different resonators and a
range of sounds to produce different emotions.
Phil Timberlake
Well, I don't do it, the student does. Or doesn't. If the work does tap into the emotional life of the actor, I
tend to have them move to text right away. I may offer a simple word for them to repeat (e.g., alone, I, no)
or ask them to speak some memorized text.
E6. What changes, if any, do you observe in the student's physiological/mental/emotional state while
working on resonance and/or range? (E.g. dizziness, nausea, tears, anger or laughter) At what point in the
work does this occur (if at all)?
Joanna Cazden
Giggles, discomfort, embarrassment, in the beginning, if they are totally new to voice work. I acknowledge
that they are doing something unfamiliar, tolerate the reaction but don’t dwell on it.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Singers often get a bit dizzy (or see grey speckles in the air) when they are working technically on
improving their singing, or when they are singing particularly strenuous material. While it feels for most as
if they are running out of air, for many the cause is related more to the increase of oxygen such exertion
produces.
Emotional outbursts are quite common, and relate either to the shock, embarrassment or occasional delight
at the new experience. Nervous laughter is particularly common. The irony for voice teachers is that we
have to get used to most vocal “breakthroughs” for a student being first greeted with their embarrassment
or disgust. Many students even think they’re doing something wrong the first time they get something right.
In some cases our teacher-dances-of-joy give them the first clue that their perception—while natural—
might be different than that of the audience. In a group environment we usually have more “wow”s and
related reactions to back us up. Usually the singer’s reactions are first-time reactions, not an ongoing issue.
In my experience, it’s a rare thing to see a voice teacher without a prominent box of tissues in their studio;
self-exploration is a powerful experience.☺
Marty Heresniak
I have not observed any particular physical disturbances during resonance/range work. These disturbances
usually come, if they do, during earlier work, when the student is learning to lay aside years' worth of
tensions and old habits. The tensions and habits were often learned under the influence of great emotional
baggage, and the unlearning of the tensions brings up awareness of the baggage. I keep an old baggage
dumpster always at the ready: many students make contributions.
Mary Howland
The main effect observed when working with extremes of resonance or range is usually a greater alertness
of mind. Sometimes a student will make a connection between the two meanings of the word 'buzzing' vocally and physically. Sometimes it may be a livelier alertness, especially when working with a wide
range of dynamics, or very bright, high or powerful sounds; other times it may produce something more
like the clarity and calmness that comes with meditating - there must be some link there to the plainsong
and Buddhist chanting which Is Intended to produce this effect. There is an observable come-down from
classes, which my colleagues have complained about - students leave the class on quite a high, but then go
into a dip about ten minutes into the following class. The more extreme the work, the higher and lower the
effects. Certainly after working on the very powerful sensations produced by screaming, I usually warn
students that they will sleep well that night, and I ask that these sessions be timetabled for the afternoon. Of
course, this year, one group went home and all fell asleep on the sofa, another group went out and partied
all night!
As to when changes start to happen, it seems to be after about 5-7 minutes of prolonged work that the brain
starts to focus on the job In hand and changes begin to happen. This is usually when the giggling starts.
I have rarely had students have negative reactions to resonance work - to breathing and relaxation work,
yes, but not to specific work on resonance. The couple that I have had seemed to be people who had
specific reasons for connecting very early on to the emotional connotations of a sound - recent
bereavements or Illnesses. Two students became very Introverted, stopped making sound, and asked to
leave the room. Another student found herself being taken over by the power of the sounds she was
producing, and could not stop herself expressing a lot of troubles and anxieties she was having at the time
through a scream, to the detriment of the hearing of the person lying next to her.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
The most common changes I observe are excitement when the student realises what an amazing being they
are - vocally.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The responses you describe are not the goal of my teaching of resonance.
David Smukler
When they get scared, fear comes in. There is no logic to it. It can come at any time.
Maggie Surovell
I have had different students experience all of these emotions. I believe that the tension in the body can be
a result of stored traumatic experiences, a physical reaction to all of the white noise sounds we hear
throughout the day and stress from loans, love, career choices, etc. Thus, we put up guards, which cover
vulnerability and honest emotions that we may feel. Since I use the Fitzmaurice Voicework as my
foundation, which incorporates yoga poses, my students are stretching and opening up parts of their bodies
that hold these stresses. Some of my students will experience nausea from the arch poses (such as the fish).
One of my students will cry in the arch poses and get angry in cobra and laugh in the legs up tremor pose.
Like a message these poses and tremors put vibrations in the body and the breath (whether voiced or
unvoiced) is releasing tensions. From my experience personally and watching students, the emotional
reaction occurs when the student is completely released and open physically so that their breath is now free
to roam and resonate in sensitive parts of the body. Although I will not force my students to stay in a pose
that makes them sick, I inform them that if they work through the nausea they can get to a point of release
that makes me feel better than they did before entering the pose.
Phil Timberlake
Yes - dizziness, nausea, tears, anger, laughter, fear, joy can all occur.
It can occur at any point. Just lengthening a vowel sound on a specific pitch may feel like “singing” and
bring up a physiological/mental/emotional response - usually fear.
My feeling is that it tends to happen in the areas of resonance or range that have been “shut down,” the
areas that haven't been explored for many years. For example, I have seen many female students who insist
they are Altos whose mothers sang Soprano. They often have emotional responses to voicing in their higher
pitch ranges, or in the head resonator. They may hate the sound, or feel like they're “shrieking.” Then again,
sometimes they embrace those sounds like a long-lost love.
E7. Have students told you about any fear, joy, anger, sadness or other emotions during resonance and/or
range exercises? At what point in the work do they say that this occurs for them?
Joanna Cazden
Only emotional reaction is if they regain pitch range they had lost, then they are happy, grateful, sometimes
teary.
Yvonne R. Dechance
See above—but their experience is usually immediate and obvious. The exception is singers who are afraid
that training will negatively change their sound; these singers may come back at a later date and discuss
their fears.
Marty Heresniak
No. See E6.
Mary Howland
This question ties in very closely with the above question. The student who kept screaming said afterwards
that something just clicked, and all her frustrations and anger and fears rose up and needed to be let out. It
would be a mistake to confuse the giggling that often happens with joy, though some students do report a
sense of well-being after a class. what seems to happen most Is a confusion over the sense of power that
working on resonance In particular can provoke - where the student Is not used to feeling that powerful, the
apprehension can turn Into fear, or anger, so there Is work to be done to make sure that the student does not
leave the class without feeling comfortable about what they have discovered. generally, any emotional
reactions are observable In class - again usually after five minutes, though some students have found
themselves feeling 'odd' or unsettled In the evening when they have gone home - none have reported this
feeling persisting till the morning.
What does often crop up In round-up discussions Is a question of 'who am I?’ again, a confusion between
the real I and the Dramatic I - to what extent Is changing your voice to suit the needs of a text, a character
or an acoustic compromising the notion of 'just being yourself''. I hold strongly to the Chekhovian point of
view - when you are onstage, something bigger Is taking over, and It Is not your own ego that Is doing the
thinking, the reacting, the moving or speaking - It Is a 'Dramatic I'. This is a much bigger Issue to go into
than is required here, but it seems that this uncertainty can often lead to an emotional reaction to exploring
new and bigger sounds.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Different students will have different experiences, usually based on which part of their body they have been
holding the most tension in. Some are greatly relieved to let it go, for example, to experience deep belly
resonance, others will find it threatening at first. Still others have these reactions when they begin to
resonate in their chest, or in their heads.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
I think not in the spirit that you are asking the question. Students often
say that they are surprised to learn how little sensation they have had in
their bodies until they are set to resonating fully. A student this
morning--a professional singer--said she felt sad that she'd gone for so
many years without fully sensing her voice in her body.
David Smukler
There is no rational or pattern, it just is.
Maggie Surovell
As a rule we generally don’t discuss discoveries that the students have made. Instead, I encourage them to
keep a journal next to them and to mark down their observations. If a student has a question or is really in
need to talk they know that they can come to me to talk. However, I believe that sometimes when we share
our discoveries we can loose some of the power we have by keeping them personal. I praise my students
constantly, because they deserve it and I will them “you made great progress today” but I think there can be
a danger on putting ones emotional discoveries into words. I prefer we vocalize them with sounds.
Phil Timberlake
Yes. My observations in E6 address this.
E8. Is there anything else you have witnessed about the connection of emotion to resonance and/or range
that you would like to share?
Joanna Cazden
So many young women talk so VERY low in their range, this is often a big part of their disorder. I believe
that it has deep connection to societal ambivalence about female power: they want to present themselves as
powerful & authoritative, but do not have TRUE inner confidence, breath-in-belly power, or the courage to
reveal their full range of personality & emotion. So they are left with this narrow gravelly voice that wears
out.
Sometimes this shows up in men too but men are usually less conflicted about power.
Yvonne R. Dechance
Resonance is one of the more difficult skills for most performers to acquire; it seems that with every break
from training, or the slightest head cold, or fatigue, it is resonance that most likes to slip away. As a
performer I don’t think I’ve ever walked onto a stage without first including some resonance-specific
exercises in my warmup, and I emphasize this with my students as well. Once we as singers get over any
hangups about resonance being bad or too operatic for other styles, the act of singing with resonance often
brings a feeling of power. Not just vocal power, but emotional power. This, I believe, is one of the reasons
that many singers fall in love with classical or operatic singing—the powerful aphrodisiac of resonance
itself.
Marty Heresniak
Have not witnessed anything. The emotion doesn't come here.
Mary Howland
Other than to note this change in sound leading to questions of Identity, the observation I would like to
make Is that It Is not necessarily so much the work on resonance or range that inspires a reaction, but more
to the breathing that makes the resonance and range happen. Expanded breathing goes along with the
production of adrenalin, which would explain the timings, and the come-down effect. Is it that this work is
unlocking a sensation, a muscle memory of heightened emotion that the student is connecting to, more than
to the sound? A simple change in the balance of oxygen in the blood would seem to account for dizziness,
nausea, heightened emotional awareness.
having had a director who put us In a deep state of relaxation and then took us through a visualisation of the
death of a close relative, I have naturally been wary of manipulating the emotions when the emotor (If that
Is a term we can coin) cannot control It. Emotion Is provoked by thought - that Is a simple psychological
fact, whether conscious or sub/unconscious. These negative reactions seem to occur when the student, for
whatever reason cannot control the thoughts. Inevitably there will be some students who are In a particular
emotional state where they cannot control the feelings that arise, but It Is a huge responsibility on the tutor
be they voice, movement, acting or all three, to keep the emotional energies flowing, so that they are
transient, and can be got rid of. The sounds we work with are very often emotive sounds - that Is why we
need to teach them to actors, but they are not the emotion themselves.
Flloyd Kennedy (Ms)
Because resonance work requires the release of unnecessary tension in the body, there is often a parallel
journey towards more emotional freedom and maturity, and generousity in performance.
Lissa Tyler Renaud
The matter of emotion comes up in my work in the specific context of song or
dramatic text.
Maggie Surovell
On a personal note:
If I’m breathing deep full breaths and I am also completely in touch with an emotion, I can feel my voice
resonate this emotion throughout my entire body. In addition, the organic connection between my
emotional state and the sound of my tone, range and full resonance, intuitively define the meaning of my
words for my listener and even for myself.
Phil Timberlake
Outside this discussion is another one - what is the effect of range and resonance on an audience? I propose
that when the actors move beyond the everyday, “normal” range and resonance, the audience will
experience the voices as more expressive and “theatrical.” The audience may have an emotional response
to the sound quality of the voice, independent of the content of the text. This, in my opinion, is a good
thing.
PART F
More Questions
Further Questions
Do you teach optimum pitch or fundamental frequency? What is your rationale for this?
Joanna Cazden
I teach optimum pitch along with resonance, and as a “preferred range” rather than a strictly defined goal.
Rationale is, again, efficiency and projection with minimum wear-and-tear.
Marty Heresniak
I don't know what you mean by optimum pitch. I teach to allow the fullest acoustic spectrum encompassing
the fundamental pitch, all the formants, and a strong singer's formant.
Do you link particular pitches with particular areas or parts of the body? If so, what are they?
Joanna Cazden
Very generally, I acknowledge that different pitch RANGES create most sensation or “find a
home” in chest; throat; mask (sometimes including eye sockets); and top-of-head. Other than mask, I
rarely discuss this in theory until I start to hear the resonances emerge.
Marty Heresniak
No! I've heard of people who do this but I think the whole concept is totally whacked. Sounds are all
produced in the larynx. Sounds will be resonated in resonators best suited to resonate them. It is not up to
the vocalist to match these decisions. We can't think fast enough to adjust where the sounds are going in a
fast passage. Our job is to keep access to all resonators open and available and to let the sounds go where
they will. LET. Never make.
Do you teach any kind of specific breath work in order to enhance or increase resonance and/or range?
How would you describe this?
Joanna Cazden
Very complex and highly variable; the best order & emphasis of different skills are where students
seem most different and my work the most creative/ nuanced.
Marty Heresniak
No, nothing specific. General breath work will improve both, but nothing in particular helps. Any time you
can get a student to maintain a good torso engagement during voicing range and resonance will benefit.
Are there any questions you would have liked to have been asked about resonance and/or range that are
not in the questionnaire? (Please label any questions you have starting with 'F' then ascending in
numerical order. (E.g. F1, F2, etc.)
Yvonne R. Dechance’s Question
Do your students come into training with questions or goals regarding range and/or resonance?
Yvonne Dechance
While most students do not begin college-level training with a good technical vocabulary, it is very
common for them to list increasing range and power as goals for their vocal training. While resonance is
not precisely “power” (since resonant notes can also be made soft, and resonance implies tone quality as
well as power), developing resonance is a far better alternative to “powering,” “pushing” or otherwise
hyperphonating, and is an excellent means to achieving the student’s goals. An ongoing dialogue and
assessment process with each student is very helpful in their training.
Mary Howland’s Question
Do you work with resonance and range as part of acoustic awareness?
Mary Howland
Yes - our students have to work in a wide variety of performance venues, and need to learn early how to
manipulate their sound to complement the acoustic of a space. They are taken into a nearby park at the end
of their first year, to give them a real vocal stretch and reassure them that they have sufficient technique to
deal with the biggest space there is available - and how much work they need to do over the holiday!
Mary Howland’s Question
Do you teach any differences between developing resonance and range for the stage and for the recorded
media?
Joanna Cazden
Not very relevant in my work. I believe that all performers should have a complete palette to work from;
main differences in media would be in volume/loudness dimension.
Marty Heresniak
There is a difference in degree. A little less volume is needed to reach a near microphone, but the actual
voicing is much the same: the same fullness of acoustic spectrum is needed. It is extremely important that
the student understand there can be less volume but must still be the fullest formant and resonance
involvement.
Mary Howland
To a small extent, yes. We have limited access to recording equipment, be that radio/voice over work or
television. but before students experience being recorded, we do sit with them to listen to effective recorded
performances or voice overs, pointing out how clear placement helps when the face cannot be seen, how
using a more embodied resonance creates a sense of Intimacy, etc. the same techniques apply of exploring
all areas of the voice, and then being able to choose which Is most appropriate for the situation.
Thanks again to all those who have contributed so much of their time, energy and insight.
Questions can be directed to:
D’Arcy Smith
22 Tichester Rd. #402
Toronto, ON M5P 1P1
Canada
[email protected]