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THEA 2313_301_12168_201710
Voice and Diction I
Fall 2016
"He isn't the most compelling looking king in the world, but when he speaks he sounds
like an avenging angel. With an instrument like that he can play anything!"
-Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, described
by The New York critic Pauline Kael
"Doing voice work can be as energizing and liberating as
any other kind of physical exercise. A few minutes a day
can radically improve any speaker's voice within a matter
of days and weeks."
-Patsy Rodenburg
Instructor: Rena Cook
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Phone: 405 514-8605 (c)
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] (love email)
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs. 3:30 to 4:30 or by appointment
Class time: Tues-Thurs 2:00-3:20
Room: 6103
Course Description: This course develops the actors voice for effective communication
and performing for the stage through an awareness of inner space, alignment,
breath, resonance, articulation, expressive intonation, awareness of General
American Dialect, and a beginning look at Phonetics and the IPA (International
Phonetic Alphabet). Includes lab component.
Required Text: Rodenburg, Patsy, The Actor Speaks (P)
Cazden, Joanna, Everyday Voice Care: The Lifestyle Guide for Singers
and Talkers (J)
Both of the above books are available in e-books (Kindle) at Amazon
Cook, Rena, Voice and the Young Actor (R)
Suggested Reading: David Carey & Rebecca Clark Carey, Vocal Arts Workbook
Kristin Linklater, Freeing the Natural Voice
Required Supplies:
Empty Pringles tube
Box of crayons
Art pad
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Course Objectives:
1. Recognize and release inhibitory tensions that stifle the free and released sound.
2. Explore the expressive and creative possibilities of natural alignment, breath, support,
placement, resonance, and range.
3. Develop physical facility and muscularity for clear, flexible, articulate speech: lips,
tongue, jaw, through the exploration of vowels, and consonants.
4. Apply breath support, resonance, articulate speech to specific examples of text.
5. Explore physical impulses within the body as a way of freeing and opening the
expressive voice.
6. Acquire a knowledge of basic vocal anatomy, how the voice works, and maintaining
vocal health.
7. Acquire a foundational use of General American Dialect and knowledge of IPA.
Course Guidelines
1. Participation: Your participation in all discussions and exercises is necessary to the
success of the class and to your personal growth. Always use language that is
respectful of your fellow classmates and encouraging to their growth.
The nature of voice work is somatic and sometimes appropriate, gentle, physical
touch is required to remind the body of the lessons it is trying to learn, to shoulders,
belly and lower back. If you have issues with being touched, please advise the
instructor.
2. Clothing: Please wear comfortable clothing with full coverage. Due to the physical
nature of this class, it is crucial that the student be able to move about the room with
confidence and freedom.
3. A note about personal hygiene: Our work is often done in partners. Don’t be that
person…
4. Please remember to turn off cell phones.
5. Late Work: Late work is accepted but points will be deducted for each day late (1
point for each 10 point pearl, 10 points for a 100 point assignment).
6. Attendance
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Students are allowed two absences over the semester. Save these absences for real
emergencies and serious illness. After two absences the student’s final course grade
will be lowered one letter for each additional absence.
Medically documented excuses may be accepted and the attendance record will be
adjusted accordingly. It is the student’s responsibility to provide professor with
documentation of a medical excuse upon return to class.
7. It is the students’ responsibility to check in with instructor regarding makeup work.
8. Reasonable Accommodations Policy: Any student in this course who has a disability
that may prevent him/her from fully demonstrating his/her ability should contact the
instructor personally as soon as possible to discuss accommodations necessary to
ensure full participation and education.
Religious Holidays: Should you need to miss class for a religious observation, written
notice is in advance of the anticipated absence in order to be excused.
8. Bring a bottle of water to class each day.
9. If you wish to discuss your progress, please feel free to make an appointment.
Monologue Choices:
1. Choose a Shakespeare sonnet to work on (all available on line, but please print a
paper copy, do not use cell phones),
2. A contemporary monologue approximately 1 minute in length, that you have not
done before
3. Two minutes from a legend or tale (not in poetic form)
4. A two minute section of a political speech that inspires you.
We work on monologues everyday so have your first contemporary monologue
chosen by the second day of class.
Please make special note: Theatre Majors: Theatre Majors are required to work on
both production each semester totaling 48 hours. It is advised they serve on a running
crew for one production and a production crew for the other. Failure to complete “major
hours” will result in an “F” in Theatre Practice (I or II) and will result in a grade drop in
other theatre courses that the Theatre Major is enrolled in. It is the responsibility of the
theatre major to LOG their own hours, prove they did them and turn them in before
grades are posted. Additional production hours may be assigned on top of the 48
hours in courses like (Stagecraft, costume techniques, make-up, and lighting per
each professor’s discretion.) Each theatre major will be reviewed at the end of the
semester to support the hours completed they did for the theatre program.
Non-Theatre Major: A total of 16 production hours are required for this course. These
hours can be in any aspect of production having to do with the TCC theater department,
including scenery, lighting, costumes, props, running crew, cast, box office, publicity, or
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general shop work. Failure to complete “production hours” will result in an automatic letter
grade drop in this course. It is the responsibility of the student in this course to LOG their
own hours, prove they did them, and turn them in before grades are posted.
Keep up with the reading by “Diving for Pearls”
“Pearls” are nuggets of wisdom, insights or questions that you discover when reading the
assignments made in this course.
Each day a reading assignment is due, hand in a sheet of paper with 3 pearls that you
discovered from the reading (each pearl should be approx. 1/3 of a page).
In the course calendar: R is for Rena, J is for Joanna and P is for Patsy
Much of the reading is exercises: if you would like to try an exercise out loud, on your
own (or with a partner) then report the outcome – that can be one of your pearls!
Three pearls will give you 10 points. Doing these regularly can make the difference
between an A & B. Please label with date due, Author and Chapter number.
I prefer that you bring in a hard copy each day to hand in.
Production Critique: You can write your critique over Ghost Sonata or Two Gentlemen
of Verona, or a professional or community theatre production. They will be due the
Tues. after the close of the show to be counted for full credit. You will be given a set
of guidelines to follow as you write this paper.
Grading:
You will be given points for each of the following assignments:
My Personal Voice House
50
1 Vocal Production Critique
100pts
3 Vocal Performances @50 pts each
150 pts
Pearls & anatomy quiz
200
IPA Quiz & Exam
100
Daily participation
100
1 Final Performance
100pts
For a total of
800
Grading scale
800-720 = A
719-640 = B
639-560 = C
559-480 = D
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Course Calendar
Date
Subject
Reading
Listed on date due
T 8/23
Introduction, Syllabus
Essential warm up
Assignment: My Personal Voice House
due R 9/1, 50 pts (R p 8, 9)
R 8/25
Alignment and its effect on the voice
Spinal awareness, dowel rods, drums
Breath: fuel for the voice
Bring paper copy of cont. monologue
P Forward, Intro
R preface, Chapter 1
(First set of pearls)
T 8/30
Grounding & Centering, Bluff & Denial,
Alignment & More Breath Work
J Chapter 1
P p 28-38 (finding
Center)
(You get to do 3
pearls!)
R 9/1
Present My Personal Voice House
J chapter 2
(Gimme Three!)
T 9/6
Finish Personal Voice House
Build a larynx
Monologue work
R chapter 2, 3
(once more unto the pearls)
R 9/8
chapter 3
How the voice works
Smoking Articles, J
Why it voice may not work
Monologue Walk
(3 smoke free pearls!)
Quiz on Vocal Anatomy
P 38-64 (breath and
Breath & Support, building breath capacity
(Easy peasy-3sy)
R 9/15
Breath, Support, Capacity
R chapter 4, 5
T 9/20
More Breath & Rib Awareness
Sonnet 29
Bring paper copy of sonnet
Assignment: Vocal Production Critique
J Chapter 4
R Chapter 6
R 9/22
voice)
Resonance
T 9/13
support)
P 67-87 (the Free and Placed
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Sonnet work
(3 for free!)
T 9/27
Resonance, jaw, tongue, palate, starfish,
navel radiation
Sonnet Work
P 90-96, (Stage II)
R Chapter 7
(drop and give me 3!)
R 9/29
More work with resonance
Free and released voice
Famous seaweed exercise!
Sonnet Walk
Assignment: Empty a Pringles Tube
R 10/11 (I really mean this!)
Bring art pad and crayons!!
T 10/4
Work sonnets into performance
R 10/6
Work sonnets into performance
Range, Optimum pitch with Pringles tube
R Chapter 8
(short chapter, find 3?)
T 10/11
Work Sonnet into a performance
IPA: Long vowels, (bring pad & crayons
every day that IPA is mentioned below)
Assignment: Fun With Sonnets
critique due
Perform your sonnet 3 times: twice with
contrasting characters & scenarios and once
in your authentic voice. Rehearse.
R 10/13
Perform Fun With Sonnets
IPA: Short Vowels
R 96-104
(Can ya do 3?)
Ghost Sonata
R Chapter 9
(oh yeah, these again
– 3)
T 10/18
Perform Fun With Sonnets
Assignment: Choose 2 minutes from a legend,
(like Grimm’s or Hans Christian Anderson, 10/20)
R 10/20
IPA: Diphthongs (crayons!)
Legend work
T 10/25
Legend Work, 5 Rhythms
Quiz on Vowels and Diphthongs
R 10/27
IPA Consonants: Plosives
P 104-121 (speech)
(You know the drill!)
J 5,6,7
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Crayons and art pad!
(1 pearl from each
chapter)
Legends/5 Rhythms
T 11/1
IPA Consonants: Fricatives
5 Rhythms/Legends
R 11/3
Perform Legends out of 5 Rhythms
pearls)
T 11/8
No Class
J 8,9,10
(Oh yes, oh yes –
R 11/10
IPA Consonants: Nasals and Affricates
Perform Legends/5 Rhythms
Assignment: bring two minutes of a Political
Speech that is meaningful to you, for 11/15
T 11/15
IPA R-Coloration, Ls
Work on political speech
Power without press!
R 11/17
Review for IPA Exam
Work Political speech
T 11/22
IPA Exam
Work Political speech
R 11/24
Thanksgiving
T 11/ 29
pearls!)
Work Political Speech
R Chapter 10 (last
Assign Final Performance Groups
Do your personal warmup
Bring outline of your
personal warm up
10 Pts
R 12/1
Work Political Speeches
T 12/6
Perform Political Speech
R 12/8
Perform Political speeches
Final exam will be a group performance worth 100 pts
Date and time TBA
2 Gents Critique due
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