Introduction

Types of Exercises:

1. Preliminaries: Preparing/exploring/releasing/connecting to your body.
2. Pitch: Habitual degree of highness or lowness.
3. Resonance: Colour/tone of voice.
4. Intonation: Expressive movement of voice in relation to conveying meaning.
5. Voice Quality: Exploring various useful voice qualities.

On Exercises:

• Always know the purpose of an exercise!
• Almost all exercises offer more learning opportunities after mastery.
  • e.g., after mastering a pitch exercise, you might use it to focus on resonance

On Limitations:

• These exercises (1) can be done solo and (2) are chosen for clinical effectiveness.
• However, a therapist could recommend interventions that require facilitation.

Hierarchical Approach:

1. Establish healthy, clean vocal tone that can be sustained before building consistency and stamina.
   • Pitch exercises establish a modified note, resonance balances the tone.
   • Regular exercise build control, stamina, and strength.
2. Skills acquisition moves from simple to more complex tasks.
   • Regular practice is important.
   • After mastering an exercise, apply those vocal abilities to more demanding speaking and reading tasks.
     • Multitasking like this will eventually make it automatic.

Remember the golden rules!

Larynx Health:

• Drink plenty of water by drinking small amounts often (systemic hydration).
• Throat-clearing dries out the throat. If you have this habit, take a sip of water when you feel the urge.
• Acid reflux irritates the lining of the larynx.
  • Avoid going to bed within 3 hours of eating.
  • Spicy/fatty foods and fizzy drinks can exacerbate this.
• Dairy products can cause excessive musuc production in some people.
  • Avoid dairy products if you have a seasonal cold/cough or are feeling low energy.
• Steam inhalation (water only) can relax the larynx and counteract vocal fatigue.
  • They are frequently used by people who have to speak a lot at their jobs.

More on Drugs:

• Caffeine and alcohol cause dehydration.
• Smoking—besides reducing effectiveness of HRT and risking clots/stroke/heart attack—is also the main irritant for voice.
• Some medications may dehydrate.
• It is inadvisable to drink large amounts of water if you have congestive heart failure.

Exercises

A. Preliminaries

Preparing, stretching, releasing, coordinating body and breath, exploring voice onset.

A1: Here I am

Rationale: Prepare for body and voice exploration by connecting to your body, developing a non-judgemental intentional focus, and staying present.

1. Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the floor.
   • Lengthen your spine into a relaxed, upright posture—dignified, not rigid.
2. Close your eyes or lower your gaze.
   • Soften your focus; relax your eyes without fixing on anything.
3. Notice your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations.
   • Acknowledge them without trying to change anything.
4. Focus inward on your breath:
   • Feel the air entering through your nose or mouth.
   • Sense the movement in your abdomen, ribs, and chest.
   • Observe the rhythm of your in- and out-breaths.
5. Focus outward to your whole body:
   • Notice your posture, facial expression, and any tensions in your body.
   • Acknowledge your thoughts without judgement,
   • If your mind wanders, gently refocus on your entire body or sounds around you; and congratulate yourself for catching your wandering mind.
6. Keep this compassionate present-focus as you open your eyes and begin the next step of voice exploration.

A2: Well begun is half done

Rationale: Prepare your posture to support breathe and voice, encourage gender-congruent habits, and project presence in conversation.

1. Sit comfortably with feet flat on the floor and spine upright, not rigid.
   • Rock gently forward and back to find your sitting bones.
   • Distribute weight evenly through both legs into the floor.
   • “Switch on” the larger muscles around the spine and shoulder blades to support the more intricate muscles of the larynx.
   • Seek energy and support, not tension or rigidity.
2. Let your head balance effortlessly on top of your spine.
3. Keep your shoulders easy and not tense.
   • Imagine the shoulders are a saucer steadily balancing the cup that is your head.
4. Keep your neck free, not jutting out or held to one side.
   • Imagine an invisible pen at the end of your nose, write your name in the air with tiny movements to release tension in the skull-spine joint.
   • Ensure your chin isn’t tucked or raised.
5. Keep your jaw easy.
   • Keep it unclenched by leaving a small space between your upper and lower back teeth.
   • Rest the tongue behind your lower teeth for a more relaxed jaw.

A4: Giving yourself a bear hug

Rationale: Expand breath into the back and sides by opening up the back ribs.

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
   • Ensure you are stable.
   • Take a moment to be mindful about your present breathing.
   • Make sure your knees aren’t locked. Lightly bend and release them.
2. Wrap your arms around yourself in a hug.
   • Right hand on left side and shoulder blade.
   • Left hand on right side and shoulder blade.
3. Imagine you’re looking down over a cliff ahead of you.
   • Inhale through your nose to feel expansion in your rib cage, back, and sides.
4. Hold your breath for 3 seconds, then sigh out through your mouth.
5. Repeat.
6. Slowly return to standing.
   • Let your arms rest easily by your sides.
   • Notice your breath in your back and sides.

A5: Exploring rates of breath

Rationale: Develop awareness of how you release breath at different rates. Essential for voice exercises, builds sensory and kinaesthetic awareness of your vocal folds.

1. Place your palm in front of your mouth.
2. Airflow: Breathe out steadily and feel warm air on your hand.
3. Air Pressure: Blow the breath more forcefully onto your palm.
4. Air Holding: Prepare to exhale again, but stop just before releasing any air.
5. How are you making these differences? Where is the effort?
6. Repeat so that you feel what you are doing to control breath.

More on Rationale:

• Understanding how to control breath is vital to modifying voice quality, especially pitch (e.g., holding and causing strain, or relaxing and causing breathiness).

A6: Breath support nudges

Rationale: Experience centered breathing and engagement of abdominal muscles to help you understand how to engage the lower rib cage and abdomen to sustain airflow and voice naturally.

1. Sit comfortably, ensuring your head, neck, and shoulders are free; that your jaw is easy; and that your spine is aligned.
   • Gently rock forward and backward on your sitting bones.
   • If your shoulders have tension, raise them towards your ears as you breathe in, then drop them as you exhale.
2. Breathe easily through your mouth, as you would when speaking.
3. Be mindful of your present breath.
   • Notice where it enters and exits your body.
   • Feel your abdomen expand forward and out as you inhale and falling in as you exhale.
4. On the next exhale, make an easy “sssss” sound for 8 seconds. Enjoy the hissing sound.
5. Notice how your belly button moves toward your spine as you engage the abdominal muscles to make the sound.
6. Repeat for 12 seconds, then repeat and do it for as long as you can, feeling the squeeze in your abs.
7. As you run out of breath and air pressure, make sure you don’t squeeze your larynx.
   • Keep your belly and larynx independent and separate for practice.
8. After you have exhaled the “sssss”, notice your body’s need to breathe and allow your body to open and let the breath “drop in” as it fills your lungs.
   • Imagine that your breath is dropping all the way into your belly as it does this.
9. Start the “sssss” again and put a “nudge” on the sound; a dynamic in-out movement from your abdomen as you make the sound.
   • Place one hand on your abdomen to feel this movement.
   • Imagine a heartbeat monitor: the beep is the nudge made from the muscles in your abdomen, which slightly increases pressure and adds a burst in the “sssss” sound.
     • Once proficient, try adding 1—3 more nudges.
10. Add voice by replacing the “sssss” with “zzzzz” and nudging that.
    • Keep pitch in your low-middle range to avoid straining your voice.
    • Prevent wavering by keeping your tongue tip in an easy, firm position behind your teeth.
11. You can also do this exercise standing or lying down in semi-supine position (pillow supporting back of head and knees crooked up with feet flat on ground).
    • In any position, notice that abdominal release when inhaling and the nudge comes from deep below your belly button.

A7: Engaging muscles to support the sound

Rationale: Develop dynamic abdominal support for sustained sound while keeping the larynx free and open.

1. Make a “sh” sound, like shushing a group of kids, for about 6 seconds.
   • Put your forefinger on your lips to feel the airflow.
2. Repeat and in the same breath, imagine that one of the kids is especially noisy and give them a louder “sh”
   • e.g., “ssssshhhhhSSSHHH!”
3. Notice how your abdominal muscles engage during the burst.
4. Keep your larynx relaxed and let the sound decay—don’t close your vocal folds.
5. You can add voice by replacing the “sh” with the sound in the middle of words like “treasure” or “measure”.

A8: Freeing the airway: managing constriction

Rationale: Experiment with the larynx and opening/closing the true and false vocal folds for safe and healthy vocalising.

1. Prepare to cough, but stop just before expelling air.
   • Notice your vocal folds coming together to completely close the airway, building air pressure.
2. Pretend you’re lifting a heavy box off the floor.
   • Notice your vocal folds coming together to completely close the airway, building air pressure.
3. Breathe out noisily, like you’re fogging up a bathroom mirror.
   • Notice how you’re “squeezing” the false vocal folds, which sit just above the true ones.
     • The out-breath is loud because constricting the airway causes friction.
   • With enough practice you can feel the change in the larynx
4. Repeat a few times, focusing on:
   • Narrowing in the larynx during noisy breaths (false vocal folds constrict)
   • Widening in the larynx with silent breath (false vocal folds retract)
5. If comfortable, try filling your lungs with air and switching from noisy to silent breath midway through an exhale.
6. Place your palm in front of your mouth to ensure you’re not holding your breath, especially when breathing out silently.
7. After a few practices, you may feel the size of the warm patch on your hand become smaller during the noisy breath.
   • Practice gently to avoid becoming lightheaded!
8. Repeat the noisy-silent breath exercise but add voice by making a long “ah” sound as you breathe out.
   • Notice the easy, smooth voice when your larynx is doing the silent breath.

More on Constriction:

• The vocal folds constrict during tension and stress, resulting in a less clean note and scratchy voice.
  • This can lead to vocal fatigue, strain, and hoarseness.
• Beginners trying to raise pitch can easily constrict their larynx.
  • It’s important to keep the voice free and/or warming up.

A9: Adding smile

Rationale: The smile posture will counteract constriction in the larynx, supporting brighter tone quality and adding dynamic energy to the voice.

1. Think of something funny or rude and giggle.
   • This can be difficult.
2. Repeat without any sound.
   • Place your palm in front of your mouth to ensure you’re not holding your breath.
   • Notice how your larynx widens, like in the silent breath from A8.
     • Focus on this rather than the actual giggle or widening of the lips.
3. This posture will be reused in later exercises.
4. Practice the smile posture a few times, then add voice by saying a long vowel (“ah”, “ee”, “ey”, “aye”, “oo”)
   • If you find this difficult, it may help to contrast with your “noisy breath” position from A8.

A10: Introducing speech quality voice onset

Rationale: Explore how onset of tone; or, how breath and voice work together in speech. The vocal folds come together fully as we start to exhale for speech, vibrating them.

1. Try saying “uh-oh” and “ah-ah” a few times like a Teletubby. Say it slowly, prolonging the point just before you start voice.
   • Notice the vocal folds come together completely, building air pressure that is released as they start vibrating.
     • This “pop” at the larynx is known in speech as a glottal stop.
2. See if you can say “uh-oh” and “ah-ah” without the glottal stop. Notice the difference.

A11: Introducing breathy voice onset

Rationale: Develop awareness of clear v.s. breathy voice by exploring onset of tone. Clarity of tone depends on making fine adjustments in your larynx.

1. Pretend you’re blowing across the top of a bottle with a “hooooo”.
2. Try saying “uh-oh” and “ah-ah” with this onset. It’ll sound more like “huh-hoh” and “hah-hah”.

More on Breathy Voices:

• If you like breathy voices, be aware of:
  1. Long-term consequences in power and loudness when used habitually with higher pitch
  2. Unnatural falsetto (high, breathy voice)
  3. Drying due to stiffer vocal folds

A12: Introducing smooth voice onset

Rationale: Developing an awareness of clarity of tone is foundational to the finer movements you’ll need to do in your larynx.

1. Try saying “huh-hoh” from the previous exercise, then repeat softly and gently, reducing any audible breath at the beginning.
   • Notice how the onset of voice is smoother.
2. Try saying “yuh-yoh” and “yah-yah”.
   • The initial “y” produces the same smooth onset.
3. This quality can be exaggerated by adding a slight forward tilting of the larynx.
   • Your larynx does this naturally if you use a “crying” voice quality.
     • e.g., Say “I don’t want to” like a crying child, but generally only making the vowel sounds.
   • If you place your fingers gently over your Adam’s apple you may feel a slight forward push as it tilts forward.
4. The vocal folds are tensioned like tuning a guitar string, raising pitch without the stiffer quality of falsetto.