18/03/2021 Breathing exercises - Using your voice - GCSE Drama Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Using your voice

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Bre thing exercises

Pl ce your h nd on your di phr gm, just below your ribs. T ke deep bre th in through your
nose, m king sure th t you do not tighten or r ise your shoulders. You should feel your
di phr gm contr ct.

St nd with your feet bout hip width p rt nd your bottom tucked under you. With your h nd
on your di phr gm, bre the in through your nose for five seconds. Hold your bre th for 10
seconds nd then bre the out through your mouth ste dily for five seconds. Pr ctise pushing
out the bre th for longer nd then with voiced vowel sound, such s ‘ hh’, ‘oo’ or ‘ee’.

You c n do s bove while counting out loudly, with cle r nd supported voice, for s long s
you c n. When you’ve run out of bre th, you should feel new bre th n tur lly ‘drop in’.

Lie on your b ck nd focus entirely on your bre thing. As the bre th is rele sed, hum
continuous note without forcing it. Repe t this nd see if you c n do it for longer e ch time.

Pl ce your h nd on your di phr gm nd p nt like dog. As you do this for some time you will
find th t the muscle begins to che. This is n excellent exercise for m king your di phr gm
much stronger.

Reson nce

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18/03/2021 Breathing exercises - Using your voice - GCSE Drama Revision - BBC Bitesize

Your body is, in effect, l rge loudspe ker. Produced correctly nd without tension, the sound
you m ke will vibr te in your body so th t it’s rich, full-bodied nd c rries well. There re two
m in re s of reson nce in the body.

Chest reson nce

This is when the sound vibr tes in your chest. Lower pitched notes tend to reson te here. Hum
out nd then open the hum into vowel sound. Pl y with the sound, bringing it b ck to hum
oen. Keep your h nd on your chest s you do so. You should feel the sound vibr te.
Experiment with r nge of notes nd sounds until you c n feel this h ppening.

He d reson nce

This is where higher notes reson te. M ke sust ined high-pitched humming sound nd pl ce
h nd on your forehe d, just bove your nose. Try nd im gine the sound filling th t re nd
th t you re pushing the sound forw rds. Feel round your f ce, neck nd the top of your he d
to see where the sound is vibr ting. Pr ctise both these exercises for voice th t is strong,
rounded in tone nd ple s nt to the e r.

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Gloss ry

More Guides
Appro ching script

Using the sp ce

Using your body

Using your voice

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