Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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A Voice like Honey - 6
Following on from the Humming exercise in my previous post to help improve our resonance, you will find benefit by performing the following exercise and vocalising the Ahh with your mouth open. The key will be to remain free of tension and upright all the time and minimise the effort you make.
Exercise – Vocalised Ahh
Let’s firstly do the previous Humming Exercise a few times. Don't rush and listen to the quality of sound you make. Try to create a gentle hum that is not husky, or tight. Endeavour to make less effort than usual, do not purse your lips but allow them to be lightly touching, let your cheeks be so free they can quiver with the vibration from your hum.
Now you're going to do the same hum again, but halfway through your hum, allow your mouth to open so that it becomes a vocalised ‘Ahh’. Follow these steps to help you make the most of the exercise.
1. Bring yourself up to your full stature and free your neck, shoulders and back. Remain upright and endeavour to be relaxed.
2. Free your neck by allowing your nose to drop slightly.
3. Allow your head to ‘teeter’ on top of your spine.
4. Place the tip of your relaxed tongue behind your lower teeth.
5. Now perform the hum at a comfortable pitch but allow your mouth to open after 1 second. Don’t stretch your mouth or use any effort. Just ‘Allow’ your jaw to drop….and smile!
6. Make a round open shape inside of your mouth and leave your throat open.
7. Listen to the sound you make. Encourage the same resonance and ‘bite’ that we had whilst doing the hum.
8. Endeavour to avoid huskiness or any tightness. Look for richness, clarity and pureness of sound. Open your throat when doing this.
9. Try slightly higher notes and then lower notes without straining.
Use the 'Little and often' approach to this exercise. Do it for 2-5 minutes only, then leave it for a while. The 'Little and often' approach will help you make quicker progress.
To see all the posts in this series 'A Voice Like Honey' click Here.
