Five Vocal Exercises for Better Improv Characters
Your Improv Brain
Exercise 2 — Ranting to Heighten Vocal Emotion
Jen describes the rant exercise: start grounded then escalate tone, volume, cadence, with solo and scene variations.
Get the PDF "Vocal Basics for Improv" with all the exercises and concepts from this episode at https://improvupdate.com/downloads.
This episode is all about using your voice in improv. You do not need to do "funny voices" to be a good performer, you can work with the attributes of your own voice and make some subtle shifts.
I explain how to use your own voice effectively. These subtle changes to your vocal dynamics can create clear, grounded characters that you can heighten in a variety of ways.
You'll get an overview of the core components of vocal musicality, and how to practice them. These include speech rate, cadence, and prosody. Understanding these is the first step to vocal control. Then, I share five specific improv exercises to practice these skills.
I really REALLY want to redo the singing parts, oh gawd :) Also feel free to take a drink or something each time I bump the mic arm.
Mentioned in this episode:
Previous Episodes on Vocal Musicality:
Figuring out your vocal speed (words per minute): https://youtu.be/3HK40OxMGno
Exercises for voice: https://youtu.be/Z6ekXuwbpxk
Newsletter Sign-up (with reflection PDF): https://improvupdate.com/newsletter
Jill Bernard's "Small Cute Book of Improv": https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3231956-jill-bernard-s-small-cute-book-of-improv
Viola Spolin: https://www.violaspolin.org/publications
Example of "Recitative": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDq4KqP7Pxs
Downloadable content
Download the Free Post-Show Reflection Guide: Sent to your inbox when you subscribe to either newsletter (and added to the footer to each message if you're already subscribed).
NEW! Comprehensive guides all about getting notes as a student, or giving them as a teacher. Two guides, big discount if you get both! https://improvupdate.com/notes
Get a booklet with six exercises to help you get reps in challenging scenes called "Exercises to Ruin You"
Get more downloadable booklets here: https://improvupdate.com/downloads
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About
This podcast was created, written, and is hosted by Jen deHaan. You can find her bio here.
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