Vocal work
All members should pay attention to vocal work, ensuring that the basics are in place:
- The emotional sound of the voice.
- How high or low the voice sounds.
- The speed at which lines are delivered.
- How loud or quiet the voice is.
- The clarity of words when spoken or sung.
- A distinctive way of pronouncing a language.
Voices help to reveal where a character is from, what age they are and how they鈥檙e feeling. Can everyone be heard clearly? Ensuring that a range of emotions are used will showcase any voice.
Joanna Lumley as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous, 2012
Also, try out other subtleties, such as:
- pause
- silence
- emphasis
- chanting
- rapping
- whispering
- rhymes
How can a piece be enhanced with extra voice work?
- experiment with The retelling of a story.
- narrate actions in the The verb form that indicates the action is being done neither by the speaker ('I') or by the person being addressed ('you') but by a third person - a 'he', 'she' or 'they'.
- A speech spoken by more than one person. Can be spoken in unison or with words and phrases repeated or echoed through the speech. can be very effective when it鈥檚 done well
- experiment with Place, time, mood and atmosphere can be created with recorded or live sound using instruments and/or the voices of the performers onstage. to create atmosphere, repeating different sounds or words in unison
It is good practice to do a vocal warm-up prior to rehearsal and performance to avoid unnecessary strain.
More guides on this topic
- Developing an idea - Edexcel
- Selecting a genre or performance style - Edexcel
- Selecting a practitioner - Edexcel
- Rehearsing for a performance - Edexcel
- Refining a performance - Edexcel
- Interpreting and performing a character - Edexcel
- Designing a production - Edexcel
- Health and safety considerations - Edexcel
- Creating a portfolio or devising log - Edexcel