Voice Lesson: Vocal Anatomy
LESSON PLAN
(click to expand)
(click to expand)
VOCAL ANATOMY
OBJECTIVES: To identify components of the larynx and vocal tract and explore how they work together to make sound.
DESCRIPTION: Students will construct a paper model of the larynx, explore how creating the feeling of space internally can release tension, develop personal vocal goals, and create a visual interpretation of their individual voice.
TIME NEEDED: 90 minutes (with 30 minutes for Vocal Collage presentations)
MATERIALS
Journal and pencil
Chromebook (or other portable computer) or blank notebook paper & ruler
Audio clips, 10-30 seconds long each, of recognizable celebrity actor voices (suggested: Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, Fran Drescher, and Gilbert Gottfried)
Portable speaker or other method for playing music
Scissors
Glue (liquid or stick)
Colored pencils, markers, and/or crayons
Assorted magazines
11x17 paper or posterboard
Handout: Paper Larynx (printed on card stock)
Text: Voice for the Young Actor, Rena Cook (Ch. 2, pages 13-17)
Video: Looking at a Voice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cARrJoDDUVY)
INSTRUCTION
Entry Prompt (5 minutes): List 2-3 celebrities with “voices from heaven” and what qualities make you think so. Also, list 2-3 celebrities with “voices from hell” and what qualities make you think so.
Discussion (5 minutes): Teacher draws 2 columns, labeled “Heaven” and “Hell.” Play the audio clips and ask if students can identify the name of the actor and whether they belong in the "Heaven" or "Hell" column. Then students write down their own selections from the entry prompt under each column and discuss what qualities make certain voices sound pleasant or irritating.
Activity: Constructing the Vocal Tract (35 minutes)
Transition: “James Earl Jones and Fran Drescher have the same vocal anatomy, the same internal structures that allow them to speak. How is it, then, that the human voice could sound so different in these two people? Let’s pull back the curtain a bit, peek inside our vocal tract, and examine what makes the voice work; then we’ll examine the qualities of our own individual voice.”
Guide students through the key terms for vocal anatomy using pages 13-17 of Voice for the Young Actor.
When you get to the section on vocal folds, play the video “Looking at a Voice” (link above), to show how the vocal folds vibrate together and the rest of the vocal tract in action.
During the video, set out the handouts, scissors, glue, and fasteners.
Distribute the instructions for the students to follow.
Make sure students write their name on the completed paper model and dispose of any waste.
Note: Demonstrating this activity by building your own larynx along with students is helpful; students that are absent should watch this demonstration: youtube.com/watch?v=H1UEzPc3I2g
Activity: Inner Space (10 minutes)
Transition: “This complex structure of muscles and tissues has to be kept in good condition not only so actors can keep one of their instruments healthy, but so anyone can communicate every day. Proper vocal health has several steps that can become good habits. The first step is releasing tension.”
Students move to an open space where they can spread out at least an arm’s length from each other. Work through this exercise slowly; remind students to remain completely present.
Set a mood with instrumental music such as “Watermark” by Enya or “In Paradisum” by Fauré
Guided narration:
In order for the voice to work in its most efficient and effective way, a feeling of space must be created: in your mouth, neck, up the spine, between the ribs, and so on. These are naturally occurring spaces that collapse and shrink as we increase tension during the day. As we work through this activity, remember to breathe – imagine that you can breathe into the spaces you’re creating.
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft, eyes closed to better envision the inside of the body.
Think of the top of the head floating up as though filled with helium, face forward, long back of neck. Imagine your neck is growing skyward, and keep your chin parallel with the floor.
Relax your lower jaw and feel it hang loose from the skull. Allow the tongue to rest on the floor of the mouth with the tip gently touching the bottom teeth.
Feel the weight of the shoulders giving into gravity, pulling away from the neck.
Imagine a large barrel of air in front of you. Gently raise the arms to the side, then encircle that airy barrel.
Let a breath drop in as you imagine the lungs as two balloons inflating as you inhale.
Gently extend your arms outward, then lower them to your natural alignment.
Imagine your spine extending in two directions: head floating towards the sky, tailbone towards the floor. Imagine the space between the vertebrae.
Imagine the feet are spreading out against the floor.
Savor how tall and light you feel when you find this inner space.
Let a breath drop in and speak: say your name, the alphabet, or a couple lines of a monologue. Notice the change in sound.
Discussion: What in your body feel different than it did before? Was there a part of the activity where you sensed a feeling of inner space? What has changed in your voice?
Activity: Vocal Collage (30 minutes)
Students return to their desks or tables.
Transition: “There’s no such thing as a good or bad voice, no right or wrong dialect. Think about the moments, people, and other factors in your life that contributed to how you sound, what words you use? What are your vocal strengths and your vocal challenges?”
To create a visual interpretation of their individual voice, students will construct a collage on 11x17 paper or posterboard using images and phrases cut from magazines. They can also add hand-drawn elements using markers, colored pencils, etc.
Students can also use a Chromebook or other portable computer to make a collage from digital images and other elements.
Give students time outside class to complete their collage or gather additional material.
During the next class period, students will give a brief 3-minute presentation on why they chose the images they did.
Wrap-up (5 minutes) – In their journals, students answer the following questions:
How has your understanding of your own voice changed?
What new vocal goals have you set?
How did listening to the other students in the class affect your understanding of how voice habits develop?
ASSESSMENTS
Formative:
Journal entry and exit prompts
Participation in class discussions
Participation in “Inner Space” activity
Larynx model:
Are components cleanly cut?
Are components assembled correctly and properly?
Summative:
Vocal Collage & Reflection:
Was the student detailed in their examination of how they sound and why?
How creative was their display?
Was their presentation focused and polished?
REFLECTION
Teaching vocal exercises and techniques to my seniors was just as challenging as I thought. Perhaps I should not have given them advanced notice that we were going to use several weeks to develop healthy vocal techniques and they would be expected to participate in activities that could be considered “silly” or “childish.” Perhaps I should have just dove in, blasting new age music, decked out in comfy pants, yoga mat tucked under my arm and it’s all aboard! Alas, that isn’t my style. Maybe someday it could be. In my experience, I have been more personally successful with outlining as much as possible in the syllabus, so when I am inevitably approached by a protesting or perplexed student, I simply point to the syllabus that was distributed at the beginning of the course.
In adapting Rena Cook’s wonderfully insightful text to my class, I went back and forth with how to structure it for my 90-minute classes. The paper larynx didn’t seem sufficiently summative, but would work as a formative segment, showing what each person has in common in their vocal tract before narrowing the focus to each student’s individual voice and the journeys and experiences that have made their voice so unique.
At least the discussions were lively with plenty of examples of voices from “heaven” and “hell;” while they may not know the names James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Fran Drescher, or Gilbert Gottfried, they certainly knew their voices. Their predicted shouts of “ew, gross!” at the video showing the endoscopy of the vocal folds in action was as amusing for me as it was educational for them. The “arts & crafts” aspect of cutting, gluing, and fastening the paper larynx model appeared to comfort them; from my perspective, it was yet another example of how regressive the COVID years have been, as students found comfort in activities from their younger years.
I really hit the metaphorical wall with various tension release exercises, leading to one of my difficult students frequently interrupting the calm focus of the class and loudly questioning the purpose of these “silly” exercises. I admittedly lost my patience in that moment, I shouted at him to sit out, which led to the student leaving the class for the day and a disciplinary referral from me.
Aside from that unpleasantness, the rest of the class was focused on the “Inner Space” exercise, which transitioned nicely into the summative activity of the lesson: the vocal collage. Almost all the students took the assignment seriously and decided on using their Chromebooks to create digital collages, even though I made my magazine cache available, should they need it. All in all, a successful voice lesson!
EXAMPLES OF STUDENT WORK (Vocal Collages & Larynx Model):
