Muscle training is actually the easiest and simplest part of our practice, which is especially nice because it's also the only necessary part.
Note: All exercises are currently in audio-only format, videos will be coming soon!
So here's how you do it:
Phase 1 - Building Muscle Memory:
Step 1: Learn the Larynx exercise.
- Feminizing - Big Dog Little Dog - audio recording
- Masculinizing - Little Dog Big Dog - audio recording
Step 2: Learn the Oropharynx exercise.
- Feminizing - Voiceless "puh" - audio recording
- Masculinizing - Voiceless "eh" - audio recording
Together, the larynx and oropharynx exercises make up your core exercises.
Step 3: Practice them regularly according to "How should I manage my training time?"
A practice session should be no longer than 10 minutes as per Step 3 and should consist of the exercise from Step 1 and then the exercise from Step 2. You should perform these exercises one after the other, then repeat.
When starting out we follow the "Pendulum" variation of these core exercises. In each exercise, start at a comfortable resonance then slowly step towards your goal resonance. Once you reach your goal resonance, slowly step back down to your comfortable resonance. Think of your movement from comfortable to target to comfortable as a pendulum that slowly and deliberately swings back and forth. The aim of this variation is to build muscle memory quickly. Repeat this until your practice session ends.
This phase tends to last for around two to three weeks of practice. In that time, you should be able to develop a very comfortable relationship with these core exercises. You want to be able to perform them with relative ease.
Here's some typical homework for this section:
Homework:
Goals
1. Get familiar and build muscle memory with the core exercises.
2. (Stretch) Build voiceless strength by pushing your limits a tad.
Exercises
6x BDLD pendulum
6x Voiceless "eh"/"puh" pendulum (masculinizing/feminizing respectively)
Repeat until 5-10 minutes has passed as per the "How should I manage my training time?" article
Aim for three 5-10 minute sessions a day, spaced out by a few hours each
Phase 2 - Building Strength:
We now move on to focus on strength building, which leads us to the "Up and Hold" variation. We do this by starting at our comfortable resonance then stepping up to our target resonance. We then hold our target resonance in an uncomfortable place until just before the muscles start burning from exhaustion, then relax everything and rest for a few seconds. Repeat this until your practice session ends.
A NOTE ON STRAIN:
Now that we're beginning to push our limits, we need to talk about strain for a moment. There are four big types. The first three you will feel in the moment exactly when they happen. The fourth you will feel the next day. It is normal, and even important, to run into strain from time to time when pushing your limits. Your body is resilient and it will show you where your limits lie. However, if strain becomes a habit then long term damage is inevitable unless corrected quickly. A quick "hail Mary" solution is to try the same exercise again and see if you can perform it without the strain you previously felt. If that doesn't work out, contact a voice professor and ask for help.
In the moment strain:
1. Pain
- This will come as a sharp pain or ache when something is pushed too far, too fast.
2. Burning
- This is commonly used as a goal in training larger muscles as per the saying "feel the burn." However these smaller, less developed muscles cannot handle it and you should stop your exercise just before it begins to burn.
3. Blocking of an airway
- You should be able to breathe as deeply and freely in your target resonance as in your comfortable resonance.
After the fact strain:
1. Waking up the next day with an irritated voice
- This is a sign that you pushed yourself too hard the previous day. You should rest until your voice no longer feels irritated, which may be multiple days. Once you have recovered, resume training but with less intensity than before to avoid encountering this type of strain again. You should be able to almost completely avoid this type of strain if you diligently follow the practice session path of Step 3.
As you move on to strength building, I also recommend a fourth step that moves you from your original oropharynx exercises of Step 2 to an exercise better suited to going to the extremes of your target resonance. Coincidentally, that means that means switching things up with those on the other side of the table!
Step 4: Replace your Oropharynx exercises from Step 2 with the advanced Oropharynx exercise of your path.
- Feminizing - Voiceless "eh" - audio recording
- Masculinizing - Voiceless "puh" - audio recording
The oropharyngeal exercise is not quite as cut and dry as I implied earlier. While our larynx exercise only works the larynx, our oropharyngeal exercises works the larynx first and then the oropharynx upon pushing higher. The feeling of the oropharyngeal range is described by most as if "breaking into a second mini range." You'll be able to achieve it by pushing your limits, and asking for feedback from voice professors on whether you've reached it. Sadly, I've not been able to find a way for you to check for yourself whether it's engaged or not yet.
This phase is aimed at building strength in voiceless resonance, and hopefully breaking into the oropharyngeal range of your oropharyngeal exercises. This phase should also take around 2 to 3 weeks of training and practice. The goal for the end of the phase is to be incredibly strong in both laryngeal and oropharyngeal voiceless resonance, and to be able to reach great heights in both.
Here's some typical homework for this section:
Homework:
Goals
1. Build muscle strength with our core exercises.
2. Gently push your limits at the top.
Exercises
3x BDLD up and hold (10s)
3x Voiceless "puh"/"eh" up and hold (10s) (masculinizing/feminizing respectively)
Repeat until 5-10 minutes has passed
Aim for three 5-10 minute sessions per day
Once you're ready to move on, head to the article on moving to voice!
Last note: Yawning is an incredible and easy way to stretch out and relax everything to do with voice and breathing. If you ever feel tense, I'd advise trying to yawn to relax and stretch. Those masculinizing can also do a neat trick here, as the goal of their voice training is already to stretch and deepen spaces. They can and should attempt to yawn and speak mid-yawn, as it is an easy way to achieve a deeper resonance.
That's it!
Now there are some additional things I want to say about voice training in general. Drink lots of water, you will feel better and probably improve more. When we train, we want to push ourselves until we find a spot that is uncomfortable, one where we feel ourselves working for it. If any exercise ever starts to burn or become painful stop immediately as you are pushing yourself too far or doing something wrong. If your voice ever gets hoarse, or you wake up the next day and have lost some of it, tone back your practice. This means you're practicing too much or with too much intensity.
Happy training!