Articulation Warm-Ups and Exercises

         All performers, whether Voiceover Artists, Actors, or Singers need to articulate accurately. I’m not saying you need to necessarily be an orator or an Elizabethan actor but you DO need to be able to be understood. Below I’ve included some fun Tongue Twisting Articulation Exercises, as well as a number of simple Articulation Warm-Up Exercises. I hope you’ll, not only, ENJOY the exercises, but also gain a much stronger handle on clear Articulation, as well.

Articulation Warm-Up Exercises – For the Purposes of Warming Up, Please Exaggerate ALL Facial Movement in these Articulations.

1.   Exercising Using Diadochokinetic Syllables – Practice these until you can complete them within only a few seconds, controlling your breathing, and making certain your articulation is clear & accurate:

-       Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh, puh

-       Tuh, tuh, tuh, tuh, tuh, tuh

-       Kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh, kuh

-       Puh, ti, kuh, puh, ti, kuh, puh, ti, kuh, puh, ti, kuh, puh, ti, kuh

2.   Deedle, Deedle, Beedle, Beedle, Weedle, Weedle, Feedle, Feedle, Needle, Needle

3.   Oh, wee, Oh, wee, Oh, wee, Oh

4.   Ou---ch, Ou---ch, Ou---ch

5.   www, vee, www, vee, www,vee, www

6.   s-s-s-s-s-s, p-p-p-p, z-z-z-z-z-z, t-t-t-t, f-f-f-f-f-f, yum-yum-yum-yum

7.   With Particular Emphasis on Lip and Oral Cavity Movement: eh—ee-ah-oaw (NO Diphthong)-ooo – Repeat Several Times

8.   Me-oaw-Me-oaw, Me-oaw-Me-oaw, Me-oaw-Me-oaw, Me-oaw-Me-oaw-Me

9.   Lip Trills, Tongue Trills, and Throat Trills

10.                 Massage the Face, using your own fists. Begin your massage from the point of your Jaw Bone or Mandible where it hinges open when you drop your mouth open. Using your bent “Pointer Finger”, massage that Joint, called TMJ or Tempo-Mandibular Joint, and massage across your Cheek Bone or Maxilla. Next massage from the TMJ across your Mandible to the mouth. Lastly, using your Pointer Finger extended, find the point on your face, parallel with the bottom of your Nostrils, where your Maxilla has come down from near your eye socket, and begins to then curve its way out to your TMJ. Massaging this point SHOULD be pretty painful as it is a point where several Facial Nerves converge. By massaging this place, you help those nerves relax; you should feel almost immediate relief when you stop massaging this spot, if performed correctly. To finish up, scrunch up your face, eyes, and mouth as tightly as possible. Hold for several seconds and release. Repeat once more (or more if you still feel “tight” or tired facially). You can also open your mouth as wide as possible, hold, and release. Few people massage their face with any regularity but when you utilize those muscles and nerves in order to execute your performance, it’s only right that you “Pamper” it a little, don’t you think?

Articulation Tongue Twisters:

1.   Amidst the mists and coldest frosts, with stoutest wrists and loudest boasts, he thrusts his fists against the posts, and still insists he sees the ghosts.

2.   Around and round the rough and rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.

3.   He sawed six sleek, slim, slender saplings in twain.

4.   The seething sea ceaseth, and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.

5.   Sheep shouldn’t sleep in a shack; sheep should sleep in a shed.

6.   Hang the tablecloth close to the clothes and close the clothesbasket.

7.   A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits, and a biscuit mixer.

8.   Did you copper bottom ‘em sir? No, I aluminumed ‘em, mum.

9.   The big, black bug bit the big, black bear, and the big, black bear bled blue blood.

10.                 Seven shy soldiers salting salmon shoulder to shoulder.

11.                 She says she shall sew a sheet.

12.                 We’re your well-wishers.

13.                 Some shun sunshine. Do you shun sunshine?

14.                 Wayne weeds his wheat near a Widdy Waddy pond. His wheat was white, and not regular wheat, so he was given the Willy Award and given a wonderful welcome in Widdy Waddy.

15.                 Does all oil ooze or is it after all only oil that’s hot that oozes often?

DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE when you do these exercises!!! It may sound very strange for me to say this but you wouldn’t believe how many people hold their breath when a little nervous or insecure. You want to LEARN from these AND you want to HAVE FUN with them. Therefore, tell yourself RIGHT FROM THE START, if I were simply talking here, I would breathe EVERY TIME my voice “lifts”. SO, that’s what you do here. It will give you the opportunity to have ADDITIONAL help with your Articulation; you won’t sound stressed or in a hurry. Overall, these aid your body “Physically” by waking and warming up each of your Articulators, AND it assists you “Mentally, Emotionally, and Psychologically” by giving you practiced confidence in your articulation abilities.

Thanks SO much for reading this post! I sincerely hope it was beneficial for you. Please send me your thoughts, additional suggestions, and/or questions. I always love to hear from you. As usual, if you have any questions about me or my lessons, please check out my website at http://www.SingitForward.net. Remember, Sing it Forward!