(Video Transcript)
American English Voice Placement
Hi everyone! Welcome to San Diego Voice and Accent. I'm Julie, and today you’re going to learn the number one thing that you can do, right now, to improve your American accent, your vocal skills, and your voice quality and voice projection. And that number one thing is voice placement.
So get ready to learn what voice placement is and how you can use singing to improve your voice placement and improve your American sound.
Out of all the topics I teach and discuss with my students, I probably spend the most amount of time on voice placement. I think most of the people who come to me for voice and accent training understand the concept of an accent, and they intuitively know that they might sound different compared to a native speaker of English, but many of them can’t really explain the exact parts of their speech that sound different. Sometimes it’s easy to identify - maybe a person uses a true T sound when a native speaker would most likely use the flap T - but other times, it’s really challenging to describe.
That’s where voice placement comes in. When a non-native speaker has really good pronunciation of vowels, consonants, rhythm, stress, and linking, yet they feel that they still don’t sound quite like a native speaker, it’s almost always voice placement.
Voice Placement: Background Information
Voice placement is somewhat challenging to describe, and there isn’t just one agreed upon description of what voice placement even is. Many accent and voice coaches have slightly different definitions of voice placement, and they may describe the placement of American English differently and have their own set of techniques that they think will help their students achieve the American sound.
I too have my own way of describing placement, and I’ve done a pretty thorough job in a few videos that I’ve published already, which I’ll link to in the description below. I’ve also demonstrated some basic exercises that anyone - non-native speakers and native speakers - can do to improve their voice placement and overall vocal quality. Again, those links will be in the description below.
I’ll review a little bit of that information in this video, and I’ll also give you new voice placement exercises that you haven’t seen before. We’re going to use singing as a way to improve the speaking voice, but please don’t let that scare you. Everyone can do these singing exercises - good singers, bad singers - you will be able to do them, I promise.
And remember, the point of these exercises isn’t to improve your singing voice; it’s to improve your speaking voice, and your voice placement. This will have a direct improvement in the overall relaxation of your voice, and this, in turn, will help to boost your confidence and naturalness when speaking English.
But I have to say one thing about these new exercises: You might feel a little silly completing them. But that’s okay - silly is good! You want your voice to feel different and sound different when you speak American English - that’s the whole point of accent training. If everything feels and sounds the same when you speak English as it does when you speak your native language, then you’re probably not speaking English with the most natural accent.
So push yourself out of your comfort zone, and really allow these exercises to relax the sound of your voice, and embrace sounding different when speaking American English.
Voice Placement: What is it? Where is American English voice placement?
Let’s get started with a little bit of background: What is voice placement?
Voice placement is all about where you resonate your sound or your voice. Native speakers of American English often place their voice in a specific way that gives it a distinct, clear, and relaxed quality.
I describe American English voice placement as a sound that resonates primarily in the upper chest and center of the mouth, with a little nasal resonance. It’s balanced, overall, between chest, mouth, and nose, at least that’s what it sounds like and feels like to me when I speak English.
You can think of voice placement as the “home base” for your sound; it’s where your voice vibrates the most.
Voice Placement: Where does it come from?
Now, let’s talk a little bit about where voice placement comes from. It comes from the shape and size of the inside of your throat, mouth, and nose - the open areas in the body where the voice vibrates and resonates as it exits the mouth. As you change the shape and size of those areas - the throat, mouth, and nose, either by tensing the muscles and making those areas smaller, or by relaxing the muscles and making those areas bigger - you change the overall quality and placement of the voice.
So again, for American English, we want a voice placement that is balanced between the upper chest and center of the mouth with a little bit of nasal resonance.
Of course, when a person is speaking, the articulators are moving all over the place - the tongue comes out for the TH consonants, the tongue moves back for the K and G consonants, then lips close for the P consonant, and so on. All of those articulatory movements will influence the placement of the voice at any given moment. But when you take a step back and listen to a native speaker’s voice as a whole, that’s what I’m talking about when I say the overall voice placement.
And it’s very noticeable, right? If I were to speak a language that I don’t know - let’s say French - and I simply say a French word using my American accent and my American voice placement, a French speaker would know probably within a second that I was American.
Even if I could fool a native French speaker - maybe my pronunciation and intonation of the word “bonjour!” is pretty good - but still, there would be something about my voice that would give it away that I was a speaker of American English. And that is the placement of my voice.
When a person learns how to speak a language, and we’ll use a child as an example, they learn pronunciation and voice placement at the same time. When a child learns how to pronounce the word “bonjour!”, for example, they listen to the adults around them saying “bonjour!”, and they practice moving their tongue, lips, and jaw so that they say the right vowels and consonants. At the same time, they’re also adjusting the muscles inside their throat, mouth, and nose to shape their voice in a way that sounds “French”. They’re not saying:
“Bonjour!”
As if their voice is placed right at the front of their mouth. That’s not the right French placement.
Voice Placement Exercises: Yawn-Sigh
So now you know a little background on what voice placement is and how a person learns it as they learn a language. Now, let’s jump into the exercises to help you achieve the American English voice placement.
And we’ll start with simply relaxing.
Just sigh….open your mouth…allow your throat to open up, and allow your muscles to relax.
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhhhhhhhh
It’s not: ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh (nasal) - that’s up here in the nose.
And it’s not: ahh, ahh, ahh (front of mouth) - that’s here, at the front of the mouth.
And it’s not: ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh (back of mouth) - that’s trapped back here in the back of the mouth.
And it’s not: ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh (throat) - that’s trapped back here in the throat.
You want: ahhh, ahh, ahhh. A relaxed sound that feels open and easy.
Feeling relaxed? Great!
Not quite? Do some shoulder rolls forward and backward, roll your head side to side, massage your jaw and underneath your chin, do some lip trills.
Basically, you want to loosen up your body and relax.
Voice Placement Exercises: Humming
Ok, now, let’s get to the exercises.
When completing these exercises, you want to think about balancing your voice. The throat is open, the mouth is open, and think about your voice vibrating around inside these open spaces.
Airflow is going to be the most important thing here. You want as much airflow as possible. More airflow through the mouth and nose means the throat is open, and the entire vocal system is balanced. So I want you to frequently check for airflow by putting a finger under your nose and feeling for breath, or a hand in front of your mouth and feeling for breath, depending on the sound that you’re saying.
Let’s start with a nasal sound, the M consonant. And I want you to hum, while feeling for airflow under your nose.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Do you feel air coming out of your nose? Can you hum so that even more air comes out?
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
Hmmmmmm.
If you don’t feel air or not a lot of air, then you’re either squeezing in the throat or you’re not using adequate airflow to power your voice. Think about relaxing, opening up the throat, and imagine lots of air coming out of the nose.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmm.
Hmmmmm.
Notice how the sound vibrates in the front of your mouth and even in your nose. This is the sensation we want to achieve when speaking: a relaxed, open, buzzy sensation.
Voice Placement Exercises: Chanting "molm"
This humming exercise is one that I’ve demonstrated in prior videos. Now I want to take it one step further and give you something new to practice. We’ll still focus on the buzzy, open voice that we achieved while humming, but now we’re going to incorporate some different sounds and words into our practice.
I want you to imitate this:
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
This is not a real word, so don’t try to think about how this word is spelled. Focus on what you hear.
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
I want you to stay on the same note, as if you’re chanting. And pick a pitch that feels comfortable - not too high, not too low.
And this is crucial - put your finger under your nose and feel for the airflow. You can also put your hands on the sides of your nose to feel for the buzzy vibration of your voice.
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
This should feel easy and effortless. So if you’re feeling tense or like you’re pushing this sounds to come out:
**Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.**
That’s not the correct placement. You want an open, relaxed throat and an open, relaxed mouth, and you want lots of airflow.
Pay attention to your shoulders and neck. Are you squeezing those muscles? Do a few shoulder rolls to relax the upper body.
Now, let’s incorporate some negative practice to teach you what it feels like when you’re doing this incorrectly. I want you to squeeze in your throat on purpose as you do the exercise.
**Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.**
Ew - that feels bad, and it sounds bad, too. Did you notice how the placement of my voice shifted back to my throat? That’s not what we want.
Now relax everything and bring the placement of your voice forward:
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
Ahh, that should feel and sound much better, more relaxed, with a balance of throat, mouth, and nasal resonance.
Voice Placement Exercises: Singing Scales
Now, let’s use a combination of humming and the new practice word “molm” as we sing a simple scale. Singing exercises can be incredibly beneficial for learning to control your breath, pitch, and resonance, which all contribute to better voice placement in speaking.
Hmmmmmmmm (Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do)
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
Let’s do it again, and as you sing, focus on keeping the sound forward and balanced between the throat, mouth, and nose:
Hmmmmmmmm (Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do)
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
Great job! Let’s continue with singing a scale, but we’ll start high and go low, like this:
Hmmmmmmmm (Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do)
Holm, molm, molm, molm, molm.
Excellent! Feel how the nasal sounds help to balance your voice placement between the throat, mouth, and nose? The voice is now more here, than stuck back here.
Let’s do the simple scale singing again, starting low and going high, then starting high and going low.
As you get better at singing the scale, you can increase the complexity of this exercise by changing the key of the scale, and going a half step higher:
Molm, molm, molm, molm, molm
Then going another half step higher:
Molm, molm, molm, molm, molm
And so on.
American English Voice Placement Training
This singing exercise is great for maintaining that forward, balanced voice placement.
And it’s this forward, balanced voice placement that you want to have when speaking English, and this is where the exercises get a little challenging. Some of you will have no problem with transitioning from singing “molm, molm” to saying words and sentences in English with this balanced voice placement, and others will need some additional training to help bridge that gap.
If you’re looking for more help with achieving the right American voice placement when speaking English, then please check out my online training program called English Pro, where you’ll learn every aspect of American English pronunciation, including voice placement.
Your subscription to English Pro also includes live, weekly English classes, where I can work with you, one on one, on your voice placement skills. The information on how to join English Pro is in the description below.
And don’t forget that I’ve published additional videos on American English placement, and I have a live class about placement as well, so be sure to check out those videos in the description below.
Changing your voice placement takes time and consistent practice. It’s not easy, and almost no one gets it right the first time they try. But if you complete these exercises daily and incorporate humming and singing into your daily vocal routine, your voice placement and vocal control will improve over time. So keep practicing - don’t give up!
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Thank you so much for watching, and I’ll see you all very soon. Until then, happy practicing!
