VOCAL SKILLS For use with WJEC Performing Arts GCSE Unit 1 and Unit 3 Task 1

Vocal warm-ups Stand up straight in the space. Take a deep breath and then breathe out as slowly as possible, counting aloud all the time. How far did you get before you had to breathe in again? What did you notice about your vocal quality as you ran out of breath? Stand up straight in the space. Take a deep breath and then breathe out as slowly as possible, counting aloud all the time. How far did you get before you had to breathe in again? What did you notice about your vocal quality as you ran out of breath?

Stand in a circle. Repeat what you say after each line, as a class. Once you get to the end of the phrase, you can vary how it is said, e.g. fast, slow, loud, quiet, etc. Stand in a circle. Repeat what you say after each line, as a class. Once you get to the end of the phrase, you can vary how it is said, e.g. fast, slow, loud, quiet, etc.

Projection Get into pairs. Line up opposite each other across the room. Take some lines from your performance, and shout your lines to each other, making sure you keep the meaning of the lines. Then start getting quieter and move towards each other until you end up face to face. Get into pairs. Line up opposite each other across the room. Take some lines from your performance, and shout your lines to each other, making sure you keep the meaning of the lines. Then start getting quieter and move towards each other until you end up face to face.

Accents Rehearse a section of your play. Start rehearsing in your usual way but after a couple of minutes, you will be instructed to rehearse using a different accent, e.g. Liverpudlian. After a couple of minutes, change the accent, e.g. Irish. Repeat several times until you have experimented with a variety of accents. Rehearse a section of your play. Start rehearsing in your usual way but after a couple of minutes, you will be instructed to rehearse using a different accent, e.g. Liverpudlian. After a couple of minutes, change the accent, e.g. Irish. Repeat several times until you have experimented with a variety of accents.

Tone Get into groups of 2 or 3. Your teacher will give you a situation such as Person A is driving and is stopped by the police for breaking the law. There is one constraint however; you can only use numbers to communicate. You must speak in consecutive numbers of however many you feel you need, but once you get to 20, you must go back to one. For example, Person A could say "12345“, Person B could say "67“, Person A "891011" and so on. The focus is on using tone to convey meaning as opposed to words. Get into groups of 2 or 3. Your teacher will give you a situation such as Person A is driving and is stopped by the police for breaking the law. There is one constraint however; you can only use numbers to communicate. You must speak in consecutive numbers of however many you feel you need, but once you get to 20, you must go back to one. For example, Person A could say "12345“, Person B could say "67“, Person A "891011" and so on. The focus is on using tone to convey meaning as opposed to words.

Pace of the text On your scripts, circle all the punctuation. Once you have done this, you should read the scene walking around the room; however, every time there is a punctuation you should change direction and change the volume of your voice. On your scripts, circle all the punctuation. Once you have done this, you should read the scene walking around the room; however, every time there is a punctuation you should change direction and change the volume of your voice.

Radio Play In your group, prepare a radio play of a section of your performance, focusing on your voice. No movement is necessary for this task.

Pass the emotion Stand in a circle. Your teacher says the name of an emotion and uses their voice to convey it. This emotion is then passed around the circle. You should use your voice to communicate it. The object is to try to find as many different ways as possible of conveying one emotion through your use of voice. Stand in a circle. Your teacher says the name of an emotion and uses their voice to convey it. This emotion is then passed around the circle. You should use your voice to communicate it. The object is to try to find as many different ways as possible of conveying one emotion through your use of voice.

Audience Placing Rehearse with different staging styles. This will focus on vocal delivery and what changes are needed to make to your voice, to ensure the audience can hear you. Rehearse with different staging styles. This will focus on vocal delivery and what changes are needed to make to your voice, to ensure the audience can hear you.

Extension Activities are available in the Teacher Notes