Low
So how do you identify what the setting of a particular accent is? Well, it really is a circular process: get the tone and zone and you have the setting; get the setting and you have the tone and zone. If you can see a speaker then you will get some visual clues, and when you listen to a speaker your own muscles may well find the setting for you through a sort of sympathetic response; but if you’re still not sure, the biggest clue is to be found in one of the smallest sounds the speaker makes…
The Hesitation sound
The hesitation sound ‘um’ or ‘uh’, that you hear when speakers are thinking of what to say next, is the sound that is made when the mouth relaxes into its own neutral setting.
By listening for and recreating this sound you can often identify the setting of an accent, especially if it is very different from your own!
Listen to all these hesitation sounds… You can hear how different they can be from one accent to another!
Copy the hesitation sounds and feel the shapes you have to make to get each sound right.
Freeze mid-sound and notice the position your muscles are in. This can give you the neutral setting for that accent.
Do the above exercise, and this time look in the mirror to see how your face changes from one accent to another.
Finding and keeping the setting is crucial. It enables you to sustain your accent and gives it authenticity. What is most significant, and often surprising to realise, is that the settings you have to hold to make these sounds are the relaxed effortless settings of those speakers. When they stop speaking it is those settings that their muscles fall back into.
TOP TIP
Make sure you relax back into the setting of the accent between phrases of speech, and not your own setting. The accent is still there in the setting of your muscles, even when you are not speaking!
THE DIRECTION
One more thing…
…by layering the Zone, Tone and Setting together you have established the essential foundations of an accent, but to make it come alive you need one more thing: a direction in which to send it. Not sure what we mean? When working on any accents think about the way in which the sound seems to travel out of the mouth: it may be quite different from your own accent. When you listen to different accents you can imagine seeing the sound travelling around and out of the mouth in different directions, like arrows. It could be travelling forwards, backwards or even sideways. Listen to these examples to hear what we mean.
| ● | Cockney: Forward onto hard palate and teeth. |
| ● | Liverpool: Spilling sideways. |
| ● | Manchester: Held at the back, circling. |
| ● | Newcastle: Lurching back and forth. |
| ● | Glasgow: Falling back. |
| ● | NSEA: Forward and out like a wave. |
Using the KIT LIST or Set Text (pages 179–180), have a go at any of these accents and send your voice in the described direction and you will notice what an effect it has!
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
