About this activity
Twelve phrases each preceded by a hum: mmm… my mom, mmm… many moons, mmm… make me move, mmm… no more noise, mmm… nine new nickels, mmm… morning music, mmm… mama made muffins, mmm… meet me Monday. Every phrase is loaded with m and n, which are the sounds that carry the forward vibration a resonant voice is built on.
How to use it in a session
Start every phrase from the hum and do not let the buzz drop. The hum establishes the forward placement and the phrase has to inherit it — a phrase said after a hum, rather than out of it, has lost the point. Ask the student where they feel the vibration; lips and the front of the face is the target, and throat is not. Ten minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for the resonance surviving past the first word. Mmm… my mom usually keeps the buzz through mom and loses it by the end of a longer phrase like mama made muffins. Watch whether the voice gets quieter as it moves forward — resonant voice should be easier and not softer, and a student who is fading has substituted reduced effort for forward placement. Resonant voice work follows a laryngeal examination rather than standing in for one: a student hoarse for more than about four weeks should be examined by an ENT before these phrases are the plan.
Carrying it home
Humming before speaking is a two-second habit that attaches to anything — before answering the phone, before a class. It looks like nothing and does the same work as the exercise.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through eighth, for resonance work as part of voice therapy.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve phrases play with no account.
- Why are the phrases full of m and n?
- Because nasal sounds force the vibration forward into the face, which is the placement the whole technique is built on. Loading the phrase with them makes the target hard to miss.