About this activity
Twelve single words each preceded by a hum: mmm… me, my, man, moon, more, mine, no, now, nine, name, none, mom. All start with m or n, which is the design — a nasal consonant forces the vibration into the front of the face, and the word inherits that placement from the hum before it.
How to use it in a session
Keep the hum and the word joined. Mmm-me as one continuous production is the target; a hum, a pause, and then me is two separate things and teaches nothing. Ask the student to feel their lips and the bridge of the nose rather than listening for a change — the sensation is easier to notice than the sound at this stage. Eight minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Watch for the buzz stopping at the consonant. Mmm-moon should stay forward through the vowel, and many students carry the resonance through the m and lose it the moment the vowel opens. Notice mom and none, which have a nasal at both ends and are the easiest to keep forward — good words to start with and poor ones to judge progress by. Before any of this, the voice needs looking at: hoarseness lasting more than about four weeks should be examined by an ENT, whatever the student can do with a hum.
Carrying it home
Humming a few seconds before speaking is the portable version. There is nothing to carry and nothing that looks like practice, which is why it survives outside a session.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through eighth, as the first stage of resonance work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve words play with no login.
- Why does the hum come first?
- Because it establishes the forward placement. The word is then produced out of that placement rather than started from scratch, which is what makes single-word resonance achievable.