Describing voiceVocal elements

Many actors begin their interpretation of a character by finding a suitable voice. There are a number of different vocal elements you should consider:

• Pitch – speaking in a high, low or natural voice.
• Pace – the speed at which someone speaks, eg the speed of response in an argument.
• Pause – a dramatic pause at a crucial moment could merit a comment.
• Tone – this suggests your mood and your intention towards the listener, eg happy or sad.
• Volume – you might be commenting on audibility but you’re more likely to be discussing the effect of a loud, powerful voice or a quiet, nervous or sad voice.
• Accent – you may be talking about how someone has achieved a convincing accent or how the choice of accent enhanced their characterisation.
• Emphasis – the pressure on individual words that makes them stand out. Emphasis or stress for a particular effect is significant and can change the meaning of a sentence as well as the feeling behind it.
• Intonation – the rise and fall of the voice. There’s a clear movement up at the end of a sentence when we ask questions for example. Intonation also helps us to say what we mean.

Intonation exercise

Read the following.

Hello, how are you? I heard you’d been ill but I see you’re better now. I’m glad. When are you going to be back at work?

The first time you read it emphasise the words that are outlined in bold only. You should find the words in bold are very concerned and sympathetic.

Now say the same line again but this time say the words that are in bold sarcastically. It will sound as if you doubt whether the listener really has been ill. There are many ways to say a speech of this length but this exercise should highlight the differences you can make. Write up a description of how you used vocal skills to express the different meanings in this exercise.