The "GORILLA!"

Meet your inner “gorilla”!. OK, you can stop chuckling now and try this:

Using a quick glottal stroke, say UH, UH, UH! Make these very short, almost percussive sounds. As you make these goofy sounds, raise the soft palette, the back of the throat and drop the jaw to make the most open space possible (like you’ve got a hot potato in your mouth). Feel the vibrations, the resonance of these sounds from all the way down to the bottom of your lungs through your open throat, jaw and mouth up to your lips. Make your whole upper body the resonating chamber for these short glottal/guttrral utterances.

Repeat the process and feel the vibrations, the resonance travel through your whole upper body. Play with this silly sound until you’re very comfortable creating a full rich resonant full upper body vibration every time you utter UH, UH, UH! Do this anytime you have enough privacy to try it. Repeat until you can get that full upper body vibration/resonance anytime you want. Let the gorilla live in you.

What does this have to do with good singing? When you “let the gorilla out” as you sing, the full open space creates your fullest, warmest, richest, resonant and most attractive tone. By making these goofy sounds so many times, you train your body to create that big space. It knows how to “let the gorilla out”. As you sing, you shape your voice into that big open instrument that makes you sound your best. Again, your fullest, warmest, richest, resonant and most attractive tone.

I’ve been using this technique very successfully with students for years. As I was demonstrating and explaining it to one clever student, he said: “Oh, that’s the gorilla!”. Not surprisingly, that’s what I’ve been calling it ever since. Try it. IT WORKS! Have some fun with your “inner gorilla”.

Sing your best,

Richard

The Richard Jennings Voice Studio