Northern Irish Accent Intonation October 4, 2014Here's an introduction to the upward lilt of the Northern Irish accent - maybe not what you'd expect from an Irish accent if you're used to thinking of the Lucky... Read more
Dark-L vs Light-L September 29, 2014An L at the beginning of a word is commonly a "light-L" whereas an L at the end of a word is commonly a "dark-L" - pulled back in the... Read more
Introduction to Accents 2: Phonetics September 28, 2014The International Phonetic Association created a system to represent the sounds of world languages. The Phonetic Alphabet is a useful tool for learning accents, too! Each symbol represents a single... Read more
Breath Support - Transversus Abdominus Crunches September 24, 2014Major element of Breath Support = Abs (more specifically, the Transversus Abdominus) It can be difficult to get a sense of where the Transversus is because it is the deepest... Read more
Intonation in American Accents September 21, 2014An introduction to the primary intonation patterns in most American accents, especially focused on dropping off at the end of phrases, how pitches tend to follow a "stair step" speech... Read more
Introduction to Accents 1: Accent vs Dialect vs Idiolect September 20, 2014Part 1 of 6 - Introducing how to learn an accent. This session gives a quick overview of what the terms Dialect & Accent mean, and an explanation of how... Read more
Breathing from the Diaphragm? September 19, 2014Can you "breathe into the diaphragm" or "breathe from the diaphragm?" Yes, and no... Here's an introduction to how the diaphragm works and the basics of breathing in air: ... Read more
Intonation of Western Irish Accents September 17, 2014The intonation of a western Irish accent is actually very similar to a southern Irish accent - I like to think of western Irish intonation as "Southern Irish Light." Here's... Read more
Breath Support = Abs September 14, 2014Ever heard of Breath Support? Think "Abs!" It's all about the abdominal muscles (or, more specifically, your Transversus - watch for a future post.) Now... the reality is that... Read more
Breath Support at the Ends of Phrases September 13, 2014You need even more breath support (ABS!) at the ends of phrases than anywhere else, especially to avoid falling into vocal fry. Read more
