1. History and Social Context

Birmingham is the second largest city in England and has long been known as a major industrial center. The West Midlands is commonly called the Black Country due to the pollution from the region’s growth during the industrial revolution. Birmingham is on the far eastern edge of this area. These materials focus on the Birmingham or Brummie accent, but many of these characteristics carry over to other Black Country accents, so additional recordings of native speakers from this region are included with these materials.

The city suffered severe damage due to bombing during World War II, but its recovery was fairly rapid. The industrial-based economy, however, hit hard times in the 1980s, causing skyrocketing unemployment and furthering the negative stereotypes of Birmingham. Coal mining and manufacturing, once the major industries of the region, are no longer as significant, which has also reduced pollution. The city experienced a resurgence in the early 21st century, which greatly improved the economy, unemployment rate, and living conditions, but unemployment and lower income levels are still significant problems.

Speakers of this Brummie accent are commonly stereotyped as unintelligent by Brits, with the accent often voted the least pleasant accent of the British Isles. This is likely driven by an overall public image of the city as rough and impoverished. It shares many characteristics with other Northern accents of England, but other accents of this region don’t suffer from such strong negativity.

Just as elsewhere in England, residents can range from distinctly strong local accents to something more accurately described as Standard British or RP. You’ll hear some of this variation in the recordings of native speakers included with these materials, but our focus here will be strong Brummie accents that are clear enough to be understood by a range of people.

2. Sound Placement

Where the sound “lives” in the mouth.

The stereotype is that the mouth is almost completely closed, and the sound is extremely nasal – a sound strongly associated with Ozzy Osbourne. This can be very difficult to understand, and certainly won’t work on stage.

It’s most essential that the placement feel very far forward, often including a great deal of lip rounding. The “closed mouth” effect can be accomplished with a sense strongly flattening the soft palate, so that the back is not as open and the focus moves to the front. The lip rounding should be especially focused on the lower lip, as the placement will likely serve you best if you think forward and low.

Don’t let the soft palate drop completely, though, causing a strong nasality that can make you very difficulty to understand. You’ll need to focus on keeping vowel sounds distinct, so keeping the front open should give you the space you need to avoid neutralizing every vowel sound towards an indecipherable mumble.

4. Helpful Hints

The reduced pitch range for intonation, along with the tendency to not open the mouth as much, can lead people to be much harder to understand. Be very careful that you don’t default to mumbling, dropping consonants, and making vowels indistinct. It’s best to start with a very strong stereotype of an accent so that you own the different sounds and sensations, rather than defaulting to a more neutral, mumbled sound.

It might be helpful to default to the low intelligence stereotype temporarily. This may help you to drop your resonance down more into your chest, helping with the lower median pitch. It may also help with limiting your pitch range, and with the sense of the roof of the mouth being long and flat. Once you have these elements, you can adjust the intelligence to be appropriate for the character.

It’s also good for you to physicalize the placement and intonation elements, indicating pitch change or flow with your hands, which can help you to do this vocally as well. Similarly, demonstrating the flatness of the roof of the mouth with your hands may help you to do this in your mouth.

It’s almost always best to start with a strong, stereotypical accent before you move towards a lighter one, if that’s appropriate for your character. Doing the strong version gives you an anchor to hold onto so that you get mentally and physically clear on the sounds from the beginning – otherwise you’re likely to default to a rather mushy, mumbly sound.