3 sessions of 2.5 hours each on body-breath-voice themes (maximum of 15 people) with Frankie Armstrong and Darian Pritchard. We would like people to commit to all 3 sessions.

Fridays from 10am to 12.30pm

The themes are:

• The Earth in our Voices – 9th June
• Letting the Breath In, Letting the Voice Out – 16th June
• Let your Voice Soar – 23rd June

The Earth in our Voices -This session focuses on the importance of feeling ‘grounded’ (exploring the role of the lower half of the body) for our voices to flow freely through our whole body. Our ancestors lived closer to the earth, which gave their voices power and depth. We use exercises, and songs and chants from cultures that still have this relationship to the earth.

Letting the Breath In, Letting the Voice Out – It is self evident that our lungs and breath are crucial to giving full, expressive voice. Yet so many of us have restricted breathing, often without realising it, in our sedentary culture. We use exercises that help free our ribs, spine and hence lungs. This increases awareness of the diaphragm muscle, and of how this, together with the abdominal muscles, gives strength, stamina and resonance to the voice without strain. We also play with exercises and songs that encourage increasing our range and ability to sustain sound.

Let your Voice Soar – Most of us find ourselves with more tension than we might like in the throat and jaw. This session focuses on freeing the shoulders, neck, tongue, throat and jaw to help liberate sound and song.

Feedback from previous courses:

• “helped me release jaw and throat tension and open up my voice”
• “felt more in my body as I made sound”
• “so much packed in and plenty to take away”
• “helped me be braver in experimenting vocally”
• “fun”
• “challenging and liberating”
• “Your expertise shines through and enriches us. All done with knowledge and lightness which
  makes taking part very enjoyable”

Frankie and Darien are calling on their expertise to offer Zoom sessions for groups in freeing up the natural voice. This is a unique opportunity to work with Frankie, who has been called ‘the godmother of the natural voice singing movement.’
They have been running these successful online sessions since 2020.