Reddit reviews Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage
We found 7 Reddit comments about Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Speak with Distinction Applause Acting Series Series Softcover Written by Edith SkinnerWidely recognized as the most complete and rigorous text of its kind since it was first published in 1942, Speak With Distinction is an invaluable resourceIt presents a comprehensive study of the sounds of Spoken English in their most important phonetic environmentsThis most recent revision also adds much material for comparisons of speech sounds; suggestions for accurate, efficient and conversational ways of combining the sounds into connected utterance; indications that foster a working knowledge of two dialects of speech (General American and what MrsSkinner called Good Speech for classic and elevated texts); and beginning material to show application of the principles of Good Speech to well-written texts
I teach voice workshops sometimes. Not singing, but speaking voice for actors and stuff
The industry standard texts for actors are usually Linklater (for vocal quality) and Skinner (for clarity of speech).
This book is fucking legendary, though perhaps more technical and in depth than you're interested in and also a little formal / outdated. If you follow all the vowel sounds perfectly you'll end up sounding like a British twat (especially with the "ah" sound as in "father" and the "all" sound, just do what's natural). But everything about the consonants pretty much holds up.
This book is a really good place to start. Most of the exercises revolve around freeing the "channel" from your diaphragm through your mouth and making sure you have both the dexterity to communicate with ease and the proprioception (imagery and understanding of the body) to adapt your voice as needed. If you've seen The King's Speech, that's pretty much all the stuff he's doing during that montage where he's shaking his fists around and yelling and stuff. Practice a few times a week.
I'm sure looking up youtube videos of Linklater and Roy Hart technique is also useful if you don't want to buy the book.
Practicing by reading aloud, as others have mentioned, is also really helpful. Generally, the verb is the most important word of the sentence, but it's also prohibitive to set too many rules for yourself in terms of cadence and emphasis since contemporary speech is pretty organic and you don't want to sound like a machine. Also listening to your favorite actors / singers / etc with a critical mind can be helpful, it isn't really useful to try to emulate them since the mechanics of everyone's voices are vastly different, but understanding the quality of their voice and finding that same quality within your own voice is a nice way to start.
Former professional actor here. Had several years of IPA in college. The key is to have a proper baseline for the way that the characters are actually supposed to sound. It all well and good learning what the symbols are supposed to mean, but if you're teaching yourself, you have no real reference. This is all about sound. You can't just do without hearing the sounds pronounced correctly. That said, if you're really interested in learning more, the definitive textbook is Edith Skinner's Speak with Distinction. Granted, it helps to have studies the works of Kristin Linklater to put a lot of this stuff in context.
These are the standard for speech pathology.
This book and the exercises within are the basis for the speech courses at Juilliard, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, and other similar programs.
I would try to find resources from the period it was popular. It's also referred to as the Mid-Atlantic accent.
By searching Mid-Atlantic acting coach book I was able to find this book Speak with Distinction: The Classic Skinner Method to Speech on the Stage from 1942.
I also found this book which briefly touches on the Mid-Atlantic accent according to the description Classically Speaking, the Book
Learn IPA (international phonetic alphabet) and identify your accent sounds and dipthongs. Pick up Speak with Distinction by Edith Skinner, and start with the most simple warmups. Learn all the pure vowels and consonant sounds before going into dipthongs and triphthongs. Note that you should aim to learn the Trans-Atlantic accent, which is widely considered as 'neutral' for English and used for most classical work.
Record everything and listen to how you are doing to be able to a) identify sounds you're making and b) diagnose things you're not conscious of doing.
Tongue, soft palate and hard palate exercises will help with your ability to make different sounds. As you learn IPA and can pronounce each sound, from vowels to stop-plosives and affricates, make sure you're expanding your warmup to include these. Do your warmups and exercises every day. You'll be surprised how quickly these muscles go out of shape.
In addition to being super helpful, being able to read and pronounce IPA will help you pick up any other accents.
That's for the phonetic/sound part. Other things to think about are vocal placement and speech 'patterns'. Different dialects are placed differently. Speech 'patterns' refers to how natives speak the language, and the sensibility and melody behind it. This is very subtle and often only native speakers of the language can notice that you don't quite sound like you're from there. The understanding of how culture and attitude informs speech patterns is what will help you get a genuine, non-stereotypical accent that you can express yourself freely with, using vocabulary and idiomatic expressions of the dialect.
EDIT: Also the other tips are great for actual practicing. Make sure you are always practicing whatever you are learning, and make sure you're practicing deliberately. This is the key to making something second-nature.
Source: Not American, trained at an American acting conservatory with the aim of working in local markets and now people are shocked to find out I didn't grow up here.
Try this book:--
(https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Distinction-Classic-Skinner-Method/dp/1557830479/)
The book is a bit more geared towards formal American English than formal British English, but it should assist you a great deal in your situation.
Find books that teach the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA for short. It's what we used in Voice class when I was becoming an Acting major. It helps you learn what "replacements" for sounds you use in every day life, and you can then figure out what the "replacement" would be for a Neutral American accent.
http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Distinction-Classic-Skinner-Method/dp/1557830479/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425233224&sr=8-1&keywords=Speak+with+distinction
This is the book we used. Regardless if it's for being on stage or in real life, it's all the same. Hope this helps!