“Highly recommended” by the National Association of Teachers of Singing

UNIVERSITY TEACHERS, please note: Ruth's Voice at the Center DVD is a great addition to vocal pedagogy classes. Contact Ruth for details about her 6-week, 12-week, and 15-week course plans, as well as special pricing for multiple copies of the DVD and accessories. 

Use the Hennessy Breath & BodyWork^TM approach every day, in the ease and comfort of your own home, with Ruth’s DVD, Voice at the Center^TM. Purchase the DVD here.

Here’s an excerpt from a review in the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s Journal of Singing (full review below):

Hennessy’s explanations throughout the DVD are clear and concise. She states the purpose of the exercise, and identifies the muscle or muscle group for which it is intended. A useful addition to the DVD is the inclusion of an animated glossary of muscles; if the viewer is unfamiliar with the exact location of a muscle (such as the psoas), the information is easily accessible on the DVD.

Hennessy’s work fills a void in the literature. When employing other bodywork methods, the technique has to be adapted to the nuances of singing. Hennessy Whole Body Voice is a holistic approach, based on anatomy and physiology, which is compatible with the work of the studio voice teacher.... This DVD is highly recommended.

 

http://voiceatthecenter.com

 Volume 71 | No. 4                                                                                                                                                   March/April 2015 

NATS  ~  JOURNAL OF SINGING
Debra Greschner 

Hennessy, Ruth Williams. Voice at the Center. DVD, 135 minutes, $24.99. www.VoiceAtTheCenter.com

In recent decades, singers have incorporated body use methods—such as yoga, Pilates, and the Alexander Technique—into their study and performance. As Ruth Williams Hennessy points out in the information packaged with this DVD, none of these approaches were developed specifically for singers. Consequently, it is often difficult for them to integrate these body use methods. To fill the void, Hennessy created a physical release and alignment program called “Voice at the Center.” The exercises are those she developed for her singing students during a teaching career that has spanned three decades. The program of body relaxation and alignment is based on the premise that “it takes your whole body to support your whole voice.” Unlike yoga, Pilates, or the Alexander Technique, Hennessy’s Vocal Body method is designed for singers by a singer, and is based on the understanding that the whole body is the vocal instrument. Hennessy considers the work as the foundation for singing. She underlines that the exercises are to be done in conjunction with regular voice lessons and do not replace vocal study. 

The first part of the DVD encourages singers to identify locations of tension and inefficient alignment in their bodies. Hennessy strongly recommends starting with this Self- Assessment Sequence. It targets the areas of the body where most people carry unhelpful tension: diaphragm, pelvis, shoulder girdle, neck, jaw, and tongue. Using students to demonstrate, Hennessy guides the viewer through the steps to identify tension; methods include observation, feeling tightness in the muscles through self- massage, and awareness of tension while speaking and singing.

After the self-assessment segment, a menu of release exercises for the area appears on the screen. Exercises for several body areas can be selected to create a personalized exercise program, or if one area needs attention, several exercises for the same body area can be chosen. The final section of Part I contains “Alignment 1–2-3” exercises, three step processes to promote alignment in several areas of the body, including feet and legs, head and neck, and ribcage and back.

The second part of the DVD contains more advanced exercises, some of which are demonstrated by “Body ReEducator” (Hennessy’s term) Karen Coe. A particularly descriptive word used in this section is “upness,” used to characterize the openness and width that is desirable in the back. A “Release Exercises” section contains methods to relieve tension in the major muscles, as well as in the head and mouth (both inside and out). Finally, Hennessy presents “Connect Breath to Sound,” in which she describes phonation as “release of breath to vibration at the folds to resonance,” a succinct physical description of beautiful singing. This portion of the DVD contains exercises to connect the whole body breath with speech and song. The exercises range from breathing and chanting to eleven-note lip trills. There are exercises to eliminate nasality, while others calm an overactive jaw. For each, Hennessy clearly explains its purpose.

For some exercises on the DVD, Hennessy suggests using objects to assist in release and alignment. These include balls of varying sizes, a thera-band, a BOSU, and the Accu-Massager. The latter (which looks somewhat like an oversized set of tongs with tennis balls at the fulcrum) allows self-massage, and is particularly useful for the shoulder and back. The items can be purchased on her website, but some are also available at exercise supply stores.

Hennessy’s explanations throughout the DVD are clear and concise. She states the purpose of the exercise, and identifies the muscle or muscle group for which it is intended. A useful addition to the DVD is the inclusion of an animated glossary of muscles; if the viewer is unfamiliar with the exact location of a muscle (such as the psoas), the information is easily accessible on the DVD.

Hennessy’s work fills a void in the literature. When employing other bodywork methods, the technique has to be adapted to the nuances of singing. Hennessy Whole Body Voice is a holistic approach, based on anatomy and physiology, which is compatible with the work of the studio voice teacher. This DVD is highly recommended.