TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Learning how to apply dialects and accent work is an individual journey; you have a unique dialectical and lexical identity based on your experiences which is going to affect how you learn different accents and dialects. An important part of the process when you've decided to learn an accent or dialect is determining how to use and manipulate your voice to find the new placement of your sound. This is why, before most sessions, I will provide students with exercises that they can use to "hook into" their dialects. Because different people have different dialectical experiences and different learning processes, I try to provide a number of different words, phrases, exercises, physical actions and images (in the spirit of Linklater vocal technique) to help students to find their new voice so that they can find the warm up or hook that works best for them.
After we have determined placement, I then like to provide students with the rules of the dialect, so that they can apply these to their script. I am more than happy to provide the dialectical rules prior to a session so that students can look over these and work on them prior to a coaching session! When preparing at home or practicing during a session, I strongly encourage students to write out how the accent sounds to them (or utilize IPA for more precise notes) for EVERY WORD they are saying in-dialect, that way there is a visual cue to follow when you are practicing.
While I typically try to provide recordings or examples of where students might hear examples of the accent they are working on, I further encourage students to record our sessions if desired. Everyone has a different learning approach, and the additional option to listen to yourself and critique can prove very useful when practicing at home!
Lastly, getting a dialect consistent and accurate can be an exacting process; there are a lot of details that go into getting a dialect exactly right: consonant substitutions, vowel modification, intonation, pitch patterns, etc. It is important to be patient with yourself as you are learning and to understand that a lot of notes and repetition are an important part of the process. Don't be afraid to try a new dialect and a new sound and to mess up or sound funny in the process. Part of learning dialects is throwing experimental noises out into the universe until they sound the way you want them to! It's hard to figure out how turn your natural speech habits off and on, but it becomes easier the more that you work on it!
I am here to help support your vocal journey in whatever way I can. If my go-to tools don't resonate with you, I will make sure that I do additional research to find new methods that can help you reach your vocal goals. If you want to learn a dialect that I don't have listed among my specialties, I will teach it to myself so that I can teach it to you!
As always, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you come across during the learning process!
Best wishes and happy studies!
-Kylie