The exercises below will help you turn a break into a bridge by: 

• dividing the process into small steps you can negotiate one at a time; and  

• using the hum as a helpful sound to get you across. 

Humming is the key to starting to master a break. 

Negotiating a break successfully is all about feeling your way through it, bit by bit persuading your voice towards the smooth transition you want. This is what the hum allows you to do. 

You will be using the strings of notes you practised in Unit 2, but this time rather than avoiding breaks you will deliberately choose to include one. 

It is better to work initially on breaks within your existing range rather than trying to extend your range, so identify an awkward gear change in your voice and use that pitch for around the middle of the five-note string. 

Exercise 13: Strings of notes crossing a break 

Here are written and video reminders of the six-step sequence: 

Step 1: Hum each note 
‍Step 2: Hum to aah on each note 
‍Step 3: Friendly phrases 
‍Step 4: Initial hum then continuous aah 
‍Step 5: Continuous aah 
‍Step 6: Separate aah on each note 

Using ascending and descending strings of notes alternately:  

• Work out a string of five next-door notes that includes a break around notes 2 or 3. 

• Hum notes 1 to 5 in turn (step 1). Slowing right down through the break, slide between notes in tiny increments. This gives your voice time to make the adjustments needed for a smooth crossing. Step 1 is the most important, so say with it until you can feel some improvement. 

• Carry on with steps 2 through 6, but if the break feels more clunky again, as usual go back to the step 1 hum for a bit. 

• Repeat the exercise with note strings that cross other breaks in your existing range. 

Exercise 14: Breaks at the extremes of your range 

Do you feel there is a floor or ceiling (or both) limiting your range when you speak? It may well be just another break you could learn to cross. 

• Imagine a note that is just beyond either the top or bottom of your existing range. 

• Imagine humming it. 

• Now try actually humming it, very gently. 

If you can make a sound, however small or strange, it has the potential to become a usable part of your voice. 

Once you’ve found the sound you can start to develop it using the six-step sequence: 

• Work out a string of five next-door notes (ascending or descending as appropriate) with your end-of-range hum as note 5. 

• Hum notes 1 to 5 in turn (step 1). Slowing right down as you approach note 5, slide up or down to it in tiny increments. Stay with step 1 until the hum sounds more convincing and feels more familiar. 

• Carry on gradually through steps 2 through 6, always going back to the step 1 hum as necessary. 

Don’t spend too long working at the extreme of your range at any one time. This exercise is ideal to do whenever you have a minute (literally). 

Once you have successfully broken through the present ceiling or floor to your voice you are quite likely to find several more potential notes waiting for you on the other side. You can develop these as part of your range in exactly the same way. So try periodically to hum gently on a note even higher or lower in pitch. 

If you weren’t able to produce an audible hum beyond your present range it doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to. As your voice develops, and certainly if you practise Exercise 13 with notes close to the extremes of your range, in time you may well discover one or several more notes in your voice. 

Q: What has been your experience of using humming as a way to start negotiating a break?