GCSE Drama- vocal acting skills 🎭

Question 1

What are the vocal skills needed, for vocal interpretation of a character ? [10]

Answer 1

• pitch
• pause
• rhythm and pace
• tone
• volume
• accent
• emphasis
• intonation
• subtext
• and, inflection

Question 2

What is pitch ?

Answer 2

• pitch, is how high or low a character’s voice sounds.

Question 3

What is rhythm 🆚 pace ?

Answer 3

• rhythm, is the pattern of sound when speaking.
• ; pace, is the speed at which lines are delivered.

Question 4

What does tone mean ?

Answer 4

• tone, is the emotional sound of the voice- it is the emotion behind a character’s voice.
• for example, a character may have an aggressive tone to reveal the subtext of a line or to communicate meaning to the audience.

Question 5

What is volume ?

Answer 5

• volume, is how loud or quiet an actor’s voice sounds.
• a character may have a loud volume, to show anger; they could also use a quiet and reduced volume, to show anger as well

Question 6

What is an accent ?

Answer 6

• an accent, is a particular way of talking and pronouncing words.
• ; an accent, is also associated with a person’s geographical area or social class

Question 7

What does emphasis mean ?

Answer 7

• emphasis, is when a particular word or phrase within a sentence is stressed, to indicate importance

Question 8

What does intonation mean ?

Answer 8

• intonation, is the change of tone in person’s voice when sounding out particular words or phrases.

Question 9

What’s an example of intonation ?

Answer 9

• for example, ‘I think it would be a good idea if we left now’ would sound more dramatic if the intonation changed from a calm tone to an panicked tone throughout- as it would show that the reason for leaving was getting closer.

Question 10

What does subtext mean ?

Answer 10

• subtext, is the underlying meaning and message conveyed by an actor’s dialogue

Question 11

What does inflection mean ?

Answer 11

• inflection, is the change of pitch and/or volume of the voice throughout a sentence.

Question 12

Fill in the gaps: with inflection, the words: ‘You’re going away’ changes into a question if there is a ____ in pitch throughout the _______.

Answer 12

• with inflection, the words: ‘You’re going away’ changes into a question if there is a rise in pitch throughout the sentence.

Question 13

What’s the difference between inflection 🆚 intonation ?

Answer 13

• inflection, is the change of pitch and/or volume of the voice throughout a sentence.
• ; intonation, is the change of tone in person’s voice when sounding out particular words or phrases.

Question 14

What is the difference between resonance 🆚 quality ?

Answer 14

• resonance, is where the voice is vibrating in your body to create difference voice sounds [linking to voice quality)
• ; quality, is how the voice sounds [the colour of the voice.
• for example, a voice may have a: nasal, breathy, hoarse or squeaky quality

Question 15

What does resonance mean ?

Answer 15

• resonance, is where the voice is vibrating in your body to create difference voice sounds [linking to voice quality]

E.g., high and piercing, deep and powerful]

Question 16

What is quality ?

Answer 16

• quality, is how the voice sounds [the colour of the voice.
• for example, a voice may have a: nasal, breathy, hoarse or squeaky quality

Question 17

What is elongation ?

Answer 17

• elongation, is when an actor holds on a word or movement for a longer amount of time-

Question 18

How might elongation be used ?

Answer 18

• an actor might use elongation, to emphasise specific words or movements or to show hesitance.
• For example ‘ I put it ooooover thereeeee’ could indicate that the object is no longer there and the character is confused about this.

Question 19

What is tempo ?

Answer 19

• tempo, is how fast or slow an actor’s speech is.