B – Breath
R – Resonance
A – Articulation
A – Alignment
P – Phonation
My friend, Carolina Kipnis, said “braap” sounded like an extended belch. I said that’s what appealed to me about it. It was memorable. It’s why I used the P for Phonation as opposed to “OR” for Onset and Release. Because BRAAOR just sounded awkward. Or kind of like a Wookie.
The exercises I used were culled from things that I frequently use and supplemented with various exercises from books. In the I-don’t-know-how-many years since I created them, I have abandoned some of them completely, changed others, and found new ones that I like better. I hand these out to beginning students (at the 2nd lesson, because if I give them to people at their first, they often think they don’t need to come back a 2nd time because they have my tools).
So I’m revising and expanding my sheets. I will still follow the BRAAP format, but I also want to add a page (or two) of more advanced vocal concepts – range/registration, agility, legato, etc.
If you took or take lessons with me, and there was an exercise that particularly resonated (see what I did there?) with you, tell me what it was and I will include it.
I hope to have this done by the end of summer, so that I can give it out in the fall. The biggest hurdle I have is that I don’t have the software I used back in 200x anymore (let alone the computer I did them on), so I have to do the whole thing from scratch.
I wouldn’t mind doing some kind of private videos on YouTube for some of them as well. Or maybe a podcast about vocal exercises. Stay tuned for that.
Feel free to message me about exercises you liked – or comment here!