Twang!

Twang is the most piercing part of a cat’s meow where the ‘e’ and ‘o’ vowels fuse together. Sit on this point for as long as you can. It will sound like a cross cut saw but feel effortless. Other twangy phrases are “nyeh, ne-ne nyeh nyeh!!” teasing and the cackle of the wicked witch. Let yourself be as ugly and childlike as you can – it helps! Practice twang in its archetype so that you can feel how little effort it uses and yet how loud it is!! Don’t try to be loud – just piercing. Be as gentle as you can. Twang is used INSTEAD of push and force and has a far greater effect. Twang can only be used properly in conjunction with complete openness. Make a list of the places you hold tension on your body. Then make a list of all the places we can open up to the sound. Notice how similar those lists are. You will have to be sure of the devices to use to eradicate tension and open each area in order that you don’t fixate on the problem and create MORE tension. For example. Here are some places we can open to the sound and how…

Chest	Elevation, expansion, stretches
Mid Head	Facial Anchoring
Throat	Giggle
Sinus Cavities	‘Ng’, placement, smoothing out the brow
Ears	Listing to the beauty of the sound
Heart	Mean it!

Twang must always be married to openness. Start to use twang only when you can assure you are open. Experiment with different percentages of twang and how that changes the sound e.g. 20% twang with 120% openness, 40% twang with 140% openness. See how much is too much (a little goes a long way!) Notice how using twang not only projects the sound but allows for dynamic control. You can use twang to sing very softly because it doesn’t use any breath.