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INTRODUCTION

HOW THIS BOOK CAME ABOUT

Acting with an accent can be a dream or a nightmare for an actor. The pressures to get it right – to sound authentic, honest and connected – grow as audiences become more demanding and the world gets smaller.

In How to Do Accents we offer actors a new approach. Speaking with an accent is a skill just like any other: it can be learned and developed, and it is our aim with this book to provide you with the tools to do just that.

Actors sometimes get the feeling that before they can approach an accent they must understand the phonetic alphabet. Although this approach provides some people with a sense of security, it deals with only a small part of what makes up an accent. Moreover, the vast majority of actors find this approach at best alienating and at worst simply boring. Unfortunately this can lead them to ignore the essential structure inherent in accents, believing this leaves them free to learn on a more intuitive level. The results are accents that are extremely hit and miss to begin with, and once the actor’s emotions kick in the accent flies out of the window. It simply isn’t in their muscle memory, and how can it be? Intuition is essential, but so is structure. The very word ‘structure’ may be causing you to glaze over, but, if you think about it, it is hardly an alien concept to actors. They use it every day in their craft. They learn the structure of lines, of moves, even the structure of emotions. The structure of accents can be part of this: it simply needs to be accessible.

What is desperately needed is a simple, reassuring system for both learning and teaching accents: a system that allows the actor to use their gift for intuition in tandem with their ability to retain structure; a system that liberates the nervous while developing the skills of the keen; a system that teaches actors not just one accent, but the underlying structure inherent in all accents. This book provides such a system.

Using solid technical know-how, clear practical steps, real-life examples, and the occasional dose of humour, the Haydn/Sharpe System brings to the surface the underlying structure of accents, sharing the processes that we, as specialist dialect coaches, have developed, to give you the insight, tools and confidence to work with any accent.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT…

This is not a linguistic or phonetic textbook, but it is completely compatible with them. We have taken the language of the linguist and translated it into the language of the actor. We have distilled the very detailed work of phoneticians and extracted the elements relevant to the specific goals of the actor at work.

So who’s this book for?

●	The drama student
●	The actor working with accents and dialect coaches
●	The voice and dialect teacher
●	The drama teacher
●	Anyone who’s ever wondered How to Do Accents!

WHAT’S IN THIS BOOK

1	Get started (page 19)
	This chapter covers the preparation needed in order to build your new accent successfully:
	●	Knowing your equipment.
	●	Making and using a resource recording.
	●	Establishing the cultural context of an accent.
2	The Foundations (page 27)
	This chapter takes you through the four essential elements needed for a solid accent foundation:
	●	The Setting – The setting of the muscles of the face and mouth.
	●	The Zone – Where the sound is placed.
	●	The Tone – The resonant quality of the accent.
	●	The Direction – The direction in which the voice is sent.
3	The Two Planets (Rhotic vs. Non-Rhotic) (page 39)
	In this chapter you will discover that when it comes to accents the world divides into two planets:
	●	Planet Rhotic, where people say an R whenever it is written.
	●	Planet Non-Rhotic, where people only say an R if there is a vowel sound spoken after it.
	More significantly you’ll discover which planet you’re on, and how to pass as a local on the other!
4	The Bite (page 55)
	Consonants break the flow of the voice into Bite-size pieces. In this chapter we will lead you through:
	●	5 Major Players – that have the power to make or break your accent.
	●	3 Major Issues – that can affect any consonant and change the quality of an accent.
	●	Springing Consonants – consonants in vowel’s clothing.
	●	‘YOO’ – a small detail just waiting to catch you out!
5	The Shapes (page 113)
	This chapter shows you how to establish the vowel shapes of an accent. You will discover a spectrum of possibilities in your mouth through:
	●	Getting the Big Picture – how to use a word list.
	●	Inventories and Distributions – what are the shapes and where do they go?
	●	Shape, Length and Movement – what to listen for to identify changes in vowels.
	●	Getting more Detailed – watching out for environmental issues.
6	The Groove (page 149)
	Every accent has its own music, made up from the interplay of rhythms and intonation patterns, that we call the Groove. In this chapter we show you how to give your accent depth and roots through:
	●	The Big Picture – framing and embodying the cultural and physical dynamics inherent in the Groove.
	●	Intonation – refining our ear to the essentials of rhythm, melody and meaning.
7	Get Professional (page 165)
	In this chapter we show you how to take your accent to a professional level with advice on how to:
	●	Get Practising
	And what to do when your accent meets the demands of a:
	●	Production
	●	Character
	●	Audition
8	Useful Stuff (page 175)
	This chapter covers the following:
	●	Making a Resource Recording – The KIT LIST, the Set Text ‘Arthur the Rat’, Major Player Elicitation sentences, Free Speech prompts.
	●	You and the New Charts – An example of one we did earlier, plus a blank chart for you to fill in.
	●	Knowing your Equipment – Lips and cheeks, jaw, tongue, soft palate, voice box.
	●	Space Exploration – the Vowel Spectrum chart, Exploration and discovery of the eight extreme vowels.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

You can use this book to work on a specific accent or to learn the structure inherent in all accents, using your own resource material and/or the downloadable tracks provided. You may want to work through the book systematically, working step by step through the different elements. Or perhaps you are someone who likes to dip in and out of books when the need arises, picking out the relevant bits and getting a good overview. Either way this book will work for you.

If you are learning…
●	the structures inherent in ALL accents
	This book provides you with a complete course in how to do accents. By working through the book and listening to the tracks you will understand the structures and develop the skills to be able to do not just one accent, but any accent.
If you are learning…
●	a SPECIFIC accent
	Look at the example You and the New chart on page 182 to see how it works and then use the:
	●	blank You and the New chart (page 192)
	●	resource recording (either your own or one of the sample accents we provide on tracks 84-100)
	●	checklists (pages 38, 52, 65, 72, 76, 81, 87, 94, 100, 106, 112, 121, 131, 133, 140, 148, 164)
	to build up a complete profile of the structure and patterns of your new accent.

We have broken the architecture of accents into five areas: The Foundations; The Two Planets; The Bite; The Shapes; and The Groove. These define the principal points of change from one accent to another. By necessity we have used a limited selection of accents as our examples, but the patterns demonstrated will apply to any accent of English. Recognising patterns, knowing the limited options available to your accent and having a simple structure for remembering them are all key to being able to do an accent.

Whether you are using How to Do Accents as a work book to develop your understanding of how accents work, or to build up the profile of a specific accent, it is best to take one area of the work at a time. Give your brain time to absorb new information and to get used to the new way of interpreting and creating sound. Working steadily for half an hour or so a day can be better than doing two solid hours once a week. Where possible, find the pace that works for you.

Sensing

Being good at accents is about so much more than ‘having a good ear’. It is about using all your available senses to learn new skills, just as you did as a small child. For this reason we encourage you throughout the book to see, feel and hear new accents.

Through the book you will see these icons:

	This icon prompts you to focus in a visual way, either by looking at an illustration, using your mind’s eye, or looking in a mirror.
	This icon prompts you to focus on physical processes and feelings.
	This icon prompts you to focus in an aural way by listening to a track on the downloadable MP3s. See page 224 for instructions on how to download the tracks that accompany the book.
	This icon also prompts you to focus in an aural way by listening to yourself.

Creating a Funnel

When learning new sounds it helps to have a way of listening to yourself that is instant and gives you an accurate ‘outside ear’ on the sounds you are making. You can do this by ‘funnelling’ the sound from your mouth straight back to your ear.

Put one hand about five centimetres (two inches) away from your mouth, cup it onto the bottom of the other hand which then in turn cups behind the ear, creating a funnel from one to the other.

You will know you’ve got the position right when you hear your voice loud and clear, even when you are speaking quietly. This is especially invaluable when you are working in a group, or when you need to practise quietly.

Practising

When you were a child you dedicated hours to hearing the sounds, and/or seeing the shapes of the faces around you, playing with the shape of your mouth, until the sounds and shapes you were making matched the sounds and shapes you were hearing and/or seeing. Then you practised those shapes and movements over and over again until they became locked into your muscle memory. That’s what children do. That’s what you did and how you learned to speak. That’s why you have an accent, even if you think you don’t!

For some of you, your mimicry instinct may still be active – maybe you’ve always enjoyed playing with new sounds – while others of you may have turned it off long ago, happy to sound like those around you. Whichever you are, prepare to switch your mimicry instinct back on and practise as hard as a child!

Remember, learning how to do accents is just like anything else you’ve successfully learnt: riding a bike, speaking a language, or even navigating a new mobile phone. Some things seem to come easily; others seem to take longer to get into the muscle memory. Separate out the different elements, identify what you know, recognise what you don’t know and then learn, re-learn and above all practise. During this process your awareness is very high and the focus and juggling can seem complicated. Don’t panic – this just means there is more learning taking place! Soon the elements come together and the process seems natural and effortless.

Processing

To help you teach your left brain (where logic and structure live) to store the discoveries you are making, the Haydn/Sharpe System provides you with two invaluable tools.

●	You and the New
	One thing that will really help you to do other accents is understanding your own. By building a profile of the qualities specific to your own accent you can establish a solid base from which to navigate other accents.
	If you look towards the back of the book (pages 192–201), you will see a chart called You and the New. You will be prompted at the end of each chapter to fill it in. Once filled in, this will provide you with an instant comparison between your accent and the new accents you are working on, showing you where the most significant changes are. Photocopy this before you start, as you may want to use it each time you learn a new accent. (Alternatively, you can download the chart as a ready-to-print pdf from the How to Do Accents website at www.howtodoaccents.com.)
●	Checklists
	At the end of each chapter we have provided a checklist of the elements you will be looking out for in any new accent. Use these to be sure you leave no stone unturned in your search for an authentic, detailed accent.

Learning an accent is all about layering. Take it a piece at a time, practise all the pieces and then put them all together. And above all be prepared to make mistakes and sound silly: this is just you and your brain learning!