Teaching artist Alan Bomar Jones demonstrates how to use different vocal ranges to create original character voices inspired by items and pictures found around the home.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• None in this video

Materials You Will Need:

• Two objects or pictures from around the house that you can give a voice to

How to Create Your Own Character Voice Inspired by an Object or Picture 

1. First, find two items or pictures from around your home that you can use to create an original character. You can also find a picture on the internet if you’d like. 
2. Look at your first object or picture and decide what kind of character this is. For example, Alan looked at his peanut butter jar and decided that it would become a superhero called Peanut Butter Man. 
3. Next decide what qualities this character has. Are they confident? Shy? Excited? Nervous? Silly?

4. Based on these qualities, what will your character’s voice sound like? Will it be loud and bold? Soft and squeaky? You can experiment with the different vocal ranges Alan taught us about to create your character’s voice!
5. Repeat this process for your second object or picture.
6. Finally, we’re going to create names for the characters we created. You can use the name of someone you know, a name from a TV show or book, or come up with your own creative name!

In this video, Alan demonstrates how to create an original character voice based on an object or picture found in your home. If you want to go even further, think about these questions: 

• Look at your objects and try to think of what other characters they could become. A peanut butter jar could be a superhero called Peanut Butter Man, but could it also be a Peanut Butter Monster? Or a Peanut Butter Businesswoman? How would the voices of these characters sound different from the first character you created? 
• Look around your home and see what other objects and photos you can find and use to create different characters. Can you come up with even more characters than the two you started with? Maybe try exploring some different rooms in your house - what can you find to inspire a character in the bathroom? The garage? The backyard?
• Can you create a story for your character to act out? Think about what your character wants and what they might do to try to get it. Can you act this story out using your object and your character’s voice?
• Can you create a short scene between your two characters that you created? What might these characters say to each other? What might they argue about? You can practice switching back and forth between their voices as you act out the scene!

Accessibility

Don't forget that you can turn on "Closed Captioning" to view the YouTube video with English captions.

More about the Teaching Artist

Alan Bomar Jones is an actor and voice artist in Dayton, Ohio. When he's not performing, he teaches drama classes, voice-over courses, and acting for TV and film. As an artist, he hopes to inspire young people to explore and develop many talents that can provide more opportunities in the arts.

Kennedy Center Education provides resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms and learning spaces of all types.

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Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.