(A very special thanks to Gary H. for sending this one to me! )

The tongue twister transcriptions:

A proper copper coffee pot.


Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.


Long-legged ladies last longer.


Mixed biscuits. Mixed biscuits.


A box of biscuits. A box of mixed biscuits. And a biscuit mixer.


Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled pepper?
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?


Pink lorry yellow lorry.


Red leather yellow leather.


She sells sea shells on the sea shore.


Swan swam over the pond.
Swim, swan! Swim!
Swan swam back again.
Well swum, swan!


Three grey geese in green fields grazing.

Tongue twisters... you gotta love 'em!

Here's the first little beastie:

If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?

Nasty, huh?

But the challenge isn't in the pronunciation, it's in the reading. Can you add the right inflection in the right places to ensure that the verb "doctor" sounds different than the noun "doctor"? With that being said, there are two doctors in the story. Can you read it in a way that makes it easy for the listener to discern which doctor is being talked about?

Here's another one to wrap your tongue around:

The sawingest saw I ever saw saw, was the saw I saw in Arkansas.


And yes, you're probably going to hate me for including this one:

Ned Nott was shot and Sam Shott was not.
So it is better to be Shott than Nott.
Some say Nott was not shot.
But Shott says he shot Nott.
Either the shot Shott shot at Nott was not shot or Nott was shot.
If the shot Shott shot shot Nott, Nott was shot.
But if the shot Shott shot shot Shott, then Shott was shot, not Nott.
However, the shot Shott shot shot not Shott — but Nott.

Click on the "Read more" link below to watch the three videos and get the transcriptions:

Rodney Saulsberry vocal warm up #1

Transcriptions:

Someone said something simple
A simple something said to me
Simply simple someone said
A simple something said to me

Properly press the purple and black
Pleated plain pants you own
Prepare to put your purple and black
Pleated plaid pants on
Properly press the purple and black
Pleated plain pants you own
Now properly dressed in your purple and black
Pleated plaid pants be gone!

Rodney Saulsberry vocal warm up #2

Transcriptions:

Bipidy bumpidy ripidy rumpidy ripidy bumpidy boo
Bipidy bumpidy ripidy rumpidy let's make it harder to do
Bumzidy rumzidy dumzely clumzely
Hopefully soon we'll be through
With bipidy bumpidy ripidy rumpidy
Stop when your pink tongue turns blue

The beast in the east is trying to feast
On fresh fish from French Freddies buffet
Frowning freaking fretless weeping
For fresh salmon that fled far away
The beast in the east is trying to feast
On fried fish from San Frisco Bay
Fraught from failure to fetch from the barrel
Fresh fish from French Freddies buffet

Rodney Saulsberry vocal warm up #3

Transcription:

Please don't pop your P's please
Please don't pop your P's
Get yourself a popper stopper
Stop those pesty P's from popping
Please don't pop your P's please
Please don't pop your P's
Work that mic from a left right axis
Stop that popping watch those S's
Please don't pop your P's please
Please don't pop your P's

PS
Don't forget to check out my own little twist on doing
tongue twisters for voice warm up!

It's the NBC announcer test. The test originated at Radio Central New York (NBC) in the 1940s as a reading test given to prospective radio talent. The prospect would read the script for clarity, enunciation, diction, tonality and expressiveness. It had to be performed perfectly — no stumbles or stammers. Plus, it was to be read with feeling and meaning!

It's good to start off slowly to get the enunciation down. Later you can read it fast for articulation. And here it is...

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four Limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient, sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic, old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who haul stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.

Looks easy... but this is how it should be read (hold on to your hats):

One hen

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alvarso's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonians in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic sympathetic diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity toward procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who haul stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time!

And for an added challenge, can you read from "One hen" to "Ten lyrical...time" all in one breath?

But to voice over actors (both budding and well-brewed) they can be more than just cute little rhymes meant to train our tongues and boggle our brains when used in these unique ways...

Emotive tongue twisters

The previous post titled List of acting emotions for practice contains a list of basic human emotions that voice actors need to be able to produce at the drop of a hat. The post also contained some practice tips using those acting emotions.

Taking it one step further... why not try reading some tongue twisters using those emotions?

It's actually a little harder than it sounds — especially when the emotion you have chosen to... well, emote... doesn't quite match the tone of the tongue twister.

Break the tongue twister rhythm

Most tongue twisters come with a natural rhythm, flow, and bounce to them. As a new twist, try saying some tongue twisters as if you were talking directly to a friend — with the rhythm completely removed. (This one really is tricky!)

The challenge with this practice is to try to make the tongue twister sound like natural speech. Remember, you're talking with a close friend and not "bustin' a rhyme" .

When I find that the rhyme or the rhythm is making it too difficult to say, I replace one or more of the words with "normal" non-rhyming words and then practice the read. Here's an example:

Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.

If this is hard to read in a natural way, try changing the names:

Mike fed Peter bread, and Peter fed Mike bread.

Once you can do the read smoothly, put the original words back in. And, of course, don't forget to add some emotion!

If you have any good tongue twister practice ideas, why not share them in the comment section below?