Performance Skills and Technique
What the exam tests
Performance Skills and Technique covers safe, repeatable control of voice, movement, instrumental/vocal work and stagecraft. Questions often ask you to diagnose a problem and justify a fix, so link cause, exercise or choice, and intended effect.
Core rules
- Breath support comes from the diaphragm and flexible ribs, not shoulder lift; alignment, open throat, resonance and clear articulation support projection to the back row without shouting.
- Vocal health: warm up, hydrate, rest, avoid strain; stop if pain or hoarseness persists.
- Movement: warm up, align, balance, isolate body parts, build stamina, land safely and cool down.
- Stagecraft: learn blocking, cues, sightlines, cheat-out, props, costume, lighting and sound awareness, entrances and exits.
- Rehearsal discipline: write cues, adapt to each venue and test equipment before performance.
Worked example
A performer is upstage delivering a key line while downstage musicians play. The fix: move downstage or cheat out; breathe low; aim the voice at the back wall; slow consonants; ask musicians to reduce dynamics at the cue; check sightlines. Reasoning: the problem is audibility and visibility, so the solution combines voice technique, staging and ensemble listening rather than simply shouting.
Traps that cost marks
Shouting instead of projecting; shallow breathing; ignoring sightlines; treating warm-up as stretching only; no cue notation; blaming equipment instead of adjusting technique.