Month: October 2020

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Vowel Non-Modification

Here’s a different way to look at “vowel modification” – the goal is not to modify the vowel, but to modify the way we make each vowel so it sounds the same throughout the range.

Singing is communication, and the vowels carry the meaning and beauty of any language.  If the vowels are generalized or incorrect, then communication, meaning, and beauty are all lost.

But, you say, what about vowel modification?  All those charts?  Well, the voice does change throughout the range.  If you kept the same shape of the mouth, tongue, lips, etc., going from low note to high note, the sound will tend to get nastier.  Keeping the same shapes going from high to low will tend to dull the sound. So, we modify the shapes to make the best tone for each note.  We should also aim for the best vowel for each note.  Change how we make the vowel for each pitch. 

I know that the vowels tend to go away at some point above the treble clef, but Steber showed that “Now is the night one blue dew” can be reasonably approximated up to at least B flat.  Was it the same shape and or feeling of her “oo” in mid-range?  Of course not.  But, it gave the impression of “oo” all the same.

So, go ahead and modify, but don’t modify the vowel, modify how you make the vowel.

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Gimmie some tongue!

Last time, we looked at the lip vowels, oh, oo, etc., and now let’s do the tongue.

(yes, I’m deliberately avoiding IPA)

So, ee, eh, etc., are tongue vowels.  Basically, you keep your mouth as it is for ah, and move your tongue so that the sides of your tongue are touching your upper molars, while the tip of your tongue is still just touching your lower front teeth.  This divides the mouth into two resonating chambers.

Important note:  the tongue has to move to create these vowels, but it still needs to be loose!

Try this:  sing a nice “ah” on a comfortable note.  Move your tongue into the position I described above, and you should get some form of eh, ee, or some such.  Keep it mushy, and don’t let the lips pull sideways – that’ll create tension!

The more space between the center of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, the more open the vowel.  Try sliding it up and down, forward and back, and find the right spot for eh, ih, ee, etc., all on a single note.  These vowels can be completely clear, and still have the same basic quality and quantity of sound.  That is the goal!

You can actually use this to help loosen the tongue, by quickly alternating ah and ee on a single note.

If you sing an “eh” without touching the upper molars, the sound will be dull and tend to spread, especially when singing an ascending line.

Again, an important thing to remember in all this is that the tongue needs to stay loose, like raw liver (as Ellen Repp used to say)!

The goal with all this vowel work is to create sounds that are clear and consistent, so that the vowels are easily understood while the quality and quantity of the vocal sound stays the same.  When formed as I’ve described here and in the last posting, the vowels can stay clear and well sung throughout the range.