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Music Teachers Forums Music Forum The Beauty of Vowel Sounds! (Singing Teachers)

  • The Beauty of Vowel Sounds! (Singing Teachers)

    Posted by Unknown Member on August 31, 2016 at 10:32 am

    Hey gang! Lily from Leeds here.

    I recently delved further into my knowledge of vowel sounds and their importance whilst singing and have fallen IN LOVE with how sneaky these simple sounds can be! I am a huge advocate of ‘the underlying UH’ and John Henny but do you guys know of any other vowel masters I can get researching into?

    Brand me as the singing nerd if you must BUT I JUST LOVE VOWELS!

    All the best everyone,
    L x

    Guest Teacher replied 7 years ago 4 Members · 17 Replies
  • 17 Replies
  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:35 am

    I love vowels too! I find it’s all about lengthening them in singing and softening consonants which is what differentiates between singing and speaking.

    I use A E I O U warm ups as well as “Ar”, “Ah”, “Eh”, “Ee”, “Oh”, “Oo”, alternating for each scale. I really know how to have fun in my lessons!!!

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:35 am

    Do you use harsh consonant pressure when singing staccato? Check out some crazy and amazing science about Vowels and harmonics. It’s changed my life!

    One Secret of Vowel Modification

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:35 am

    Also, if you get bored of your usual vowel sounds, try out the extended vowel scale:

    I – AH – ER – EH – AY – EE – UH – OH – OO

    The way the tongue moves on each sound is quite drastic so I’ve found helping students stabilise this movement creates a cleaner, more stable sound.

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:35 am

    ERRRRRR I like it!!!! 😉

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:35 am

    And I LOVE that link! It’s pretty much what I just happened to be teaching at that moment as well! But explained better than I managed…

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:36 am

    And in answer to your question, I use fricatives.. but that’s more to get the balance and rhythm of breathing and connecting with the diaphragm.

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:39 am

    Ahhhhhhhhh John Henny is a genius. Try those vowel sounds on a skip scale exercise.

    C D – D E – E F – F G – G A – A B – BC – C B A G F E D C
    I – AH – ER – EH – AY – EE – UH – OHHHHH – OOOOOO

    I hope that’s explained it OK😛

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:39 am

    Fricatives! I’ve not heard of those – I’m on it B-)

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:40 am

    Oh god, I don’t get it.

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:40 am

    I do love a good fricative. Revving sounds! The diaphragm is the engine! The larynx is the gears. Pitch is the steering wheel! (Wow, I’m on a roll)

  • Kat Hunter

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:40 am

    @Eliza Woah, I’d love your analogy explained a little more! I’d say the larynx is the pitch!🙂

    @Lily: I have to say there’s a whole lot more I could learn about vowels, harmonics, formants etc., but if you’re interested in learning more about the acoustics side of singing, I thoroughly recommend checking out a guy called Ken Bozeman (http://www.kenbozeman.com/) I saw him talk at a vocal conference last year, and he explained harmonics really well and in a really practical way and it blew my mind🙂

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:41 am

    I did go away and think about our body as a car and came up with this:

    Diaphragm = engine
    Larynx = gears (but probably should be steering wheel for pitch lol)
    Mouth/tongue = Maybe this should be gears, like for different tones
    Dynamics = accelerator
    Eyes = indicator!
    Radio = YOUR SINGING!!!

    Any more?!

    It’s silly fun really.

  • Eliza Fyfe

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:52 am

    I’m sure Ken Bozeman would be more professional and academic in a lecture than me.. Lol

  • Kat Hunter

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Hahaha i LOVE eyes=indicator.

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Oh my god Kat! I love Ken Bozeman!

    Check out this little page I discovered also –
    http://www.singwise.com/cgi-bin/main.pl?section=articles&doc=VocalTractShaping&page=3

  • Kat Hunter

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Yes! I love Karyn O’Connor! I’ve had some lessons with her before and her fees are surprisingly low given her expertise. She’s awesome.

  • Guest Teacher

    Member
    August 31, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Ooooooh! Definitely going to look into this. I’ve never been so nerdy about anything in my entire life. I feel like a vowel wizard!