Thank you for that awesome explanation. I know the Formant /Harmonic subject always gets just a little bit confusing, but explained this way made it all come together.
hi, I love your vids :) maybe kind of a dumb q but i'd like to know if this exercise should be practiced throughout my whole range? or only in the middle or upper parts? mezzo soprano here pls advise. :) also do you have CD or compilation of your fav exercises to buy or dl? TY keep it up!
This exercise is designed for the upper middle range, to encourage the laryngeal tilt, but it can certainly be performed throughout the range. In the lower part of the range, just be careful not to over lower the larynx. I'm a lyric mezzo-soprano, and I usually start this exercise at E4 (as the lowest note) and extend it to F5/F#5 (as the highest note) then make my way back down.
That's a Richard Miller expression - "The tongue always speaks the integrity of the vowel" - which has stuck with me over the years. It's so critical to proper vowel definition, good resonance, and vocal freedom.
I don't like the vowel series exercise very much, but the slide on ooh vowel is fun up to a point , although ooh can be a somewhat tricky tricky vowel to start on- I just dislike the same vowel series exercise: Singing the same pitch over and over throughout is on this exercise is uncomfortable for me. I like vowel resonance exercises on scales that have different pitches and ones that I can use a variety of vowels however I want to, not a set exercise on the same pitch over and over again.
Hi very interesting, wanted to ask you, since you started with the "u" vowel, i've been taught that if you work with closed vowels we make our sound smaller, and less belted, and that's what ive experienced, but my main question is: what is best for the voice?, also i saw some masterclasses from tenor Alfredo Kraus which was considered by many as the tenor with best technique that has ever been and stated that we hace to put all vowel sounds in the "e" english sound or "I" spanish sound, obviously in bel canto the spaces are bigger, but i wanted to hear your opinion on all these things, in my experience, i try to work every vowell and try to put the others inside the first one, but ive never been sure what is best for the voice
The /u/ vowel has a low first formant, and therefore 'turns over' (the second harmonic rises above the first formant) earlier than most of the other vowels (except /i/), and so the /u/ is used here to help the larynx pivot (laryngeal tilt) and transition the voice into head voice. This particular exercise is not designed to keep the singer in a mixed voice or to develop belting (which is not low larynxed). There is much disagreement on this idea of putting all the vowels in the same 'space.' It seems to differ from singer to singer, even amongst the most trained and talented singers. Personally, I think that space differs depending on what we're singing and the sound that we're aiming for. I find that when I'm singing in this 'darkened' (pseudo classical) head voice, all of my vowels adopt a bit of an /ʊ/ (as is 'good book') or /ʌ/ (/ə/) (as in 'nut') inside the throat space because the vocal tract length is being stabilized. But when I'm singing in a contemporary mixed voice or belt sound, my vowels tend to go into either an /æ/ (as in 'cat') space (for musical theatre) or an /e/ (as in 'bait') space (for pop). Generally speaking, I then to find /æ/ the easiest vowel for singing in a high mix or belt and produces a sound that I prefer for most of what I sing (musical theatre). I am a fan of this idea of finding a similar 'space' for all the vowels so that there is this kind of consistent 'line' in the tone, so long as the vowels are still clearly differentiated with the tongue. I just think that the vowel that we use (or shade toward) is going to differ from individual to individual, (depending on the unique inner dimensions of their vocal tracts, etc.), and from style to style.
singwisevocals thanks for your answer! Always great and knowledgable! Other question i was taught to do an excersise with a hum with an open mouth and with the tounge placed a relaxed on the lower lip doing a vowel sound as "head" i asume thats the ae sound, on a descending passage, such as 8 5 3 1, i found this to be one of my favorite excersises to relax and not use constricting muscles, decided to use it with your (inhale exhale breath, not sure what the name was) excersise to maintain the low larynx and find it even greater, what can you say about excersising the voice with the tounge in this position?
I'm not sure that I can quite picture the exercise that you're describing, but I generally like exercising in the tongue slightly forward posture and also any kind of humming or semi-occlusion of the vocal tract. If it produces the desired acoustic result (in a healthy physiological manner), then go for it!
Hi Karyn, when I try doing this exercise, I feel that the 2 sides of my neck stretched outward a little bit and my vocal liagements wants to break apart (I have to force them closed, and I topped out at F5 / F5# (I am male), but very tensed there, I have a feeling that I am having my vocal liagement torn apart) to maintain the volume and fullness of sound as you do in the video. Is this normal ? Thank you.
Are you higher voiced (i.e., a tenor)? Generally speaking, I wouldn't expect males to sing this exercise as high as F5. Usually by that pitch, the larynx won't want to remain lower, so we'd allow it to start rising a bit. If you try to force it low, and especially if you're breath support is not balanced, the vocal folds will want to come apart. I think that the top pitches that I demonstrate in this video are really just around my upper passaggio (E5). That's the pitch at which my larynx tends to pivot/tilt, and so for me, that's where this exercise is most beneficial. But by about A5, I would need to start allowing my larynx to do what it wants to do, or else I'll end up with the same issues of the vocal folds pulling apart. (I'm a mezzo soprano.)
Yes, I am a male tenor (25 yrs old), but my breath support is not balanced yet. Thank you for sharing your own experience there. Have you had any video that demonstrate how a CT - dominant, TA- dominant and CT, TA- balanced sound like ? Kind of comparision of the sounds which are made by different combination of these 2 muscles.Actually, I have watched your series about mixed voice, but I still dont get the idea.
