Vowels Elements of Music #3.1

Can You Read This? oh ay ă oo ee, ī uh aw ur ee ī How About this? — s—y c—n y— s—, b— th— d—ns —rl— l—t

Singing Consonants and Vowels Consonants help us understand words, but vowels make them beautiful. We spend only about 10% of our singing on consonants; 90% of the time, we are singing vowels.

The Dimensions of Music Color MeaningPitch Time Tone Vowels Volume Tone Vowels Volume

One of the best ways to make your voice sound better is to make your vowels sound better. Different styles of singing use slightly different vowels sounds. Different languages can also use different sets of vowel sounds. Italian and Latin use 5-7 vowel sounds German uses 16 vowel sounds English uses 18 vowel sounds Different spoken accents use different vowels sounds.

In choir and classical singing, it sounds better when our vowels are rich and consistent. That way they can always be understood, blend with others, and sound their best. There are 5 main vowel sounds that we use in all languages in singing (from Italian): A - E - I - O - U Pronounced: ah - ay - ee - oh - oo

The 5 Main Vowel Sounds EE AY AH OH OO Front Back Open Closed

Closed Vowels EEAYAHOHOO BeatBaitBoughtBoatBoot Open Vowels IHEHAAOHOO BitBetBat (Darken when singing) Bought (Not used in America) Book

UH and Schwas UH as in “cup” should be sung with a tall open mouth in the shape of AH. Sometimes when a syllable is not accented in English, the vowel converts to a schwa. Sing schwas with a more closed mouth and less volume. Nation = “Nay-shun” Exterminate = “ex-term-uh-nate” Candle = “can-dull” UH

Diphthongs 1 st vowel long, 2 nd just at end AH + EE(Y) = Ǐ (“eye”) EH + EE(Y) = AY (“May”) OH + EE(Y) = OY (“boy”) AH + OO(W) = OW (“now”) OH + OO(W) = OH (“toe”)

Vowel Corruptors Don’t corrupt your pure vowels with R or L. CAARRRRRRR FAALLLLLLLLLL Instead, keep the vowel pure and add the consonants short and crisply at the end. Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaruh Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluh

Long, Pure Vowels; Short, Crisp Consonants Since we sing on the vowels 90% of the time, make them as pure and resonant as possible. Make the consonants crisp and short, accenting them more than in speech so the words can be understood better in the audience. Practice: Met, right, happy, nothing, natural, farewell

“Translating” to Pure Vowels Rose, rose, rose, red. Shall I ever see thee wed? I shall marry at my will, sire, at my will. R oh— s r oh— s r oh— s r eh— d. Sh a— l ah— ee(y) eh— v uh r s ee— th ee— w eh— d? Ah—ee(y) sh a— l m eh— r ee a— t m ah—ee(y) wih — l s ah—uh r A— t m ah—ee(Y) w ih— l.