Dear domina_ascenti, Mary Beth, Karen M, and Vocalisters:
domina_ascenti's request for help with singing the /i/ vowel has brought forward a few ideas that prompt me to comment. As a voice teacher I have always sought answers within the voice research areas as I have been able to study them and understand them. Most of voice teaching is based on trial and error to discover what works for the individual teacher. When ideas are successful and used by many teachers many explanations are given for their success but in most cases these explanations are also empirical in nature and often do not relate to the basic physical properties of sound transmission, medical knowledge or, in some cases, simple logic.
Mary Beth wrote: "Actually /u/ and /i/ are very similarly formed and can help induce vocal fold thinning and lengthening."
COMMENT: Although this is a common perception I have found little research to support the idea that the /i/ and /u/ vowels have this effect on the vocal folds. Perhaps this idea has developed because these vowels are often used to encourage a clearer, more "on the point" vocal tone. However this improvement in vocal tone is more the result of resonance adjustments, not changes in phonation (which would imply changes in vocal fold structure). One of the most common errors made by singers and teachers of singing is the idea that phonation patterns must (or will likely) change as vowels change. In reality, phonational sound remains basically the same for all vowels; it is the resonation changes that create the differences in vowel sounds.
Your comments about the raised larynx causing difficulties in the second passaggio area is very true. And the /i/ vowel does tend to encourage a raising of the larynx because of the more forward position of the tongue necessary for this vowel. But if one keeps in mind that the sides of the middle tongue will naturally touch the edges of the upper molars when saying or singing /i/ one will also become aware that the tongue has left a larger space behind itself in the pharyngeal area. It is, in fact, the creation of these two different sized spaces (the small space between the middle/front of the tongue and the palate, and the large space behind the tongue in the pharyngeal area) that causes the two resonance peaks necessary for the /i/ vowel.
The umlaut /i/ vowel is achieved by an /i/ position of the tongue with a rounding of the lips. In this sense it appears to be a combination of the /i/ and /u/ vowels but, in reality, it is mostly a slightly adjusted form of the /i/ vowel and the lip rounding portion of the /u/ vowel. And it is very helpful in achieving a warmer, yet intense /i/ vowel.
Keran Mercedes wrote: "Rule" #5: The only part of the tongue that rises and lowers is the front. How to determine the "front" (vs. middle or back) of the tongue. Place the tip of your tongue against your upper front teeth. Flatten the part right behind the tip against the hard palate. Feel where the hard palate stops and the dip of the soft palate begins. The "front" of the tongue - and the only part you should ever consciously move for articulation - is the part that touches the hard palate and teeth. Of course the rest of the tongue will "go along for the ride" when you move the front of the tongue - but when you lift the tongue to create the "i", if you focus on the front only, you'll be far less likely to raise from the middle or back, which will create undesirable tension in the root of the tongue that can cause a "strangulated" sound that translates, in the upper register, as a shrill sound with few or no overtones.
COMMENT: I find this description most confusing. If, in fact, you are suggesting that only the front portion of the tongue is used for the /i/ and /u/ vowels I cannot agree. Your description of how to determine what is the front of the tongue becomes, for me, a description of about the first 1/5th of the visible part of my tongue and that part of the tongue is not what touches my upper rear molars on the spoken or sung /i/ vowel nor is it the portion of the tongue that retracts back from the /i/ position when one pronounces the /u/ vowel. Perhaps you are suggesting a manner in which tongue position can be taught so that the student will not become too concerned with back of the tongue position which can be a bit confusing because it is not visible. Care to elaborate?
Tongue positions for sung vowels cannot be excessively different from tongue position for spoken vowels. Open throat ideas which suggest that the tongue should always be down in back or "flat" do not give the singer an opportunity to create the necessary spaces to create vowel differences. The nature of sound transmission or resonance does not require that the vocal tract be held in an open tube-like position. Each vowel requires a different formation of the vocal tract and the tongue is the primary adjusting agent to make these formation changes possible. Special concerns for maintaining a given position of the tongue or the jaw are counterproductive to quality singing in any style.
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