>Thank-you, Lloyd, for your comments. Just some observations on my part, at
least about how these exercises work for me .
>I wrote:
>
>> 2)Hö-hü(hoe-hue):Octave leap. Same range. Bottom in chest, top in mixed
>> and sustained for length of breath.Vowels see to it that the tip of the
>> tongue stays behind the lower teeth.Back of tongue (therefore larynx) must
>> not lift.
>
Your comment:
> I am assuming that the umlaut marking on the /o/ and /u/ vowels in
> your example are, in fact, umlaut vowels as found in German and
> Scandinavian languages.
Spot on.
>
> The umlaut vowels are really combinations of front and back vowels. The
> umlaut /u/ is achieved with the tongue in an /i/ (ee) position with rounded
> lips from the /u/ (oo) vowel position. The umlaut /o/ vowel is achieved
> with the tongue in an /e/ (ay) position and with rounded lips from the /o/
> (oh) vowel position.
Yip.
>
> Because the /i/ and the /e/ vowels require that the middle of the tongue be
> brought forward and raised to touch or nearly touch the sides of the back
> molars, it is not possible to do the umlaut /u/ or /o/ without lifting some
> portion of the back of the tongue.
I find I can sing these vowels with quite a low larynx or with a higher
one. The difference is that the quality of the sound is a bit darker and
rounder with the more open throat/lower larynx. I don't actually press the
larynx down, I just breathe in gently creating more space at the back.Yes,
the middle of the tongue is raised, I just work with what is left at the
back. I suppose I have a schizophrenic tongue.Or a very long one! (I can
touch my nose with the tip :-) )
>
> This does not negate the value of the exercise you suggest, nor does it
> suggest that one should not work toward keeping the larynx from raising on
> that exercise but the requirement that any part of the back of the tongue
> must not lift is not possible if the suggested umlaut vowel to be
> maintained.
Somehow I manage to get the back of the tongue to go lower on the higher
hü.As one sings higher, the hü does open up a bit, otherwise the sound gets
very pinched and comes out of ones ears!The middle of the tongue seems to
move independantly of what is happening at the back.
>
> I have found it most common for teachers to require contradictory uses of
> body formations, especially muscles, which confuse and create tension in
> their students. This would appear to be an example of this problem in the
> use of the tongue.
It does have to be done carefully so that one does not create tension.The
middle and tip of my tongue are quite free to move, even when the larynx
lies lowish.
>
> Umlaut vowels are excellent devices to bring a richness to the vocal sound
> and are especially valuable in helping the voice negotiate the passaggio.
I call these excercises "register connectors" because of that.
> The closed vowels (/i/, /e/, /u/, /o/) have the same benefits in the
> passaggio. Use of any of these vowel tends to move the passaggio downward.
Never thought of that. Let me try to be more aware when I do them next.
The tip of the tongue sometimes has a tendency to move away from the lower
teeth on /u/ and /o/ so I watch my students (and myself) like a hawk when we
sing exercises on these vowel sounds./ah/ sometimes does the same.
>
>
> If a song requires a jump into one of the passaggio change points the singer
> has difficulty maintaining a mix between the two registers that meet at
> that change point. If the required vowel is moved toward one of the vowels
> mentioned above, the passaggio change point is moved below the pitch
> required in the song and the singer will find that he/she is able to sing
> the pitch in the next higher register quite easily.
I suppose that is what is called vowel-modification , especially as one
sings higher.I have noticed that these are areas where one can sing terribly
out of tune.
>
> English also has pseudo umlaut vowels in such words as "earth" and "world".
> Although these words are pronounced slightly differently in many parts of
> the English speaking world they still contain some qualities of the /oe/
> vowel as found in the French "coeur". The /oe/ is of equal value in
> negotiating the passaggio even though it is a more open form of the umlaut
> /u/.
>
Do you know any English words that embody umlaut/u/? French has them
a-plenty, but what if the pupil hasn't learnt French yet? Afrikaans has
/uu/, but English speakers make an /i/ out of it, so that's no help.Xhosa
students seem to have less of a problem.
Thanks again
Regards
Susi (not Peter)
>
|
|  |
