Description:
So far, we’ve used specific vowel combinations that make a smooth transition easier. This time, we’ll stay on one vowel for the duration of the exercise.
You’ll achieve a smoother transition by letting the vowel adjust as needed, and by maintaining a medium volume the whole time. If you stay quiet the whole time, you run the risk of just being in head voice, which doesn’t do much to help us train a smooth transition between registers. If you get louder as you sing higher, you’ll probably stay in chest voice until you can’t any more, and end up with a noticeable crack. Try to take volume out of the equation a bit and keep it as even as you can.
Exercise: Narrow (OO/EE) 181
Begin with a narrow vowel like OO or EE, sliding one octave up and down. Try OO first. Now try EE and see which is easiest for you! Avoid letting your lips spread out too much as you sing this especially with EE.
Exercise: Medium (OU/Aye) 181
Same pattern, now on a slightly more open vowel. If you chose OO at first, now try OU as in BOOK. If you chose EE, now try Aye as in Hey.
Exercise: Open (AH/UH) 181
Finally, we’ll end on a fairly open vowel like AH, or UH. This takes way more support to maintain the open vowel sound so make sure you really have your belly and back active. If it's not moving out as the pitch rises and relaxing as it falls then go back to some breathing exercises like breath pulses. Please feel free to try each of them out or rotate through as you sing.
Good work!
Audio:
Lessons:
- 1: Welcome!
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2:
Warmup
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3:
Wide-range Exercises
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4:
Sirens & Slides
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5:
Open Vowels
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6:
Conclusion
Instructor: Abram Poliakoff
Abram Poliakoff is a singer, guitarist, pianist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He received a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts from USC’s Thornton School of Music and has been teaching music for 8 years. He is currently both the Associate Artistic Director and a tenor in the L.A. Choral Lab, which recently released its first studio album Sonic Visions in the fall of 2019. Abram teaches and performs a wide range of genres including Classical, Jazz, Folk and Popular music in the Los Angeles area. He has also sung with the San Francisco Opera and Pocket Opera in the Bay Area. His teaching mission is to help his students utilize vocal technique to find their authentic and healthy voice while maximizing genre flexibility and a naturalness of expression.