Description:
Pure vowels are another tell-tale sign that a singer is classically trained.
In this lesson, we’ll learn the five basic vowel sounds and practice singing them with a few exercises. These five vowels are the ones you already know: A, E, I, O, and U. But their pure classical pronunciation may be a little different. Listen and repeat these vowel sounds with me, starting with A.
[A] as in father
[E] as in bed
[I] meet
[O] Home
[U] moon
Take note of the fact that these vowels are open, relatively tall, and they are one single sound. Our American “O”, for example, is what linguists and singers know as a diphthong, which is really two vowel sounds in succession. American O is Latin O plus U. Careful when you sing to keep the vowel open without closing to the diphthong. Starting with Ah.
Now we’ll increase the difficulty just a tad by singing all of our pure vowels in succession with an M sound before each new vowel.
Exercise: MAH MEH MIH MOH MOO 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-2-1
Try it again, this time with a small variation. Same pattern, but we’re going to slightly flute the lips forward. As we’ve talked about in other tutorials, the throat and mouth are your primary resonators. By extending the space in which sound can resonate or vibrate, we’re increasing the size of our instrument! Let’s sing that same exercise with this change.
[Exercise: HuYAH 1-3-5-8-5-3-1]
Another foundational component of classical technique is space and spin. I know that’s two things, but they really go together! If you’ve gone through my vibrato tutorial, you’ll remember that the third lesson is all about resonant space! Without adequate space, it’s very difficult to produce free, healthy vibrato.
We’ve already created some space by lifting the soft palate and learning tall Latin vowels. Let’s add space in just one more area, and it’s easy to do: create space in the mouth by dropping the jaw. In other words, open your mouth! It’s a simple concept, but usually takes some time for beginners to trust that opening their mouth will actually help! Again, we’re using the “pre-yawn” as our default position.
[Exercise: AH-OH-AH 1-3-5-3-1]
Excellent work!
Now we’ll practice releasing vibrato on every pitch. Allow yourself to get a little slidey! Here’s our exercise: [sing]. We’re using that “O” vowel as a bridge to the highest “A”. Lift the soft palate as you inhale, relax the jaw down and keep the tongue relaxed and soft by your bottom teeth. Alright, let’s sing some beautiful pure vowels!
In this lesson, we’ll learn the five basic vowel sounds and practice singing them with a few exercises. These five vowels are the ones you already know: A, E, I, O, and U. But their pure classical pronunciation may be a little different. Listen and repeat these vowel sounds with me, starting with A.
[A] as in father
[E] as in bed
[I] meet
[O] Home
[U] moon
Take note of the fact that these vowels are open, relatively tall, and they are one single sound. Our American “O”, for example, is what linguists and singers know as a diphthong, which is really two vowel sounds in succession. American O is Latin O plus U. Careful when you sing to keep the vowel open without closing to the diphthong. Starting with Ah.
Now we’ll increase the difficulty just a tad by singing all of our pure vowels in succession with an M sound before each new vowel.
Exercise: MAH MEH MIH MOH MOO 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-2-1
Try it again, this time with a small variation. Same pattern, but we’re going to slightly flute the lips forward. As we’ve talked about in other tutorials, the throat and mouth are your primary resonators. By extending the space in which sound can resonate or vibrate, we’re increasing the size of our instrument! Let’s sing that same exercise with this change.
[Exercise: HuYAH 1-3-5-8-5-3-1]
Another foundational component of classical technique is space and spin. I know that’s two things, but they really go together! If you’ve gone through my vibrato tutorial, you’ll remember that the third lesson is all about resonant space! Without adequate space, it’s very difficult to produce free, healthy vibrato.
We’ve already created some space by lifting the soft palate and learning tall Latin vowels. Let’s add space in just one more area, and it’s easy to do: create space in the mouth by dropping the jaw. In other words, open your mouth! It’s a simple concept, but usually takes some time for beginners to trust that opening their mouth will actually help! Again, we’re using the “pre-yawn” as our default position.
[Exercise: AH-OH-AH 1-3-5-3-1]
Excellent work!
Now we’ll practice releasing vibrato on every pitch. Allow yourself to get a little slidey! Here’s our exercise: [sing]. We’re using that “O” vowel as a bridge to the highest “A”. Lift the soft palate as you inhale, relax the jaw down and keep the tongue relaxed and soft by your bottom teeth. Alright, let’s sing some beautiful pure vowels!
Audio:
Lessons:
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.