Let’s talk about ‘the flow’ for a moment.
Most people want a ‘smooth-ness’ in their vocal delivery. My job is to give you whatever you want in your voice, so, here’s a little lecture about opening your vowels and making them flow.
The musical term ‘legato’ is used to describe smooth phrasing – a continuous flow to the sound. Literally translated, it means ‘bound’ meaning that one note is bound to the next like links in a chain. (Try fusing the end of one word with the beginning of the next to achieve this).
When we talk fluently in our mother tongue, it usually sounds fast and effortless to the ears of a non-native speaker. So it is with singing. There is a need to have an underlying continuous flow of sound to carry the words. If not, the delivery sounds jerky, clipped and we can’t really relax when listening to that voice on a subconscious level.
Words are essential to conveying the message of the song. Consonants, though very important, can’t be sung. Try singing a song just using consonants?!
The vowels on the other hand, are what can be sung. You can think of the vowels as being the ‘emotion’ of the song and the consonants as the ‘information’. That is why when we exclaim in pain “Ow!†or delight ‘Aaaaagh!†we mostly use vowels to convey that emotion.
I liken to a ‘river’. The consonants, though vitally important, are like ‘leaves, twigs and seeds’ that weightlessly float on the surface of that river. Consonants should never get so heavy that they damn the flow of the river. (in particular, h’s and breathiness stop the sound from flowing freely).
When we have fluid open vowels, the song seems to carry us along (without needing to paddle furiously or battle the current).
Vowels-only practice (singing the lyrics without voicing the consonants) is a great way to have a look at our vowels ‘naked’ to hear clearly what we are doing.
Things to listen out for and correct in vowels-only practice are:
Warping the vowels – not shaping them properly with the mouth and lips. Go through the vowel spectrum and exaggerate your mouth shapes (i–e–a–o–u ; this goes from the furthest forward vowel ‘i’ – (use an Aussie accent to say ‘statistics’ noticing how it resonates from the forehead) to the darkest, back of mouth/throat vowel ‘u’ – say ‘statustucs’ with a full-blown Nu Zulend accent and notice how far in the back of the mouth is gets?).
Note how much pucker you use for the ‘oo’ sound and how wide your mouth goes horizontally for an ‘ee’. Try going through the vowels without moving your lips – notice how hard it is? Go through the vowel spectrum without using the tongue and notice how much the tongue gets involved in shaping vowels also.
Lifting cheek muscles so that they don’t weigh so heavily on the mouth also brightens the sound and eases vowel-shaping
Incorrect vowel placement – (i.e. strangling vowels in the back of the throat or mouth rather than the focusing the sound in and out of the forehead). Use the focusing device of projecting the sound from the ‘third eye’ point in the forehead so that the sound doesn’t shift in and out of the throat or get trapped there (use singing through a silent ‘ng’ to assist you).
Using too much breath (hextra h’s) or too much push (glottal attacks). These both stop the sound from flowing by using the throat to make sound rather than the resonating in the head, mouth and body. Using a silent ‘ng’ will help you get good onsets that are neither, too hard or too soft in their attack.
Put your hand in front of your mouth and register how much more breath is used when making consonant sounds than when you are just singing the vowels. Having consonants that are too explosive will make the microphone pop. Being overly breathy as well as popping consonants are a soundperson’s nightmare).
We as singers have to make sure that we are able to control our dynamics by using other devices rather than breathiness to make us quieter and push to make us loud (devices like twang and open-ness can be used as safe alternatives as discussed in a previous NZM column).
Ensuring that we keep the vowels open and flowing with vowels-only practice is assisted by using a silent ‘ng’ to connect the notes together and sucking air inwards.
I liken the ratio of vowels to consonants when I sing as 99% vowels to 1% consonants. This enables the consonants to be light and get the information across but not get in the way of the sound.
Vowels only practice is a great diagnostic tool and incubator for ‘fixing’ problems related to phrasing and fluidity. It also becomes a great relief to add consonants and relish newfound meaning and ease of delivery.