Dear Jeffifer and Vocalisters:
One of the difficulties that I find many students have with the /i/ vowel is that they, in effect, tend to close the throat behind the tongue.
Because the tongue is brought forward into the upper part of the mouth such that its sides touch the back molars, there is less of the tongue muscle in the pharyngeal space. The x-ray views of this vowel show a small space between the tongue and the roof of the mouth in the area between the back molars and the upper front teeth, and a much larger space behind the tongue in the pharynx. The contrasting sizes of these two resonating spaces create two overtone emphasis which are the formants for the /i/ vowel; one high and one low.
However, many students allow the pharynx to collapse a bit behind the tongue when singing the /i/ vowel. This reduces the resonating space behind the tongue which in turn raises the pitch of the first formant and the vowel tends to sound overly bright and thin. If the student is encouraged to keep a feeling of space behind the tongue during the /i/ vowel the more desireable frequency of the first formant will be maintained and the /i/ vowel will have its true potential of being a vowel rich in both bright and dark colors.
In this sense, the sung /i/ vowel is different from the spoken /i/ vowel because the spoken /i/ vowel has little or no concern with the final color of the tone.
-- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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