Hello Peter and Vocalisters:
Some comments on part of your post:
On 27-Jan-01, you 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Umlaut vowels are excellent devices to bring a richness to the vocal sound
and are especially valuable in helping the voice negotiate the passaggio.
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.
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.
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/.
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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