Mezzoid@a... wrote:
> BTW, I have a serious problem with my students' [u] vowels. I thought they'd > all be too closed, but they aren't. They're this bizarre mix of [I] and [u] > that I can't even begin to describe with a single syllable and it REALLY > affects the resonance. And they don't hear it. When they DO find an [u], > they can hear the difference, but they don't feel it when they do this weird > mixed vowel thing and have no idea they're doing it wrong.
I know someone who does this - she hails from the midwest and is of German heritage, so I always figured it was the u w/unlaut creeping in to the English pronunciation. But she can do a pure "u" when she sets her mind to it.
I've also noticed that singers who come from the midwest ten do say initial "L"s ("look") the same way I say my ending "L"s ("fool") - with the back of the tongue, so it's real hard for them to use the forward tip-of-the-tongue in singing as a substitute for that bad-for-singing rear "L". Sort of like Tom Brokaw (famous American newscaster for those of you not in the USA).
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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