Vocalist.org archive


From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Sat Feb 3, 2001  7:36 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] PED--The upper break


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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