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CONCEPTS OF DICTION |
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VOWELS SHOULD NOT BE ALTERED
1. Pure vowels can be sung throughout the vocal range without modification. [Henderson 243, p. 110; Thomas 607]
2. Within the entire range of the voice, it should be possible to sing any vowel, and therefore any word, with equal facility. [Evetts and Worthington 167, p. 42]
3. "There is no physical reason for any change of pronunciation owing to pitch." [Scott 501, p. 52; 500, p. 41]
4. It is important to be able to attack any pitch in your range in medium voice and on any vowel. [Waters 647, p. 48]
CONSONANT TECHNIQUES
Physical controls. It will be recalled that consonants are the less sonorous sounds of the language; that, unlike the vowels, they are produced by "audible friction, squeezing or stopping of the breath in some part of the mouth or throat." (W) Since the valve-like narrowing or stopping of the oral passage is fundamental to the production of most consonant sounds, some form of muscular action is necessary. Thus, various parts of the oral cavity are brought into play to produce the consonants. (ELg.» tongue, lips, palate.)
To the singer, the consonant positions are, as a rule, easier to recognize than the vowel positions since the former are usually plainly visible to the eye. Furthermore, for obvious vocal reasons, the singer's consonants must be made clearly and distinctly "without doing violence to the tone." That is, the movements of the tongue and other parts must be subordinated to the free release of the vowel sound. The chief function of the tongue (consonants), says Lloyd, "is to separate the syllables [vowels] into different lengths, and to do nothing else!" [351, p. 16] In singing, the differentiation of the consonant sounds of the language is accomplished almost entirely by the various tongue and lip positions, while the vowel sound acts as **a sort of carrier" of vocal tone. However, consonant and vowel positions do influence each other and must therefore be coordinated to provide optimum conditions of vocal release. [Harper 228, p. 64 fL]
Pronunciation of consonants should engage only the front half of the mouth, "leaving the throat unconscious," according to Jones. [307, p. 12] Owsley would have pronunciation function automatically, except that the singer must always "be conscious of the soft palate and roof of the mouth." [441, p. 97] Three other physical controls are suggested. Wharton finds that "an inward smile, not a grin," arches the palate and pro- |
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