Check out these Articulation exercises. This is an excerpt from my new book for vocalists yet to be released….

Enjoy

David

Articulation

Articulation relates to the way the sounds are shaped during the process of singing and speech. In western society we make use of certain vowels and consonants which are shaped in accordance with certain mechanisms in the pharynx. The hard and soft palates, tongue, Aveolar Ridge, Teeth, Lips, Jaw, Velum and so on play a big part in the shape and consequently the nature of the sound that you make.

Vowel sounds should be placed in the mouth against the soft palate to be the most effective.

A E I O and U sounds and their combinations called ‘dipthongs’ should be carried to the top of the mouth at the rear onto the soft palate. A common mistake is to throw the vowel sounds up into the nasal region resulting in a nasal sound to the voice or at the other end of the scale some people swallow the vowel back down the throat which creates a muffled and flawed tone.

With the soft palate raised a singer can place the vowel sounds onto the palate allowing the sound to resonate in this area. You can feel this in your cheek bones.

The tone and volume of the sound can be adjusted by raising and lowering the palate and by the shape of the palate felt across the cheek bones.

So, a sound placed right in the centre will have a more operatic feel whilst a sound placed towards the edge could be used to create a more soulful vibe like the one Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston might employ.

Consonants need to variously engage the tongue, Aveolar Ridge, Teeth, Lips, Jaw and Velum. Here is a drill to get these mechanisms moving….

Alveolar Drill

ntld tdnl ldnt dntl

ntfl tdln ldtn dnlt

nltd tldn lntd dtnl

nldt tlnd llndt dtln

ndtl tndl ltnd dltn

ndlt tnld tldn dlnt

Practice each of these grouping of consonants by placing a vowel or a dipthong between each letter.

Examples:

Na,Ta,La,Da repeat this 4 times

No,To,Lo,Da repeat this 4 times

Nai,Tai,Lai,Dai repeat this 4 times

Make sure that you utilise the table above to work out which part of the mouth to engage for each consonant

Why should you bother with this exercise? Well for the simple reason that with repeated drills using this exercise you will begin to find a far greater level of vocal dexterity, clearer diction and control over the individual letters and ‘dipthongs’ that can so easily become lost in translation. Its not that you need to sing like and Opera singer or that your voice should lack a unique contemporary character its just that you’ll be able to get the message across to the audience a whole lot better.