DECEMBER 2010

THE FUNCTION OF THE MOUTH ... IN SINGING

I was privileged last Saturday night to accompany my ol’ buddy Seth Riggs to a Christmas Concert at Grace Community Church in the San Fernando Valley and it turned out to be one of the best Christmas affairs I have ever attended. The Music Minister for the church is Dr. Clayton Erb and one couldn’t ask for better conductor nor a better steward of the evening.

The concert featured a chorus of over one hundred, an orchestra of forty, an elite choral group in period dress and several soloists of note, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Philip Webb and Jubilant Sykes. There were several other good singers as well, a veritable potpourri of vocal techniques, both vocal and visual.

The shape of the mouth is as vital to the quality of the tone as it is to its allowing access to overtones, that might be–and most often are–excluded.

Long and narrow ... the mouth should be, as its base configuration.

When I was teaching at USC, it was interesting to hear my Met colleague Carole Vaness and then Vladimir Chernov come in for Master Classes, a month apart and their both making the point–specifically, in this case, when singing in French–of always singing with the mouth “long and narrow!”

Simply put, it is very difficult for the non-French so open the “honk” wherein abide the sound which is uniquely French.

Long and narrow is my mouth’s “default” position ... in any and all languages, including Russian. For those of you who have followed my “Tips” these last three years–all of which are in the archives below–you will be familiar with how I always use the “pookie” my word, “a pinch a narrowing at the bottom of the nose.” It opens the “honk” (nasal pharynx) which allows the overtones to increase by twenty to thirty percent, arbitrarily. Throat open, long and narrow mouth, pure vowel and beautiful sound. Remember ... L & N is a “base” configuration!

The purpose is, with the soft palate always high, to establish the tone ringing up and forward, for the easiest and best singing. When you know where that spot is, and lock it in ... you can do pretty much what you want with your mouth ... the exception being that the top lip IS ALWAYS DOWN, COVERING THE TOP TEETH, on anything higher than the middle C for lower voices, an octave higher for the ladies.

But, in all cases ... you must use the narrow concept for “quality control” of your sound! One vowel flows seamlessly in to the next. Resist, o please resist the temptation to make your closed vowels with you mouth going wide, in the smile position, i.e. E, A, IH, EH. The tongue makes the vowel all by itself, with no help from the mouth, if its arch is high enough and far enough forward, relative to the vowel. Again, connect and spin the vowels ... that’s your job. Think on it!

Better still ... go to my website and watch the various performances I do in the various languages on my Audio/Video pages. I sing in Spanish “Granada,” Italian “Figaro,” and English on the Tonight Shows, with Johnny Carson. I sing in French on the clip of my aria in “Manon,” from the stage of the New York City Opera and again in Italian in Rigoletto, from Opera Quebec. Notice how Beverly Sills’ voice gets thin when she does the big smile high notes in our duet from “La Traviata.”

You have the unbelievable luxury of being able to see the greatest singers of all time, right up close, on your computer. When I was learning my craft, I listen to Bob Merrill and occasionally would see him on the Bell Telephone or Firestone Hours. But you can sit in front of you computer and watch them all, pop, opera, country, etc.  Hear the ones you like best and see what they do with their faces. If they sing well ... they don’t appear to be doing much at all ... but the inner alignment is usually “long and narrow.” Study them ... see who sings with the greatest lines, see those who are not quite as polished because of the over use of the mouth in pronunciation or how a small mouth widening diminishes and spreads the quality. There is soooo much to be learned by studying the faces of those singing and how often the sound is even slightly distorted, because the mouth went wide for a closed vowel. It do make a difference. Think on it!



NOVEMBER 10 - BOY SOPRANO TO YOUNG MAN’S VOICE

OCTOBER 10
- TOOLS OF THE TRADE (i.e. LEARNING REPERTOIRE)

SEPTEMBER 10 - TOOLS OF THE TRADE

AUGUST 10 - JOIN A CHORUS (Addendum)

JULY 10 - JOIN A CHORUS

JUNE 10 - HI THERE SINGERS!
 

MAY 10 - SINGING IS WORK

APRIL 10 - THE FIVE “C’s!”

MARCH 10 - LEARNING REPERTOIRE

FEBRUARY 10 - THE TIGHT JAW

JANUARY 10 - BALANCING THE VOICE

DECEMBER 09 - LOVE CAN REIGN - LINK

NOVEMBER 09 - ABSENCE OF EXCESSIVE TENSION

OCTOBER 09 - YOUR OTHER BEST FRIEND - YOUR MIRROR

SEPTEMBER 09 - EVERYONE CAN SING!

AUGUST 09 - LATENT HERNIAS AND OTHER SUPPORT PROBLEMS

JULY 09 - PRINCE IMRAN RAZA STATESMAN/ROCK STAR

JUNE 09 - ANOTHER NATURAL SINGER - DAVID BURKE

MAY 09 -DISCOVERY OF VOIC
E

APRIL 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT  Part 2

MARCH 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT

FEBRUARY 09 - SINGING IN ENGLISH

JANUARY 09 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 4)

DECEMBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 3)

NOVEMBER 08 -
GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 2)

OCTOBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 1)

SEPTEMBER 08 - HEAVY BREATHING ADVISED FOR JOCKS

AUGUST 08 -  THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 3)

JULY 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 2)

JUNE 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 1)

MAY 08 - ABSENCE OF TENSION

APRIL 08 -
THE FLAT TONGUE TECHNIQUE AND HOW DO YOU MAKE A VOWEL

MARCH 08  - THE VOICE COACHING THAT  MADE MY CAREER

FEBRUARY 08 - WHAT ARE YOU SINGING?

JANUARY 08 -
VIBRATO/WOBBLE

DECEMBER 07 - BREATHING REVISITED

NOVEMBER  07 - HOW TO KILL A COLD IN FIVE DAYS

OCTOBER 07 - A BIT MORE SUPPORT

SEPTEMBER 07 - MORE SUPPORT

AUGUST 07 - INTRO & BREATHING/SUPPORT