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!