Transcript Consonants Need Love Too Lori Lyford, CIF

Consonants
 Are they the root of all EVIL and choppy singing?
OR
 The carriers of passion, clarity and meaning?
Our History
 Choppy singing MUST be cured!
 Target the dreaded consonants!!
 Minimize unvoiced or “stopped” consonants
 Sing from vowel to vowel
 Consonant substitution
Consonant Replacement
Examples
“f” became “v”
“k” became “g”
“s” became “z”
“If they could see me now”
became
“Iv they good zee me now”
Smooth Singing…at what cost?
Unit - each part uses different technique
Tenors - sing from vowel to vowel
Bari/Bass - smooth out everything
Leads - deliver the words…maybe
Clarity - Mushy consonants causes loss of
lyric clarity
Ring - Minimized consonants produce
vowels that cannot be fully expanded
The Answer?
Air Flow and Articulation!
Incorrectly done, these can also be a big part of the
problem
• Artificial and exaggerated air flow
•
Breathy tone, unclear lyrics
• Over-produced, choppy diction
•
Lip, jaw, tongue tension
Artificially Connected Sounds
or…The Nose Knows
 Can’t articulate with your nostrils
 Loss of half our power
 Can’t make true consonants with half the
vocalized air going through your nose
Getting Your Nose
OUT of Your Business
 Find the valve
 Root beer burp
 Use “K” sound Kah, Kay, Key, Koh, Kooh
 Consciously direct sound out your mouth
 Test the sound
Air Flow
The breath is the ocean, the voice is the boat which
floats on the ocean! Nature gave us the voice, we
cannot change it, but we can educate the breath
and learn to control it. This constitutes the whole
method of singing.
“Vocal Wisdom”-Giovanni Lamperti
Bubbling to Move Air
 Why
 Increases AIR Flow
 Opens and relaxes the throat
 Brings tone to the front of the mouth


Easier to articulate
Easier to ring
Bubbling
 How
 Use both lips
 Move bottom lip toward the top lip
 Firm the corners of your lips
 Vibrate the center of the lips
 Use the wet part of the lips
 Keep the air flowing
Singing and Speaking
 Speak-Sing technique - Jim Casey
 Speak clearly, as if an orator
 Emote, be genuine
 Speak the line 3 times in a row


With meaning and inflection
Not in the rhythm of the line
 On the 4th time, sing using the same mouth and
physical expression as when speaking emphatically
Clarity AND Connection
 Matched vowels
 Natural, speech-like delivery
 Appropriate consonants
 Forward, clear, ringing sound
 Move AIR and SOUND away from you
 Just TALK to me
All this requires is:
practice, practice, practice,
belief in yourself,
and courage!!
Clarity
always requires
Courage