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MENC: The National Association for Music Education

"Vocal Diction": In a NutshellAuthor(s): T. Campbell YoungSource: Music Supervisors' Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Oct., 1932), pp. 28-29Published by: MENC: The National Association for Music EducationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3384144 .Accessed: 11/04/2011 13:10

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" V o c a l Diction"-In a NutshellT. CAMPBELLYOUNG

(London)OME time ago, an English lady, after havinglistened to a musical comedy in which severalAmerican artists were appearing, remarked uponthe fact that she received a mild shock when the leading

lady, after singing a song in "perfect English", began tospeak with a broad American accent. A citizen of NewYork or Chicago might be expected to make a similarobservation when listening to an English actress.It is true that the spoken word varies considerably, asthe many dialects which are found among the English-speaking nations will prove. It is equally true to say thatlanguage, in song, has been standardized to such anextent that it has become universal and homogeneous.It follows naturally that when words and music are allied,the former must be pronounced in such a way as toconform with the accepted principles of good singing.Here one may venture to digress for a moment, toobserve that there are many singers who, without havingattained proficiency in mastering the vocal dificulties oftheir own language, have yet achieved the doubtfulaccomplishment of singing, indifferently, in a foreigntongue. Perhaps the reader can recall the efforts of someof the great foreign artists who, often from a desire toplease an English or American audience, have conde-scended to "seeng in Eengleesh."There can be no doubt that the best language forAmerican children is their own, be it for talking orsinging.

VowelsIt is hardly possible to differentiate between thevarious kinds of vowels without coining a word todescribe them. Such grammatical terms as "diphthong"and "digraph" would only tend to confuse, for we areconcerned at the moment with the sound of the vowel.If the reader will pronounce the letter "i" in a veryslow and prolonged manner, it will become apparentthat he is saying ah-ee; in other words, the vowel soundseems to "twist." This will be termed a "compound"vowel. A vowel which does not twist will be described

as "simple" (e.g., aw, as in saw).SIMPLE VOWELS: The pure or simple vowels, such as

aw, ah (as in tar), ooh (as in too) should be sung inmuch the same way as they are spoken.Great care should be takei,, however, to insure thatthey are pure, and that each can be clearly distinguishedfrom the others. Ah, aw, and ur, for example, must be

deliberately separated, so that the ear can readily dis-tinguish between them.

COMPOUND VOWELS: When considering those vowelsounds which need special adaptation for singing, thefollowing simple rule is well worth noting:

(1) All a's (pay) should be sung as eh's (pet).(2) All i's (bite) should be sung as ah's (tar).But the eh and ah above, are to be sung as compoundvowels thus: eh - "eh-ee"; ah - "ah-ee." So that the

complete rule is:(1) All a's sound "eh-ee."(2) All i's sound "ah-ee."To this must be added a further general rule, namely,that compound vowels should never be sung as they are

spoken; they must be twisted at the very end of theword, or more rarely at the very beginning.An example or two will make this clear. When onepronounces the word here, one actually says he-ur, andthe twist occurs in the middle of the word. When sung,however, it should become he-e-e-ur. The final ur shouldnot be sounded till the duration of the word is practicallycompleted, and the ee sound should be a pure "straight"vowel until the termination is reached.

Consider the word "quite." As spoken very slowly, itsounds coo-ah-eet. When sung the twist occurs at eitherextreme, thus: cooah- eet, and for practically itsentire duration, the vowel ah is sounding. Pictorially, thewrong way to sing the word is:

cjOe ah eetand the right way:cooX ah etConsonants-and Continuity

Since vowels "carry" the sound, and consonants areessentially "noises," the continuity or fluency of a songwill depend upon the way in which both are employed.

Consonants should be short and decisive while vowelsshould be as long as possible. The mouth should beopened quickly so that the "ribbon" of sound is almostunbroken, as in diagram A, and not as in diagram B.

vowel vowel vowel

consonants consonantsAvowel vowel vowel

consonants consonantsBIn diagram B the shaded portion represents the dura-tion of time during which the mouth is fully open. It

NOTE: This is the second of a series of articles supplied by Mr. Young.In a note accompanying the manuscript the author states, "Perhaps youwill point out to the JOURNAL readers that my article, though complete, isnot exhaustive. I had intended to deal more fully with the subject ofsinging, but this was so well treated by Frederick H. Haywood in theMarch (1932) JOURNALunder the title, The Music Subject Superb, that Ineed not expand the vocal aspect. My article is written specifically for theAmerican director and teacher in an effort to provide 'in a nutshell' some-thing reliable on which to work. The maxims have been slightly adjustedto allow for the natural faults which one meets and for the normal powerof response of the average pupil."Page 28 Music SupervisorsJournal

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will be seen that the "full" vowel is scarcely heard at all.This is one of the worst faults with untrained singers.Consonants at the beginning of a word (especiallythose like br, th, cl, s, f) should actually precede themusical accent, thus:

I br: i ng th eeBy this method, the accent is "struck" by the full,

open vowel. This is one of the true secrets of vocaldiction. Where the singer begins "right on the accent"with a closed or partially closed mouth it will be readilyappreciated that the vital moment has passed before thesound becomes audible, and the effect will be that ofcontinuous syncopation, slovenly in itself, trying to thelistener, and dragging all the time. It should be addedthat apart from these defects, the sound itself will bewoefully deficient in carrying power.

Final ConsonantsThose consonants which involve the complete stoppageof the breath-such as d, t, p, b, etc., need a short vowelsound after them, to render them audible. Thus theword "went" is pronounced "wenta."One must warn the reader against "over-diction," suchas the following: "Hea wenta ina backa-wardsa." Thisis one of the commonest and most distressing faults oftrained singers. They should remember that the ear likesto do a little work on its own account, and that it candifferentiate much more acutely than most people wouldimagine.

When our friends talk rapidly and excitedly, at topspeed, the ear picks out the words quite easily from anunbroken chain of successive words and syllables which,if so printed, would baffle the eye completely.This brings us to the question of CONSONANTSWHICHCAN TAKE CAREOF THEMSELVES. The final n, m and nngdo not need a subsequent e or a sound, but should befinished nasally. They will be found to carry quite well.

Continuity-and "Liaison"Where words follow one and other, in a phrase, the

question of what must be done to separate them-aurally-may best be answered by considering the junction ofany two adjacent words.There are only four possibilities, and if these are clearlyunderstood it may be said that the solution of these fourproblems will constitute the key to the whole question ofcontinuity or liaison.Where two words adjoin: (1) The first word mayterminate in a vowel or a consonant. (2) The secondword may begin with a vowel or a consonant. Thefollowing possibilities, therefore, will occur:

(a) A vowel followed by a consonant: e.g., Go down.(b) A consonant followed by a vowel: e.g., went out.(c) A vowel followed by a vowel: e.g., go in.(d) A consonant followed by a consonant: e.g., wentdown.

At (a) foregoing, where a vowel precedes a consonant,the words should be sung exactly as they are spoken.The "d" marks the second word quite clearly, i.e., thereshould be no break.At (b), where the consonant precedes the vowel, thereis no need to separate the words. If they are sung asspoken, the ear of the listener may be, and ought to berelied upon to separate them.At (c) the same may be said to apply, with the provisothat the vowel change should be clean and precise. A

very slight accent on the second vowel will be effectiveperhaps, but it would be better to omit this altogether,rather than risk its being overdone. On no account mustthis effect be confused with that which is termed coup deglotte (shock of the glottis).

At (d) where consonant meets consonant, there mustbe a definite opening of the mouth between them. It isobvious that where consonants adjoin, unless particularcare be taken, only the second will be sounded. The care-less speaker would say, for example, ajoin, or wendown.To make these words perfectly clear to the listener,therefore, they must be pronounced as "adajoin" and"wenta down."

The break must be enunciated quickly and definitely.This is the hardest thing to get children to do, for theyhave "lazy eyes," "lazy lips," and "lazy ears."It is a good plan, when considering a song, to go

through it, looking for adjacent consonants and say themaloud. If the teacher takes care of these, the rest willtake care of themselves.A WarningA word of warning might be added about the letter s.Once the children begin to stress their consonants, theywill surely turn all S's into "hisses." This letter shouldbe "underdone" and should approach more nearly to theletter "z." The young singers should be encouraged to

say the "s" after they have stopped singing, i.e., with nopressure of emerging air.

It will be found also, that when children are payingspecial attention to their diction, there will be a tendencyto shorten their vowels. This must be corrected ratherthan discouraged, for the fault is due to their fervor-children are always "literal."

A further difficulty will arise, namely, that diction andvowel discrimination will prove very difficult on ex-tremely high--andl low-notes.

This, of course, can be cured, but one dloubtsthe advis-ability of submitting such a specific medicine to the careof the "general practitioner," without due consultation.To conclude, it should never be forgotten that:(1) THE TRAINED HUMAN VOICE IS BY FAR THE MOST

WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL OFL ALL MUSICAL INSTRU-MENTS, and

(2) ONE'S NATIVE LANGUAGE TRANSCENDS ALLOTHERS IN BEAUTY, POWER, AND EMOTIONAL APPEAL.

October, Nineteen Thirty-two Page 29