This week, I’m sharing a voice tip with you that will help you to open your vocal range and prepare you to get the most from your vocal warm up routine. After stretching the torso and strengthening the diaphragm, I ask students to perform these stretches for the tongue, soft palate, and jaw before vocalizing. These exercises will help prepare you for articulation and make space for the voice.
AAH Sounds
Yawn and sigh. Let the jaw hang loosely; don’t force it to open wide. Sigh on a pitch. Let the voice slide from a high pitch to a low pitch, from low to high. Try to do this easily, with no bumps in the sound. Make it a smooth, sliding sound. Challenge your comfort zone: without straining, try to pitch your sigh higher than you think you can. See what happens. Let the sigh down to a lower pitch than you think you might be able to do. Don’t force it. Be gentle. Make the sound on the exhaling breath, supported by the diaphragm. Feel the diaphragm rise in the rib cage as you sigh. The upper chest and the shoulders remain low and relaxed. Try sighing, beginning on a low pitch, then slide the pitch up, like a slide whistle, from the low to the high, as smoothly as you can.
Next, stretch the tongue by placing the tip of the tongue at the base of the lower front teeth. Then arch the back of the tongue forward. Yawn slightly, and while keeping the back of the tongue arching forward and lifting the upper lip slightly to reveal the top teeth, sigh the sound of AAH on a diaphragmatic exhale. Your shoulders and upper chest should remain relaxed. Use what I call in the video your playful or imaginative voice for this AAH sound. Try it on different pitches.
Vowel Sounds from AAH to EEE
After you perform this AAH sound exercise, you will want to practice a series of vowel sounds so that you can move smoothly from one vowel to another. Remember that the back of the tongue should feel as if it is moving forward and that you should be making sound on an exhalation. Here is the series of vowel sounds for you to try:
Start with “EEE” with slightly rounded lips.
Move to “I” as in the word “it.”
Next, “EH” as in “let.”
Then, “AY” as in “say.”
And finally, “AAH” as in “father.”
OHH and OOO are created in the AAH position with the lips simply coming forward.
This wonderful training helps you with the next move, to singing text: your articulation will happen smoothly from syllable to syllable. The tone will remain supported by breath. You will find it much easier to sing a phrase in a song.
