7. Joan Wall, International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers (1989), p. 15
Its approximate present form came from Daniel Jones of
University College. London. and is known as the Vowel
Diagram. It was developed by superimposing X-ray
images of the position of the tongue when articulating
various vowels. The Vowel Diagram indicates the
position of the high point of the tongue during the
articulation of each vowel.
8. Forward vowels: [i] beet
[ɪ] bit
[e] chaotic
[ɛ] bet
[æ] bat
[a] bright ah (mostly used in diphthongs)
Back vowels: [u] boot
[ʊ] book
[o] obey (pure [o] seldom used)
[ɔ] saw
[ɑ] father
Central vowels: [ʌ] up (stressed 'uh')
[ə] about (unstressed 'uh,' schwa)
[ɝ] herd (stressed, r-colored vowel)
[ɜ] herd (NOT r-colored)
[ɚ] butter (unstressed, r-colored vowel)
Diphthongs: [eɪ] bait
[difθɔŋ] [oʊ] boat
[aɪ] bite
[aʊ] ouch
[ɔɪ] boy
[ju] use
9. We begin with vowels because they are harder to
comprehend and execute than consonants!
Remember: a pure vowel = one sound
But in English we have diphthongs too!!
A pure vowel sound consists of only one distinct vowel
sound; a diphthong is a distinct vowel until made up of
two pure vowel sounds.
11. Description of Vowels
They are unrestricted They can be sustained
The teeth, tongue, and lips As long as you have breath,
do not prevent airflow you can sustain a vowel
sound
They are normally voiced They have shape or form
It has ‘pitch’ – and can be And they are the core of
whispered. the syllable
12. Four Factors that
Affect Shaping and
Coupling of
Resonators
1. Jaw position – opening of mouth and
throat
2. Lip position – spreading or rounding
3. Tongue position – arching forward or
backward
4. Raised Soft Palate
13. Raised soft palate
1. Resonates: enhances the vibration and
magnifies the sound
2. Resonator of Human voice is oral
cavity, pharynx, throat, and chest
3. (resonator of violin is the box)
14. Back pure vowels: tongue
is thickened in the back
while producing these
sounds
15. Front pure vowels: tongue
is thickened in the front
while producing these
sounds
21. Things to note from the reading:
Feel/hear the difference in similar words:
pin [pɪn] and pen [pɛn] or marry [mærɪ] and merry [mɛrɪ]
Look to pages 14 and 15 for a discussion on how the vowel triangle
was created. Cool right?
Okay, so I still pronounce alveolar not quite right. Look to page
16 to help me out! [ˌ ˌæl viəlɚ]
Also, get = [gɛt] not [gɪt]
Fun practice (from pg 17):
[i] [ɪ] [eɪ] [ɛ] [æ]
beet bit bait bet bat
meet mitt mate met mat
Dean din dane den Dan
22. [i] Potential Problems
Diphthongs created by adding a
schwa [ə]: feel, meal, yield
Spellings:
Feel = [fil] not [fiəl]
1. Quay
Meal = [mil] not [miəl]
2. She
Yield = [jild] not [jiəld]
3. Breathe
(this problem usually occurs when
4. Green an [i] is followed by an “l”)
5. Conceive
6. People Practice phrases:
7. Key He shall speak peace unto the heathen
8. believe Free to be me, God, I really am free.
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me
English Pure Front Vowels
23. [I]
Spellings: Potential Problems
1. indigo Substitution of [i]: been,
2. Busy beautiful, pretty, eternal
3. behold Vowel reduction: When this
sound is unstressed,
sometimes American singers
Practice phrases: turn it into a schwa [Ə]
Because I have been given much, I Before “ng” “m” or “n”, an
too must give “i” is almost always
pronounced [I], as in bring,
That her iniquity is pardoned simple, and thin.
Sure on this shining night Sometimes the [I] becomes
over nasalized.
English Pure Front Vowels
24. [e]
[e] rarely appears in English by Potential Problems
itself. It is almost always part
of the diphthong [eɪ] Creating triphthongs where
you only want diphthongs
Examples for [e]: chaotic, wait = [weɪt] not [wɛeɪt]
vacation, fatality
sail = [seɪl] not [seɪəl]
Examples for [eɪ]: male = [meɪl] not [meɪəl]
1. aim
2. Came
3. bay
4. made
Practice phrases:
5. ate Embraceable You
6. Ale I‟ll Build a Stairway to Paradise
7. sail Who Cares?
English Pure Front Vowels
25. [ɛ] Potential Problems
Substitution of [ɪ] for [ɛ]
Substitution of [ɝ] for [ɛ]
Examples:
(as in ‟Amuhrica‟)
1. red Insertion of [ə] between [ɛ] and [l]
2. death (as in [wɛəl] for ‟well‟)
3. twenty Substitution of [eɪ] for [ɛ]
(as in [heɪd] for head,
4. head
or [leɪg] for leg)
5. get
6. treasure
7. guess
Practice phrases:
Let‟s Kiss and Make Up
The Best of Everything
Heaven on Earth [hɛvən ɑn ɝθ]
English Pure Front Vowels
26. [æ] Potential Problems
The insertion of a schwa [ə]
after [æ] before a final
Examples: consonant. As in [hæət] for
1. add „hat‟
2. lamb Nasalizing [æ] when it
proceeds m, n, or ng. (This
3. sang is my main problem!)
4. Pan
5. plaid
6. black Practice phrases:
7. Sad Sam and Delilah
Little Jazz Bird
Fascinating Rhythm
English Pure Front Vowels
28. [u]
Spellings: Potential Problems
1. grew (see p. 56 in book)
2. you Nasal
3. too Insufficient lip rounding
4. to Insertion [kul] vs. [kuəl]
5. two
6. blue
Practice phrases:
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
I love you, truly.
In a sentimental mood.
English Pure Back Vowels
29. [ʊ]
Spellings: Potential Problems
1. sugar Substitution (diphthong)
2. took [ə, u]
3. could
Practice phrases:
The crooked straight.
My faith looks up to Thee.
Man is made for the woman and the woman for
the man.
English Pure Back Vowels
30. [o]
Spellings: Potential Problems
1. Violet Substitution (diphthong)
2. Opaque
Practice phrases:
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth
Come, every soul by sin oppressed.
Memory, hither come and tune your merry
notes.
In American English, the sound [o] is only used in
unstressed, rhythmically short syllables.
“Soul” and “notes” do not contain the [o] sound because they
only have one syllable, and therefore, are stressed.
English Pure Back Vowels
32. [Ɔ]
Spellings: Potential Problems
1. Auburn Insertion of diphthong
2. Moss Inadequate mouth opening
3. Fall
4. Awkward
Practice phrases:
That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in
righteousness
I saw the cross of Jesus
Autumn leaves are now falling
English Pure Back Vowels
33. [ɑ]
Potential Problems
Insufficient lowering of jaw
Spellings:
Spreading lips, as in a grin
1. aqua
Retracting the body of tongue
2. got
Substitution of briɡht [a] for back [ɑ]
Practice phrases:
Sing alleluia to the Lord
Stir thy church, O God, our Father
Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la . . . . .
English Pure Back Vowels
34. Vowel Reduction
Vowel reduction: This sound is typically a schwa [ə],
although there are other vowels that can be unstressed or
reduced. A reduced vowel is a vowel that can only occur in
unstressed syllables, like schwa, and an unstressed vowel is
a vowel that can be stressed but is not. Before “ng”, “I”
{I} is pronounced [I], as in bring, sing, and think
Typical spellings for vowel reduction of [I] is -ly, -y, -ies,
and –ing.
Any words with these suffixes have reduced vowels
35. [ʌ]
This sound occurs only in stressed syllables. This includes those
instances where “un” is a prefix emphasizing negation of the root word
Spellings: above, us, plum, fuzzy, undone, blood, trouble
Potential problems: substitution of [ɑ] ̤ fuzzy/fozie, was, love, one, son
PRACTICE PHRASES
Unto us a Son is given
What wondrous love is this
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
Above = [Ə.bʌv]
36. [Ə]
This sound occurs only in unstressed syllables. This includes those instances where “un”
is a prefix emphasizing negation of the root word
Spellings: magenta, angel, evil, a, of the, cotton, passion, upon
The sound only occurs in unstressed syllables or words
Because in singing every syllable must have a vowel sound, [Ə] is used in singing certain
syllables which are spoken without a vowels sound, as in little and people
The schwa is a variable, weakly-defined sound. Other sounds in unstressed
ɪ
syllables: [ ] happiness, prepare, remember, receive, rejoice
PRACTICE PHRASES
Unto us a Son is given
Hark! The herald angels sing
When I think upon the maidens
39. [3]
Spellings: bird, purple, ever, counselor, forward, earth, journey,
timbre, martyr
Potential problems: Some authorities avoid this sound,
preferring [ʌ] in stressed syllables and [Ə] in unstressed
syllables: Bud-bird; but-Bert
Bird = [b3d] vs. bud = [bʌd]
Bert = [b3t] vs. but [bʌt]
Practice phrases:
Wonderful Counselor, the everlasting Father
Let all the world in every corner sing
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
40. [3]
Spellings: bird, purple, earth, journey, service, word, purse
[bɜrd] [pɜrpl] [ɜrθ] [jɜrni] [sɜrvɪs] [wɜrd] [pɜrs]
This sound only appears in stressed syllables!
This sound is called the “r-less” ur. It is preferred by many
singing teachers, and they substitute the sound often instead
of [ɝ].
The main difference between an “r-colored” ur [ɝ] and an “r-less” ur
[ɜ] is that the [ɝ] is produced with the tip of the tongue raised and
suspended in the center of the mouth and the [ɜ] is produced with
the tip of the tongue down behind the bottom front teeth.
Southerners sometimes even drop the r‟s out of words:
Bird = [b3d] Herd = [hɜd] Learn = [lɜn] (look to board)
41. [ɚ]
Spellings: giver altar murder actor summer
[gɪvɚ] [ɔltɚ] [mɝdɚ] [æktɚ] [sʌmɚ]
This sound only appears in unstressed syllables!
Although the unstressed ur [ɚ] has the same sound as the
stressed ur [ɝ], it is more lax and shorter in duration, and
used only in unstressed syllables. Sometimes it is called a
hooked schwa.
Some voice teachers will have you transcribe like this
(kenning):
giver altar murder actor summer
[gɪvər] [ɔltər] [mɜrdər] [æktər] [sʌmər]