Why vocal exercises?

Google it, you can find tons of vocal exercises about speech and singing. They usually involve 5 prime vowels, with /g/, /m/, /n/, and /h/

nasals: m and n
glide: h
velar consonant: g

Why?

"Voice Production in singing and speaking" got an answer.

p.207

(1) The single sustained tone
(2) The tones of a scale sung so as to be smoothly linked together
(3) the same, sung somewhat more independently of each other
(4) the same, but each tone beginning and ending very suddenly
(5) the swell

All others are modifications of the above.

Pushing the voice

What is "pushing the voice"? We hear the term over and over and seldom do we hear an explanation. "Pushing the voice" is when a singer pushes too much breath pressure through the larynx. The result is vocal fatigue through "over-blowing the cords". As Caruso said, "we need very little air to sing" and he was right. (See articles on breath and breathe management.) Men are especially strong in their upper body and often they use too much of this strength which "over-compresses" the breath. The result is a "blowing out of the vocal cords". The soft palate usually drops and you have a situation which some call "barking".

After observing this particular Baritone for a period, I discovered that he sang dramatically by "pushing too much breath at the consonants". This meant that he was constantly "blowing out the cords" to be dramatic in the text. This was especially present in recitative. Kirsten Flagstad said that she sang from her back muscles to the ring in her voice. She felt as though she had no throat. Notice in this rehearsal photo with Edwin McArthur, Flagstad is leaning forward (Italian appaggio) with the back rib cage open.) When singing dramatically, the back muscles must "bounce outward" at the consonants as in a laugh reflex. This is especially true in recitative or accented notes. The back muscles "hold back the breath pressure" in order for the singer to express dramatically without "pushing" or "over-blowing the cords". I learned this concept after much analysis of different singers. I found that often the most dramatically talented singers "pushed" their voices more often. Part of this is a result of oneÕs "performing energy" or "personality". Their "dramatic reflex" is not connected to the back muscles. If one "feels the lumbars" as a singer is performing dramatically in a correct way, the muscles will "bounce" at the consonants or accented notes of the phrase. We must remember that in "pure legato singing" that the back muscles "resist the breath pressure" in a smooth and consistent way without this "bouncing action". The vocal cords can only take so much pressure before vocal fatigue comes into play. Vocal longevity is dependent upon healthy, intelligent singing. Correct "body connection" is a must in order for this craft to develop in the singer. A singer must learn the natural "body response" in "dramatic passages" as well as "pure legato passages". Drama does not have to sabotage technique. The two can work together to form a professional musical performance.

Indians tend to push their voice when they try to sound more British, thereby appearing to be all lame and unnatural.

Check

How to annoy others?

When you get agitated, angry, or excited, your pitch goes up, since the emotions constrict the vocal tract, thereby reducing the volume of the vocal tract.

One way to annoy others in such cases is by being aware of these emotions, and reduce the pitch on the main syllables. This surely pisses off people. Check this youtube

dialect coach Geoff Lindsey

head voice, resonance

Soft palate is altered in shape to produce high, arched resonance.

A sense of resonance in the front of the mouth, in the nose, or under the tongue indicates that the resonating column is partially closed and the feel of resonance is not sufficiently "high" and "over".

The sensation of good singing tone is a high post-nasal feeling, characterized by an arched, yawned sensation in the back of the mouth. The nostrils feel like they are slightly extended and open.

From

larynx, jaw, tongue: head and chest voice

Tongue position - Another factor that will determine vocal tone is the position of the tongue in the mouth. By bringing the tongue forward and touching its tip to the back of the bottom teeth the tone will become brighter and clearer, as this tongue position will create a shallower, reduced space for resonance in the back of the mouth. This forward tongue position allows the sound to freely move forward, and also allows more vibrant resonance in the sinus and resonating cavities in the front of the head. By pulling the tongue back, down into the throat, a deeper resonating chamber occurs, promoting a darker. more classical tone.

More at


Head voice, soft palate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR_8QMJ1sYk

Hyoid bone: pitch

"Saying a vowel on different pithces. Usually the higher the pitch, the higher the position of the hyoid bone, though individuals differ in this aspect"

http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/ladefoge/manual%2520files/chapter4.pdf

jaw opening, tongue raising, head raising

These play role in the variation of pitch.

The function of the sternohyoid muscle in speech: John Ohala and Hajimi Hirose

pitch variation

You can vary pitch by
(1) by varying the size of the cavity (inverse relationship)
(2) by changing the size of the opening into it (proportional)

For more,

cavity: volume and size

less volume of cavity, more of pitch
large opening of cavity chambers, more of pitch

p.434

Voice: breathing, phonation and resonance

"In the voice loudness is the product of three considerations: (1) the pressure exerted upon the outgoing breath, which determines the amplitude or swing of the vocal folds; (2) the efficiency with which the folds vibrate, for obviously any condition which interferes with their action or allows unvocalized breath to escape between them will operate to decrease loudness; and (3) the degree of reinforcement supplied to the tone by the resonance chambers. The first of these three factors is discussed in the chapter on breathing, the second is dealt with in the chapter on phonation,and the third is treated in the chapter on resonance"

p. 428 2/e Training the speaking voice

diaphragm, voice

"It is misleading, therefore, to speak of 'supporting the tone from the diaphragm', if by 'supporting the tone from the diaphragm,' if by 'supporting' is meant attaining a degree of strength and projection. The function of diaphragm in exhalation is confined merely to that of exerting a measure of control over the rate at which the breath is allowed to escape; in other words, of parceling it out as needed to maintain phonation"

Virgil Anderson, Training the speaking voice, 2/e, p.32