Emily F. McKinney 9

Emily F. McKinney 9:

Rewrite in your own words the 5 identifying characteristics of consonants. 1-they are sounds of speech that are restricted in some way, 2-the noise of the consonant is dependent upon how much restriction is used, 3-they are less sonorous than vowels, 4-they bookend syllables, 5-they can stop the sound and are therefore responsible for breaking up sound into recognizable, meaningful units

How are consonants divided into two primary groups. voiced consonants and unvoiced consonants

Describe the 3 movement categories for consonants. continuants, stops, glides

Describe the 2 other systems used for classifying consonants. manner of articulation, place of articulation

Rewrite in your own words the 5 identifying characteristics of vowels. 1-sounds of speech that are not restricted, 2-can be sustained or held, 3-voiced/phonated sounds, but can be whispered, 4-the carrying element of a tone, 5-sounds with shape that are formed by articulators

Which articulator is of primary importance in the making of vowel sounds?  Why? the tongue, because it usually moves to form each vowel

Describe how vowels are grouped. front, back, central; tense, lax; stressed, unstressed; cardinal, Latin

What are the four levels of stress? primary, secondary, tertiary, weak

What are the 5 Singer’s Vowels? [i] [e]  [a] [o] [u]

What is a phoneme? a family of sounds in a given language that cannot be interchanged without changing the meaning of a word

What is an allophone? family members of a phoneme--a sound that can be interchanged without changing meaning of a word

Which articulators are under the direct control of the singer. lips, jaw, tongue

Which articulators must be trained indirectly? soft palate, glottis, epiglottis, larynx

What are the 2 basic principles which contribute to the effective use of the articulators? 1-movements of articulators should be quick, precise, and ending so the voice is free, 2-articulation in singing must be exaggerated to be understood

What does McKinney suggest imagining as a first step? that articulation takes place in front of the mouth

What are suggestions that are made for use/position of lips? free from tension and ready to move, slightly off the teeth, as if about to smile, bouncy

What suggestions are made for your lower (yikes) jaw? free from tension and ready to move, beginning of yawn position, down and back movement, jaw dropping with own weight,

What suggestions are made for your tongue? free from tension and ready to move, quick, precise, positive movements, have a "point of reference" for tongue, must not be pulled back, pushed forward, lie fairly low in mouth with gentle arch on top

Why is tongue considered most important articulator? it is involved in formation of all vowels and most consonants

Define/describe consonants in general. subordinate to vowels, act as bookends to sounds, some voiced, some unvoiced, restriction to sound that cause some sort of noise or stop

Why does McKinney suggest firm consonants? consonants are subordinate in carrying power to vowels, firm consonants help the singer have solid tone production

Define vowels. voiced, unrestricted sounds capable of being sustained

What is the function of vowels? to carry the tone

What is the function of consonants? to break up the tone into distinct, recognizable units

What is the problem that inexperienced singers have with vowels? inability to establish and maintain proper vowel postures

How are the concepts of vowel purity and phonemic identity different? vowels will be sung differently depending on many factors, so "vowel purity" is inaccurate for singing, but "phonemic identity" implies that the vowel should be understandable when singing even if modifications occur

What are the problems that occur when singers insist on singing “pure” vowels in the upper voice? strain, loss of quality, tight phonation, elevated larynx

What are the different approaches to vowel migration or vowel modification? 1-vowel modification should be embraced, particularly in upper range, so open mouth more, 2-"think" vowel modification, 3-modify all vowels toward "ah" or "uh" in upper range

What is the critical factor in all systems of vowel migration/modification? phonemic identity should always be maintained

In studying professional female singers, upon what is jaw opening dependent? phonation frequency, not vowel