consonants and singing

CONSONANTS

CONSONANTS DEFINED

A sound that stops or interferes with the flow of breath.

Well sung consonants are precise, quick, energetic, and provide definition of the vocal line

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSONANTS

1. Voicing: Are they voiced or unvoiced?

2. Place of Articulation

3. Manner of articulation

{Think of consonants as having three names – first, middle, last}

VOICED OR NOT?

Either voiced or unvoiced – if it has pitch or not

[feel your throat to know the difference]

z vs. s

b vs. p

d vs. t

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

Labial or Bi-labial: LIPS

Labio-dental: top teeth touching bottom lip (v)

Dental: teeth – Italian D or Italian T

Alveolar: gum ridge

Palatal: Hard palate

Velar: soft palate

Glottis: Space between vocal folds

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Manner of articulation – what happens to the structures that are involved.

PLOSIVES

FRICATIVES

NASALS

LATERALSGLIDES

AFFRICATIVES

See text book on page 130

PLOSIVES

The airflow is prevented from passing through the mouth or nose and is suddenly released

Pairs of consonants that are only differentiated by their voicing:

[p] and [b]

[t] and [d]

[k] and [g]

PLOSIVES

[p] and [b]

WHERE?????

[t] and [d]

WHERE?????

[k] and [g]

WHERE?????

PLOSIVES

[p] and [b]

BI-LABIAL

[t] and [d]

ALVEOLAR

[k] and [g]

VELAR

LOOK AT PAGE 133 IN BOOK

[b]

Sound in context: back, about, web

Spellings: best

1. But who may abide the day of his coming

2. We are climbing Jacob’s ladder

3. Brett burned Brian’s buttered breakfast biscuits

[p]

Sound in context: push, depend, stop

Spellings: pest

1. The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace

2. Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus

3. Perky Patty picks pretty pink posies

[d]

Sound in context: deaf, widow, sad

Spellings: done

1. And the ears of the deaf unstopped

2. O Sacred Head, now wounded

3. Doleful David disavows dapper Dan’s disclaimer

[t]

Sound in context: took, seated, bright

Spellings: ton, kissed

1. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion

2. Comfort, comfort ye my people

3. Tiny tots attain terribly tattered mittens

[g]

Sound in context: give, begun, big

Spellings: ghost, got

1. Glory to God in the highest

2. God of grace and God of glory

3. Good girls get great gag gifts

[k]

Sound in context: cost, become, walk

Spellings: cot, chorus, sick, keep, unique

1. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her

2. Come, all Christians, be committeed

3. Ken’s calm cow comforted Kathie’s kicking, crying calves

Common problem: substitution of unvoiced [k] for voiced [g]. “Vigor” should now sound like “vicar”

FRICATIVES (WALL, 161)

A fricative consonant is one in which the air flow is partially interrupted as it passes through the vocal tract, thus producing a noisy sound. Because they can be sustained, they are called continuants. There are four pairs of cognates plus [h].

[v] vs. [f]

[ð] vs [ɵ]

[z] vs [s]

[ʒ] vs [ʃ]

[h]

REMEMBERING THE MIDDLE NAME

[v] vs. [f] voiced or unvoiced labio-dental fricative

[ð] vs [ɵ] voiced or unvoiced dental fricative

[z] vs [s] voiced or unvoiced alveolar ridge fricative

[ʒ] vs [ʃ] voiced or unvoiced palatal fricative

[h]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation

[h]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation: ɡlottis

Manner of articulation: fricative

Common problems: over aspiration; pushing too much air through the glottis, resulting in breathiness.

NASALS

Three nasal consonants:

[m]

[n]

[ŋ]

[m]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation

[m]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation: Bilabial

Manner of articulation: Nasal

Common Problems: Insufficient nasal resonance. The [m] sound should be well hummed up through the nose in speech and singing. Also – inadequate duration. (causes muffledness)

[n]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation

[n]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation: alveolar

Manner of articulation: nasal

Common problems: insufficient nasal resonance; inadequate duration

[ŋ]

It has a name: [ɛŋ]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation:

Manner of articulation

[ŋ]

Voiced or Unvoiced?

Place of articulation: back of tonɡue and soft palate (VELAR)

Manner of articulation: Nasal

Common problems: insufficient nasal resonance; inadequate duration; substitution of [n] for [ŋ]

Words with [ŋ]

(see Wall, p. 157)

Hanging [hæŋ ɪŋ]

Singing [sɪŋ ɪŋ]

Long [lɔŋ]

Finger [fɪŋ ɡər]

Single [sɪŋ ɡəl]

Bank [bæŋk]

Drunk [drʌŋk]