Vocal Acoustics: Three Exercises to Try in the Singing Studio
Confused by vocal acoustics? Don’t be. Try these easy exercises recommended by vocal acoustics pioneer Professor Ken Bozeman.
Many singing teachers consign vocal acoustics to the too-hard basket because – to put it mildly – it’s a tricky concept to grasp.
“It usually takes people several passes before they begin to catch on,” admits Professor Ken Bozeman, a leading expert and author on the subject.
But persevere and learn at least the basics, and singing teachers will find they have an expanded range of tools to draw on in the singing studio.
“The more you know what’s under the hood, the more confident you will be about the possible creative sensorial applications that you’re suggesting,” Professor Bozeman says.
So, to get you started on vocal acoustics, here’s a simple explainer and three useful exercises.
What exactly is vocal acoustics?
As Professor Bozeman explains: “It’s about shaping things for vowels and overall timbre and knowing what good choices sound like and feel like from the inside.”
Does a singer need to know about vocal acoustics?
A singer doesn’t need to understand all the science behind vocal acoustics, but Professor Bozeman says it helps to have what he calls “procedural knowledge”.
“What a singer needs to know is what it feels like to do it well. In my teaching of singers, I don’t often refer to the dry facts of acoustics. I refer to what it feels like when a singer is making a good shape for a particular vowel on a particular pitch for a particular genre.”
Why should a singing teacher learn about vocal acoustics? And how much do they need to know?
It’s useful for a singing teacher to understand what happens when we vocalise. Once you have that knowledge, you can decide when and how to share it with a student (if at all).
“You only need to go as deep as you care to go in terms of the science,” Professor Bozeman says.
“But the more you understand about it, the more of a solid basis you have for creative solutions.
“In my own work, I have found the acoustic path helps to solve, indirectly, many problems to do with muscle tension or registration.”
Three Vocal Acoustic Exercises to Try in the Studio
1 The Toddler Tantrum
Professor Bozeman often gets his students to play around with caricatures to help develop an awareness of healthy sensations.
“I like to use caricatures that people can relate to,” he says. “You can do a caricature pleasurably to access a headier registration if a singer is too chesty.”
For this exercise, ask the student to imagine they’re a toddler and say: “I want my mummy, I want my mummy, I want my mummy” up and down their range with ease and no flippage.
2 The Whiny Child
“If I want a buzzier option, I’ll get the student to imagine they’re a toddler complaining – a child not getting their way,” he says.
For this exercise, make a buzzy ‘ah’ noise, going high and then low. “The aim is to go from buzzy low to sizzly middle to smooth high.”
To hear Professor Bozeman demonstrate these two exercises, tune into this episode of Singing Teachers Talk at the 33.30-minute mark.
3 The Chiaroscuro Whisper
Also known as the bright-dark whisper, this adapted whisper helps singers explore the relationship between over-vowels and under-vowels and develop the ability to tune their resonator kinaesthetically.
“It’s not the typical whisper, which is a bit mouthy and spread and high-frequency dominant,” Professor Bozeman says. Instead, the Chiaroscuro Whisper involves a relatively settled larynx and a lower-pitched, clear noise.
Professor Bozeman says the Chiaroscuro Whisper involves finding as low a pitched noise per vowel as possible – without pulling back the tongue in a yawny way. It should feel completely easy in the neck.
Here’s a full explanation of how to do the Chiaroscuro Whisper.
Learn more
Listen to the full interview with Professor Bozeman on the Singing Teachers Talk podcast.
Read our Vocal Acoustics 101 blog to find out more about the basics.
