Recently I was teaching a choral singer about flexibility with Baroque melismas and runs. We talked about whether it was a good idea to use an aspirate h sound in front of each note. Mostly this is a big NO-NO but it can be useful if you want to create a laughing sound. However the way we English tend to say ‘h’ sounds is far to low to be incorporated into a vocal line, the Dutch I understand have a higher placement of that consonant. All this got me thinking about how singers have to think the consonants differently to normal speech. This has changed as culturally we now to tend to speak with less clarity in the consonants anyway, and the same is happening across Europe I understand with French in particular.

Anyway how can we pronounce our consonants differently is it just a feeling or is something happening in the articulatory muscles and the resonance?  Singing is such an ‘interaction’ activity it is too simplistic to nail it down to one thing. But I suggest experimenting with different ways of saying ‘h’ leading from the usual way you speak and leading to a higher feeling in the soft palate area with a lift in the whole facial musculature. Try singing Handelian runs with different ‘h’ positions and come to your own conclusions.

It is, I find, easier to use a higher placing of consonants and a higher feeling of resonance. It’s a good idea to use some kind of visual feedback with spectrographic imaging to help you ascertain how much extra resonance you can produce. And of course it is still linked up to quality of breath and sub-glottal air pressure. Singing is never just one thing, it’s always holistic and involves the whole body-mind-imagination and soul miracle!