EFFICIENCy // ONSET // INERTANCE
getting the vocal folds to vibrate efficiently and healthily.
Scroll down for sing along exercises and explanations...
Onset
ONSET is how we begin a tone. Here are some examples of how we can lead into a sung note:
- The Aspirate Onset - Leading with air, as if you're starting with an “h” sound.
- The Coordinated or Balanced Onset - A clean and smooth start, as if your sound starts in the middle of a vowel.
- The Glottal or Hard Onset - A pressurized onset through closed vocal folds - like a cough, or grunt.
- The Scrape or Vocal Fry Onset - Creaky, relaxed fry leading into tone.
- The Growl Onset - Pressurized noise/growl leading into tone.
What is happening with our vocal folds on each onset?
Aspirate Onset:
On this onset, our vocal folds start out open and air passes through them before they start to vibrate. This creates an aspirated or "H" lead-in to our sung note.
Coordinated Onset:
With this onset, our vocal folds start to vibrate right as air hits them. No air slips through and all the air is turned to tone. Breath support keeps the sub-glottal pressure to a minimum, and we let out just enough air to get our vocal folds vibrating. This onset is used almost exclusively in classical technique.
Glottal Onset:
With this onset, our vocal folds are firmly closed as air hits them. Sub-glottal pressure builds beneath the closed folds until they are forced open and start vibrating. The pressurized beginning creates a crisp, hard onset. It can sound like a grunt. It is the same action we use to cough.
On this onset, our vocal folds start out open and air passes through them before they start to vibrate. This creates an aspirated or "H" lead-in to our sung note.
Coordinated Onset:
With this onset, our vocal folds start to vibrate right as air hits them. No air slips through and all the air is turned to tone. Breath support keeps the sub-glottal pressure to a minimum, and we let out just enough air to get our vocal folds vibrating. This onset is used almost exclusively in classical technique.
Glottal Onset:
With this onset, our vocal folds are firmly closed as air hits them. Sub-glottal pressure builds beneath the closed folds until they are forced open and start vibrating. The pressurized beginning creates a crisp, hard onset. It can sound like a grunt. It is the same action we use to cough.
FINDING THE DIFFERENT ONSETS
Oo (aspirate), Oo (glottal), Oo (balanced)
- Separate each vowel with a quick “fill-up” breath.
- Feel the difference in glottal closure and air pressure on each of the different onsets.
- Aspirate = Air passes through open vocal folds before tone begins.
- Glottal = Air pressure builds up under vocal folds and pushes through folds to start sound.
- Balanced - Air flow and vocal fold closure are coordinated so air is neither wasted nor over-pressurized.
- Separate each vowel with a quick “fill-up” breath.
- This is an onset exercise to sync up the connection of the breath with the vibration of the vocal cords. You will need to be more aware of starting the vibration of the vowel at the moment the breath starts moving. Use an imaginary [h] at the beginning of each vowel to start phonating with a healthy, precise, and balanced onset (not too glottal and not aspirate). Not letting your breath support collapse at the moment you release air is essential - stay expanded, feel your support system engage to balance the beginning of the pitch.
Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha - Sing up and down a triad on “Ha” 2x in one breath.
Staccato: 1353135313531
Staccato: 1353135313531
- Sing on one breath using a staccato (short) “Ha”.
- Make sure that every note of the triad is given equal emphasis.
- Pay attention to your breath support - keeping your diaphragm engaged and bouncy.
- ONSET: Try with a very aspirated, short “H”. This will force you to feel your breath support engaging and keep your throat open.
- Try to reduce the "H" and find a balanced onset, still using good breath support.
- RESONANCE: Pay attention to the mouth shape - get to a good "Ah" shape ASAP and maintain for the duration of the tone. Don't let the lips or tongue shuffle or mouth collapse as you sing.
- The air should feel like it lifts / moves higher in your mouth as you sing into your upper range. Your Ah shape will stretch vertically.
Ee ee ee, Eh eh eh, Ah ah ah (531, 531, 531)
- Separate each vowel with a quick “fill-up” breath.
- Keep this light from the moment of the balanced onset through the descending triplet.
Compression & Efficiency
Vowel Drone
Mm-Ah – Mm-Ay – Mm-Ee – Mm-Oh – Mm-Oo
- Sing on a single pitch.
- Start each vowel sound with a hum. Try to maintain the same consistency of pitch, airflow, as you open to the vowel.
- Make each vowel sound and shape intentionally. Pay attention to the shape of your mouth and tongue. Maintain a sense of your tongue relaxing forward. This will help with vowel clarity, consistency of tone quality and pitch, and a general ease of resonance and tone production.
- Focus on taking a good breath, and maintaining a steady stream of air.
- Keep the air moving seamlessly from the hmm through to each vowel and onward to the next (avoid any break in air flow, or any wayward vowel sound). Make sure that the pitch does not waver. As you are seamlessly connecting the hum and vowels, visualize that you are doing the same with the pitch.
- Same as above, but lead with an Ng hum.
- Try to maintain the same consistency of pitch, airflow, as you open to the vowel.
- Try to keep your jaw comfortably released and still for the whole set. Your tongue is the only thing that should move, and keep in mind an economy of movement: the tongue should move as relaxed, efficiently, and cleanly to each vowel position.
Perfect Fifth Slide on GOO
* Goo - oo - oo
- Use the hard “G” sound before the [u] (“oo”) vowel to help work on adducting (closing) your vocal cords efficiently. This should help make the onset of the tone clean, clear, and focused. This helps us depressurized our vocal folds by placing the pressure at the G above our folds and the small mouth shape of OO increasing inertance (acoustic back pressure). When we release the G into a sung pitch, we feel like our air is moving right out of the gate (we are less likely to have a hesitant / tense onset). It helps get the arytenoid cartilages and their surrounding muscles to work together to adduct the cords more completely and more efficiently. This means, you’ll have to work less hard (healthier) to make a clean, balanced sound. Aim for ease of production combined with a steady tone. Start at a comfortably moderate volume - how gentle can your approach be and still have a consistent tone? Your dynamic level might need to increase as you sing higher but see how much mouth shape, throat space, and steady airflow can help you before giving in to loudness and muscle. As you do this, make sure you are not tensing up or gripping your throat muscles, especially on ascents.
OO Vowel With and Without Pilot Consonant
Sing up a minor third and down a major third on a focused [u] vowel: 1 b3 7 1
The tiny [u] vowel helps the vocal cords adduct which aids in an efficient use of air (preventing either undue subglottal pressure "hyperphonation" or an airy tone "hypophonation"), and focusing pitch.
*Try without a "pilot" consonant - leading with just the vowel. Try on all vowels, starting with close vowels and moving to more open vowels. Try not to lose the focus of tone and clean onset as your vowels become more open.
The tiny [u] vowel helps the vocal cords adduct which aids in an efficient use of air (preventing either undue subglottal pressure "hyperphonation" or an airy tone "hypophonation"), and focusing pitch.
- Lead with a gentle [j] Y sound, like the word "You." This sound gets our tongue releasing forward and our airflow and tone focused. Try to hold onto this focus as you open to [u] OO.
- *Goo - same as above but lead with a gentle G.
- "G" [g] helps to create good vocal fold closure.
- Make sure the G feels gentle and you stay expanded in your lungs at the onset so you don't build up pressure under the vocal folds.
- If vibrato is present in your tone, try to vibrate evenly on each pitch (i.e. don't let the turn to straight tone).
- Try with other leading consonants ("pilot" consonants) like [B], [L], [Ng] ...
*Try without a "pilot" consonant - leading with just the vowel. Try on all vowels, starting with close vowels and moving to more open vowels. Try not to lose the focus of tone and clean onset as your vowels become more open.
- Keep in mind an efficient use of air and precise, focused pitch.
inertance & SOVT exercises
What is an SOVT exercise?
SOVT stands for Semi Occluded Vocal Tract. Simply put, that means the mouth is partially closed.
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What are the benefits of SOVT exercises?
When the vocal tract is semi occluded (partially closed), air pressure bounces off of the lips and hard palate and is reflected back to the vocal folds. This helps the folds vibrate with more ease and less effort. WIN!
In addition to making phonation easier and more efficient through back pressure, SOVT exercises help you access the upper harmonics on each note, revealing sounds and sensations that can help you focus your sound on more open mouth positions and vowels.
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Straw Phonation Exercises - using straws to help feel back pressure.
Straw phonation is when you put a straw in your mouth and make sound through the straw.
During straw phonation, there is less:
In short, straw phonation = less vocal fold fatigue.
Straw Phonation is compared to doing exercises in a pool. There is less impact and stress on the muscles while still allowing them to stretch.
Benefits of SOVT exercises with a straw:
1. More Acoustic Energy
Acoustic Energy (back pressure) in the vocal tract is a huge contributor to vocal fold vibration. Without it, the vocal folds would not be able to sustain vibration.
When the mouth is partially closed, or wrapped around a straw, more of the pressure from the vocal folds stays in the vocal tract, and returns to the vocal folds. This makes vocal fold vibration easier.
2. Balanced Vocal Fold Alignment / Good Closed Quotient
When the mouth is open during phonation, air comes up from the lungs, impacts the bottom of the folds, and is expelled through the mouth.While some pressure always returns, when the mouth is partially closed (semi-occluded), more pressure reflects at the lips and returns to the vocal folds.
This back pressure helps align the vocal folds in a more balanced, squared-up position. This balanced position is key for coordinating around transition points in the voice, and for creating flexibility and power.
Sliding slowly on the straw through transitions in vocal registers (passaggi) trains the vocal folds to vibrate in a more efficient/optimum way instead of shifting abruptly from one position to the next. This is true regardless of the singing style, even if the goal of the style includes regular/rapid register shifts like in yodeling.
During straw phonation, there is less:
- Impact (forceful upward air pressure)
- Collision (vocal folds coming together too forcefully)
- Stress (muscle tension) on the vocal folds.
In short, straw phonation = less vocal fold fatigue.
Straw Phonation is compared to doing exercises in a pool. There is less impact and stress on the muscles while still allowing them to stretch.
Benefits of SOVT exercises with a straw:
1. More Acoustic Energy
Acoustic Energy (back pressure) in the vocal tract is a huge contributor to vocal fold vibration. Without it, the vocal folds would not be able to sustain vibration.
When the mouth is partially closed, or wrapped around a straw, more of the pressure from the vocal folds stays in the vocal tract, and returns to the vocal folds. This makes vocal fold vibration easier.
2. Balanced Vocal Fold Alignment / Good Closed Quotient
When the mouth is open during phonation, air comes up from the lungs, impacts the bottom of the folds, and is expelled through the mouth.While some pressure always returns, when the mouth is partially closed (semi-occluded), more pressure reflects at the lips and returns to the vocal folds.
This back pressure helps align the vocal folds in a more balanced, squared-up position. This balanced position is key for coordinating around transition points in the voice, and for creating flexibility and power.
Sliding slowly on the straw through transitions in vocal registers (passaggi) trains the vocal folds to vibrate in a more efficient/optimum way instead of shifting abruptly from one position to the next. This is true regardless of the singing style, even if the goal of the style includes regular/rapid register shifts like in yodeling.
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3. Inertance and Twang
The scientific word for acoustic back pressure is "inertance." Inertance is like balance. Inertance is the ultimate result of the balance between breath pressure from below the vocal folds and acoustic back pressure from above the vocal folds. When these pressures are in balance, the vocal folds can operate most efficiently. Inertance increases when energy boosts from the vocal tract work together, increasing the overall acoustic energy that returns to the vocal folds. Think of it like "acoustic support" as a replacement for the idea of "breath support." Technically speaking, inertance is part of the complex concept known as acoustic impedance. The "Inertance Family Tree" shows the series of different variables under consideration, and reinforces why remembering the following makes life much simpler: SOVT exercises lengthen the vocal tract and narrow the opening creating increased acoustic back pressure that helps the vocal folds vibrate more easily. 4. Lowering All Formant Values
Vocal tract energy boosts, known as formants, occur throughout the vocal tract, and are one of the reasons that the voice is unique among instruments. When an energy boost created by the vocal tract aligns with a harmonic from the vocal folds, that harmonic becomes prominent in the sound - it gets louder, and feels more stable. These energy boosts can change which harmonics they bolster. When the size of the vocal tract changes and size of the opening (the mouth opening) changes, the pitch of the energy boost changes. In Summary: During straw phonation, the vocal tract is longer, and the size of opening is smaller. Straw phonation creates lower energy boost (formant) values than the /u/ vowel. Creating this low formant value in straw phonation can help singers understand the sensations of a new acoustic strategy. |
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