Singing Tips | What it Means to Vocalize
Today’s Singing Tip
This singing tip is intended to be thought provoking. In English, we tend to define “to vocalize” as synonymous with speaking,— meaning a series of consonants and vowels strung together. However, consider the latin root of the word “vocal”, which in Brazilian Portuguese is the word “vogal”, which means “vowel”. Hence, when we “vocalize”, we are actually making vowels without consonants. The verb in Portuguese is “vocalizar”, or “to vowel”.
This also happens on a physiological level. Our vocal folds can only make vowel sounds. Consonants are made in the mouth with the lips, teeth, tongue and so on. In our vocal training we are best off focusing only on the vowel sounds, as consonants break the vocal fold connection are can induce problematic, unwanted inhibitory reactions.
Singing tips can turbo charge your vocal training to help you learn to sing better much faster. Sometimes, a single tip can transform your training in ways you can’t yet imagine. Please view as many of our singing tips here and at the Youtube channel as you can. Some will apply to what you are doing today in your vocal exercises and some may apply in the future. It’s good to keep them in mind.
