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I can't believe that Christmas time is here again. It is time for all the Christmas Music and a great time to start using those vowel modifications that we have been talking about in last months article. We want to continue with more of the vowels this month,too. I hope you have been practicing the ones that we covered last month.

We want to pick up with the "Long I" (ah-ee) sound. We change it by singing "AH" and omitting the "ee" from the sound. We want to sing it almost as a single sound rather than a word. An example would be the word "I", we sing it "I-AH." Simply drop the jaw and make the "AH" sound, do not close the mouth or change the position once you open for the "AH". By changing the mouth position you will go flat on the note. Another example is the word "my," sing it "m-ah." Do not sing m-ah-ee. This closes the mouth and lets the soft palate fall and the tongue go up to meet it and that makes the tone go flat. A third example is the word "lie." Sing the word "l-ah." Remember to drop the jaw straight down and keep the lips in verticle position and do not let the lips go horizontal.

The next vowel is the "Short I" sound. We want to change it to"EH" sound. Change words like "if" it is to be sung "eh-f." The short I sound makes the mouth go horizontal and makes it impossible to drop the jaw. Another example for this is the word "this," we want to sing it "th-eh-s." Try changing the word "hill" to 'h-eh-ll" and the word "spirit" to "sp-eh-r-eh-t." I know these words look and sound strange to say them but it is almost like learning a new language. But you will be surprised how fast you will catch on to the new pronunciation. You will find you are singing with a lot more ease and less work than before and that will help to continue working.

The next one takes a little concentration to modify. "Long O" is many times followed by the letter "w" and it makes us purse the lips together at the end of the word. For us to keep the mouth open and drop the jaw we have to sing it "OH" and leave off the "w" sound. Examples of this is the words "know" sing it "kn-oh," and "show" is sung "sh-oh," and how about the word "owed," it has to be sung "oh-ed."

When modifying words we have to remember that we use the vowel we modified for holding a note, not the consonant. We want to more on the modified vowel and color the sound with the consonants. As we sing we are really singing sounds that come out sounding like words. That may sound like a strange statement but think about it for a while. I know you are thinking, "how can anybody understand us when we sing like this?" But let me assure you that to your audience they will the hear words but on pitch with the music.

Remember to keep the spirit of Christmas all year long and not just in December. Let's think about what we are really celebrating, the birth of our Lord Jesus. Keep singing His Praises! And have a Blessed and safe Holiday.

Marti Ledford[/url]

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