Consonants
Consonants can be hard or soft sounding. Soft consonant sounds examples are: F, L, M W. Hard consonant sounds examples are G, H, T and Y.
Combining consonant sounds with our vowels sounds can help improve your singing, by moving the position of your mouth, tongue, larynx and soft palate. For example the ‘L‘ consonant, mixed with the Ah sound – giving us La La La La La … is using the tongue muscle as well as your vocal cord muscles. It’s a good consonant / vowel combination to start learning with because the tongue takes some of the weight off the vocal cords (folds).
When you first start training your voice, your vocal cords (folds) will tire easily. Listen to your body (and your voice) and if your voice starts feeling husky or croaky or dry, then rest up and come back to it again tomorrow. You will find the more practice on a daily basis, your voice become stronger and won’t creak and croak as quickly. Take your time. It takes years to train your voice, so please don’t expect results overnight.
Also, Of Note
We have put some consonant/vowel combinations suggestions for you to try on the video. We have mainly used La la la… as it’s effective combination for the beginner. However, as you get more proficient at the scales, or perhaps you have been suggested something to work on by your singing teacher, you can use different consonant/vowel combination instead of what we suggest on the video.
Remember you must practice on a regular basis to get the best from the exercises.