Consonants play an important role in separating syllables to create language. In the English alphabet, there are a total of 21 consonants but only a few are really conducive for good singing. The consonants b, d, and g are the most complimentary to a rich singing tone. These three consonants allow the vowel to follow with a lot of resonance.
Practice saying these words slowly, with your hand on your sternum, feeling the rich resonant sound of each of the vowels.
Bay for Baby
Bee for Beatle
By for Bionic
Boo for Boot
Day for Daylight
Dee for Deep
Dy for Died
Doo for Doodle
Gay for Gate
Gee for Geese
Gi for Guide
Go for Goat
Goo for Goofy
There are other consonants that produce a popping sound such as f, p, or t, especially if it’s the initial consonant of the word. Words like people, patient, and please. I suggest you substitute the p for a (soft) b when singing these words (beople, batient, bropose). It’ll sound funny, especially when spoken, but when sung, it makes this consonant rich and beautiful. The great italian singers pronounce their words like this, and I think we can all agree that their singing and language is beautiful to listen to.
There are other consonants that resonate through the nose and close off back of throat (soft palate is lowered). These consonants are M & N with words such as moon, money, name, number. You will find you have a nasality to your sound when using these consonants which is popular in country music.
Consonants are vital to singing, but if they become over-dictionized, the voice will lose its beauty and become cold and intellectual. When singing, you must go from consonant to vowel without stopping the buzzy sound that is created with the vowel (your vocal cords vibrate and produce a buzzy sound as air goes through them). Consonants like s & t can cause a hissiness and f & h can cause a breathiness to the voice, causing the beautiful vowel sound to be wiped away.
Having studied Italian music for over 10 years, I understand it’s the best language in the world for singing because it has elongated vowels and a smaller number of consonant sounds than the English language.
English words tend to be more percussive, whereas the Italian language has less explosive consonants allowing for more resonance and beauty to be heard through each word.
Try this exercise with breathy consonants:
When you see words such as FAITHFULLY, PAIN, HURTING, or CARING, sing them as VAITHFULLY, BAIN, URTING, GARING. This will allow a more smooth transition to the vowel of the word, making your singing much easier and more beautiful to listen to.
You see, when too much breath passes the vocal cords, it can dry out the vocal cords causing them to have less lubrication, which in turn, can cause vocal injury. Practice these consonant modifications the next time you’re working on a song and see how it affects your singing voice.
Happy Singing!
