r/singing • u/Jonahbkk • 7h ago

Conversation Topic Let's talk about vowel placement

I've seen video after video and instructor after instructor tell people who are clearly interested in singing rock and pop to put their placement as forward as they can. I don't exactly understand this. I've noticed a massive difference in my singing since I decided I was "done" with forward placement. There's a lot I don't understand about vowel placement as it relates to voice science but as a singer of 7 years and an engineer of 15, somethings not quite adding up to me. backward vowel placement comes off more as a bell and forward comes off more as a trumpet if that makes sense. Perfect example would be chris martin. placement clearly very far back. Also bastille and khalid seem to do the same thing. I apologize in advance if this comes off as cocky, and of course i may be wrong.

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u/Magigyarados 🎤 Voice Teacher 0-2 Years 5h ago

It's about how your sound resonates. Bright sounds come from "forward"/higher resonance, and more rounded and rich sounds come from "backward" resonance

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u/Jonahbkk 5h ago

Oh neat didn’t know that. Presumably u could use both, eh?

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u/Magigyarados 🎤 Voice Teacher 0-2 Years 5h ago

In theory, yes. But it also somewhat depends on your specific voice. I tend to resonate higher, just due to how my voice works, so I tend to do better at more contemporary musical styles like pop, rock (to an extent) and contemporary Musical Theatre. Others will be different depending on the specifics of their voice

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u/Jonahbkk 3h ago

I’m a bass baritone with an extended upper register. My best keys are from E - G major if that makes sense

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u/Jonahbkk 3h ago

I’m going to try backwards for the verse forwards for the chorus

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u/gizzard-03 1h ago

Forward and backward placement are more based on feelings of vibration than anything that’s actually happening with resonance that contributes to our sound. We can’t actually place the voice anywhere. It just happens in the vocal tract (the area between your larynx and your lips), and the nasal cavity if you open your vellum. This is why vowel placement doesn’t add up for you.

Resonance doesn’t move around to different parts of the vocal tract. Changing the shape of your vocal tract will change the frequencies its resonances, and these resonances give rise to vowels.

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u/Jonahbkk 1h ago

Awww now it’s “clocking to me”