If you have seen Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Luciano Pavarotti, or any great soprano sing, surely you’ve thought to yourself “why are they doing their mouth like that?”. The classical mouth shape is epic and key to delivering for a classically trained singer.
Often times people who are just experiencing classical music laugh at the singer’s mouth shape.
This article will explain the somewhat funny mouth position and hopefully you learn a thing or two about the voice.
The lips and the mouth are part of the vocal articulators. To learn more about this click here.
Opera singers are trained to fill a large theater hall with their voice, this without microphone or any artificial amplification. (There were no microphones in the 15, 16th century when this art form gained structure. Hence the singers adopted a singing technique that will help them sing louder without hurting their voices. Note: this is not shouting.)
When you look at a Konga drum, the body is hallow and the circle gets tighter at the end. Why is this? Just for fashion? I think not. The circle at the end of the Kong a drum is tighter because this shape causes the sound produced from beating the skin on the drum to resonate more before it escapes from the open end.
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It is the same technology with the classical singer’s mouth. The jaw must be slightly suspended (open) and the lips slightly covered (tightened). This, like the Konga drum, creates more space for the released air (voice) to resonate and travel farther in the hall/theater.
When you sing like this using the classical mouth shape, the voice is fuller and focused. Plus, this adds timbre and good weight to your voice. Drop your comments below.
I am Music Estate’s Music Director
