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Views from the Choir Loft

Video Demonstration • “Do Choral Vowels Matter?”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 8, 2015

N MY COLLEGE YEARS, I often sang in multiple choirs during the same semester. One professor placed so much emphasis on proper “choral vowels” that choir members would get angry. I remember times when the entire rehearsal was dedicated to the vowel shape for just three chords. After one such session, malcontents approached this professor and berated him: “You spend too much time on choral sound; some of us don’t even know our correct pitches yet.” His response was: “You may be right, but I cannot stand the sound of amateur choir vowels.”   And he was right.

Amateurs sing “eee” with a big smiling faces, but the proper way is to round the lips. See and hear the difference:


Amateurs sing “ah,” but the proper way is to sing “aw” with soft palate lifted. This concept often frustrates choir members, but the middle of this video shows “Tah” vs. “Taw”:


In Saint Augustin’s Exposition on Psalm 42, he talks about those who doubt God’s existence. “Show me your god,” they demand. Saint Augustine replies: “I cannot show Him to you because you do not have eyes to see Him.” God exists, but the eyes of faith are required to see Him.

By way of analogy, choral vowels do exist, but you must possess ears to hear them. Many paths can lead you to these ears. Here’s one easy way to begin: whenever you sing “Do Re Mi” try to sing “Faw” (for Fa) and “Law” (for La). That will help you raise your soft palate, and with time your ears will hear the beautiful resonance of a lifted soft palate.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Choral Vowel Technique Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Only against this background, of the effective denial of the authority of Trent, can one understand the bitterness of the struggle against allowing the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal after the liturgical reform. The possibility of so celebrating constitutes the strongest, and thus (for them) the most intolerable contradiction of the opinion of those who believe that the faith in the Eucharist, as formulated by Trent, has lost its validity.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger, 2001

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