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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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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Before any seminarian is accepted for ordination, he must not only strive for chastity but actually achieve it. He must already be living chaste celibacy peacefully and for a prolonged period of time—for if this be lacking, the seminarian and his formators cannot have the requisite confidence that he is called to the celibate life.”

— Archbishop Viganò (16 February 2019)

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