The Secret Of Singing: Undervowel
The vocal tract can be visualized as two “containers of air”. These containers are largely responsible for the first and second formants.
Let’s examine the two vowels “Ee” [i] in see and “Uh” [ʌ] in fun. You can see they are opposites in the space they create in both containers.
The "EE" Vowel
The “Ee” vowel widens the throat while leaving very little space in the mouth. This position has the lowest first formant which encourages more head voice tones.
The "UH" Vowel
The “Uh” vowel creates open space in the mouth while narrowing the throat giving it a high first formant perfect for belt timbres. It also encourages a low larynx and a round tone which helps prevent a belt from becoming too harsh or spread.
Applying Undervowels
Of course, we have to sing every vowel no matter what register we are using. This is where the concept of the undervowel is utilized. An undervowel allows us to keep the space we want in container one, while allowing container 2 to form the vowel we want the listener to hear. For instance, for a difficult belted note, keep the throat in the “uh” position while the mouth makes the original vowel. Or even simpler, try modifying the vowel toward “uh” or just thinking “uh” while singing. For soprano repertoire, keep the jaw dropped, but move the tongue into the “E” position and think “E” in the throat.