Voice Quality

In the next chapter, we'll be working on a sound that is produced deep in the throat

the American R.

In Chapter 3, we studied two tense vowels, and ,

and the completely neutral schwa,

The sound has a tendency to sound a little nasal all on its own,N

and when other vowels are nasalized as well,

it puts your whole voice in the wrong place.

This is an opportune moment, then, to go into the quality of your voice.

In my observation, when people speak a foreign language,

they tense up their throat, so their whole communication style sounds forced,

pinched, strained,

artificial, or nasal.

The foreign speaker's voice is also generally higher pitched

than would be considered desirable.

To practice the difference between high pitch and lower pitch,

work on uh-oh.

In addition to pitch, this exercise will let you discover the difference between a tinny, nasal tone

and a deep, rich, mellifluous, basso profundo tone.

The tilda is used to indicate a nasal sound.