for choirs. The IPA is not difficult to learn or teach, and due to the fact that consonants are rarely a disputed issue in terms of exact pronunciation, the vowels and their sound description will return over and over to the same sounds and symbols. This begins with the simplest of pronunciation, the purity of the sounds heard in the following vowels:
Pedagogues have devised various ways of understanding these sounds and their relationship from vowel sound to vowel sound. One such method is hearing all of the sounds within a ‘rainbow of vowels,’ as vowels move slightly from sound to neighboring sound within the oral cavity (mouth) shape and resultant acoustic sound. The term rainbow of vowels developed from the sensation of the vowel sounds being produced beginning in the front of the mouth using the tongue (as in the [i] vowel found in the word ‘heat’), moving along the vowel chart to the middle of the mouth where the hard palate is brought into focus (as in the [a] vowel found in the word ‘hot’), to the very back of the pharynx where the vowel is formed, also utilizing the lips (as in the [u] vowel found in the word ‘hoot’). This curve follows the shape of the hard palate, from the very forward [i] sound to the distant [u], forming a rainbow shape within the mouth.
MACRO APPROACH
Another way of understanding these sounds and their relationship from vowel sound to vowel sound comes by studying each vowel and each pronunciation variation:
Some choral conductors have approached unifying all vowels by shaping the basic approach to the entire vowel line from the same oral (mouth) shape. While the macro approach to vowel shapes brings a basic universal approach and unification to the vowel, it does affect the tone of the overall choir and can have an adverse effect on the listener’s ability to understand what is being sung. It is a sweeping method of approaching vowel unification, but it sacrifices some clarity in the process. Other choral conductors have modified the above single-shape approach by shaping all pronunciations in four to five basic shapes that change or modify as the pitch of the vocal line rises and falls:
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