Nasal Close

Posted byDeborah Wai KapohePosted inDemonstrations of Technique for Singing, Lilli Lehmann's Teachings, Pronunciation for Singing, Vocal PedagogyTags:, ,

Lilli Lehmann writes “[t]he nasal close of itself brings a new color into the singing…the word is much more clearly intelligible…”.

Below is a demonstration of a Cancone solfeggio phrase. The first ‘sol la’ is sung without a nasal close and the second is with a nasal close.

Nasal Close on second ‘sol la’ Deborah Wai Kapohe

Can you hear the second ‘sol la’ is more colourful and also more intelligible?

Below is a further demonstration of the nasal close on the word ‘cammino’. The first is sung without a nasal close and the second with.

Cammino sung without nasal close and then with nasal close – Deborah Wai Kapohe

Did you hear that when I performed the nasal close I coloured the ‘i’ by adding a shade of ‘u’?

Now let us listen to me applying the nasal close to the word ‘cammino’ from a phrase in Liu’s aria.

Applying nasal close in Liu’s aria – Deborah Wai Kapohe

Can you hear the nasal close in the word ‘cammino’? And can you hear the colouring of the ‘i’ vowel? This adds pathos to the word.

Lilli Lehmann lamented she was the last to practice the nasal close, saying the nasal close is “a thing that no one teaches any longer, or knows or is able to do”. Sadly, this is almost the case. However, a beautiful example of the nasal close is by Montserrat Caballe when she sings Liu’s aria. Here is the Spotify Link. If you subscribe to Spotify you can hear her sing the entire aria. Nasal close after nasal close. Beautiful! But, even if you only play this little snippet below, listen carefully. Can you hear one?

Published by Deborah Wai Kapohe

I am a professional classical singer with strong crossover ability. I have been in the music business since my graduation from University in 1994. In addition to singing, I have been trained to a high level in classical guitar and brass. My guitar playing enables me to self accompany; I perform professionally as a self-accompanied singer. My brass playing facilitates my playing of Taonga Puoro (traditional Māori instruments). I have begun to focus on my YouTube channel now that my studio is full. I have called this channel 'The Complete Singer' because I am not only a singer, but also a teacher and singer-songwriter; I write songs professionally as well as for relaxation. I believe that old fashioned singing techniques, developed over hundreds of years in Italy, should form the foundation of good singing. I practice exercises daily from books written by Garcia, Marchesi and Melba. In addition to these exercises, I add modern singing exercises. Therefore, this forms the basis of my teaching.

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