Soft palate
Use your soft palate to produce three different resonances: through the nose only, the mouth only, or both the nose and mouth.
▶ First, watch the movement in the video
Check the technique, then move on to the explanation and audio examples.
Why practice this?
We will now begin practicing a part called the soft palate.
To see this exercise demonstrated in a video, watch below!
If you prefer to take your time reading, continue with the article below!
Benefits of practicing the soft palate
Starting with this lesson, we will practice a part called the soft palate.
This is my first time hearing the term “soft palate”, so please explain it carefully!
The soft palate is the part shown in the diagram below.
The soft palate acts like a switching valve that controls whether air and voice pass through the nose or the mouth.
Would sounds that pass through the nose include Japanese syllables beginning with “n”, for example?
Exactly!
Here are more examples: sounds that pass through the nose include Japanese syllables beginning with “n” or “m”; sounds that do not include syllables beginning with “d” or “b”.
Controlling the soft palate lets you vary your tone color even when singing the same pitches or saying the same words.
In this lesson, we will deliberately control the soft palate to create different tone colors using the same “eh” vowel.
Exercises and key points
How to practice the soft palate
We use three types of voice for soft palate practice: ① nose only, ② mouth only, and ③ both nose and mouth.
① Keep your mouth open in an “eh” shape and hum “mmm” through your nose only. The soft palate and the base of the tongue meet, so the voice flows only through the nasal passage (called “nose only”).
Is there a way to check that the sound is coming through the nose only?
Cover your mouth with your hand. If the “mmm” tone stays unchanged, the sound is passing through the nose only. Be careful not to close your mouth while making the sound!
② Keep your mouth open in an “eh” shape and sustain “eh” through your mouth only. The soft palate meets the throat wall (pharyngeal wall), so the voice flows only through the mouth passage (called “mouth only”).
Check that no sound leaks through your nose. If the sound stops when you cover your mouth with your hand, you are doing it correctly.
③ Keep your mouth open in an “eh” shape and let sound pass through both your nose and mouth. The soft palate touches neither the throat wall nor the tongue, so the voice flows through both passages (called “nose and mouth”).
Using both the nose and mouth sounds difficult…
Is there a way to check whether sound is flowing through both the nose and mouth?
Yes! Cover your mouth with your hand. If the sound continues but becomes slightly muffled, you are doing it correctly. Keep the degree of mouth opening unchanged.
Once you can produce each sound reasonably well, practice switching between them.
Listen to the examples and try
Keep the volume low and play the examples one at a time to hear the differences between the voices.