Should you glottal?

[patrice]

I have been teaching voice for 20 years and have dealt with glottal stops with singers. I was trained to avoid glottal pronunciation because they might produce vocal notes if done in excess. I went to a vocal camp last weekend and a vocal coach was teaching people how to glottal when they sing. She maintained it helped the voice to be more expressive. So, I ask anyone out there what their take is on glottals.

Thanks

[Steven Fraser]

I have been teaching voice for 20 years and have dealt with glottal stops with singers. I was trained to avoid glottal pronunciation because they might produce vocal notes if done in excess. I went to a vocal camp last weekend and a vocal coach was teaching people how to glottal when they sing. She maintained it helped the voice to be more expressive. So, I ask anyone out there what their take is on glottals.

Thanks

Patrice: It depends on the language and the style of music being sung. For elegant German in Lieder and operatic pieces, some words absolutely require a new balanced onset-- they should not be sung elided.

However, shutting the glottis and then 'popping' it open should be done very carefully, for all the reasons you already know. The aesthetic or common practice for some types of nonclassical music seems to provide for all sorts of expressive effects which would not be used in classical production... grind, rasp, fry onset, etc. IMO these should be used with discretion by singers of these genres. For the singer who wants the sudden intensity of a glottal pop as a regular part of their expressive palette, I'd suggest well-executed, balanced onsets would be a valid substitute. To listeners, such an onset, if done with precision and volume, would be indistinguishable from the glottal pop.