What Does Your Nose Know About Singing?

Some singers are told never to sing through their nose. Others are told it’s essential—to “get resonance,” or to “place the sound.” Both can’t be right… or can they? Today on the Voice Science Podcast, we’ll sort out when nasal sound is useful, when it’s not, and how your nose really shapes the voice you produce.

Hi! I’m Drew, today’s episode was written by Timothy Wilds.

 

The phrase “singing through, or in, your nose” is a common-enough phrase related to speaking and singing. It suggests that a person can direct the sound of their voice into their nose. Is that true? If so, why would you? Haven’t we all been told that it’s wrong and to be avoided?

 

To begin with, the phrase is illogical from an anatomical perspective. You cannot relocate your vocal folds to your nose. I know I’m taking the literalness of the phrase to a ridiculous level, but it needs to be said. Adjacent to that idea is the notion that you can direct the sound waves being produced at the true vocal fold level directly to your nose, somehow completely bypassing the entire pharynx. Again, an absurd thought.

 

The nose definitely plays a role but perhaps not the way you may think. To get started, let’s define some terms that we’ll use repeatedly. This is essential because too often they are used interchangeably and this has resulted in a lot of confusion.

 

Term #1 is nasal. When I use the word “nasal,” I am referring to the three nasal consonants in American English: [m], [n], and [ng]. They are produced when no air is being released through the oral cavity, rather all the air is moving through the nasal passageway. These three consonants are created by coupling the nasal passageway with the pharynx, but minus the oral cavity. This forms antiresonances that cause a dip in acoustic energy.

 

Notice that each of these consonants has a different place of articulation. The [m] is bilabial, meaning created with the lips together. [n] is produced with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the bony bump between the front upper teeth and beginning of the hard palate. Finally, [ng] is created when the dorsum of the tongue and the velum (soft palate) are in contact.

Although the place of articulation varies between these consonants, they all foster a low velum position. You can test this by singing an [m] and then pinching your nostrils together. Did you feel the air pressure increase in your nose? That’s because the velum was low. If not, your cheeks would have puffed out.

 

Term #2 is nasal cavity. Lying just above the oral cavity, separated by the hard palate, is the nasal cavity, a hollow space inside your head. Connected to, but not located within the cavity, are four pairs of paranasal sinuses.

 

Term #3 is nasal passageway. It runs from the nostrils, or nasal vestibule, to the nasopharynx, an area of the pharynx directly behind the nose. The passage consists of two air-filled compartments, right and left, divided by the nasal septum, which serve as channels for airflow.

 

Term #4 is velopharyngeal port. The port is located at the point where the nasopharynx and oropharynx meet. As the name suggests, this region of the pharynx is important for controlling movement of air, and any sound waves that are traveling as well, into the nasal passageway. The opening and closing of the port is the work of the velum.

 

Term #5 is velum. Also called the soft palate, the velum is a hinged flap that can be raised or lowered at a variety of levels, controlling the amount of air moving through the velopharyngeal port. 

 

Term #6 is nasalance. Nasalance is a scientific term that refers to a measurement of acoustic energy in the nasal passage as compared to the oral cavity as set by the level of opening or closure of the velopharyngeal port. Medical professionals use a nasometer to measure it. The amount of opening or closure is determined by the position of the velum. The lower the velum, the higher the level of nasalance. Conversely, a raised velum will create an oral sound, absent little, if any, nasalance. 

 

If you are not familiar with creating nasalance yourself, the French nasal vowels are a classic illustration. You can discover this by practicing with two French words: beau and bon. Beau has an oral [o] like in the English word “bow,” as in a knot with loops. Bon requires a nasal “o” sound, because the vowel is followed by an “n.” To create this sound, you need to know how to find a mid-velum position. Start by sustaining an [ng] on a moderate pitch. Keep singing and begin to separate the tongue and velum. When you hear the moment they part, hold that position. If you don’t, you will move past the mid-velum position and any nasalance will be lost. You will hear yourself singing a nasalant [a]. Sing it again and change the vowel–not your velum position–to an [o]. You will now have the nasal [o] vowel in the word bon. Now alternate saying beau and bon and observe how the velum is adjusting. 

 

Consider this as well. The nasal cavity is a series of interconnected air-filled cavities. When the velopharyngeal port is open at any level, sound waves traveling through the air are allowed in. So what is happening to them? The moist, mucous-lined membranes absorb sound, damping select frequencies, particularly low frequencies. What’s significant about that? Those lower frequencies are essential for formants 1 and 2 which are vital for producing vowel sounds. Without them, vowels will be muddy and dull. You can test this by singing the five basic English vowels, [i e a o u], while pretending you have a cold in your nose. I’m sure you will hear the bland result.

 

Term #7 is nasality. Nasality is an overarching term used to describe the perception of some level of nasalance in the sound of the speaker or singer. A listener’s response to it is highly subjective and conditioned upon their own use of it or level of exposure to it.

 

Nasality is a common feature in some regional American accents. Prime examples are: upper midwest; southern, particularly Texas and along the Appalachian range; New England, and NYC. It is unfortunate that we continue to interpret accents through cultural and societal biases, things like, level of intelligence, education, status, wealth. Nasality in a person’s speech is a contributing factor.

 

The way people speak naturally infects how they sing. Genres of music that use the vernacular–the everyday language of the average person–often transfer over some element of nasality. Imagine hearing traditional folk, bluegrass, Southern or primitive gospel, and country–as well as HipHop and Rap–absent any nasality. It might come across as illegitimate.

 

Whereas these genres use nasality to convey a causal or raw vibe, other genres include it for other reasons. You will sometimes hear it in R&B, jazz, pop, and rock to convey intimacy, vulnerability, seductiveness, and yearning. It’s also utilized in musical theatre, specifically for comedic and character roles in Golden Age shows (ex. Ado Annie in Oklahoma), and particularly in contemporary musical theatre which takes most of its cues from pop and rock (ex. the pop divas in the musical Six).

 

Term #8 is nasal twang. This term is associated with the Estill Voice Training System to describe a sound that results from coupling nasalance with bright resonance produced somewhere in the pharynx. British voice trainers Fisher and Kayes call it the “edgy-bright setting.” Complete Vocal Technique, a popular European method, would position this sound somewhere in or between “overdrive” and “edge.” Whichever term you fancy, it is a familiar quality of sound in many of the genres mentioned above, provided there is a need for a bit of edgy brightness. It bears repeating that the damping that comes with nasalance often needs the addition of brightness, but it is not required.

 

But what about classical singing? Isn’t any nasalance undesirable? Nasality as we’ve defined it so far is widely avoided. Yet, in the world of classical voice there is an affection for something called nasal resonance.

 

Term #9 is nasal resonance. Believe it or not, there is a fair amount of disagreement as to whether nasal resonance exists and if it is essential for singing. Supreme voice research scientist Ingo Titze opines in his book Vocology that “nasal resonance [is] almost entirely absent from good singing, contributing only a ‘dull murmur’ in the findings.” Legendary voice trainer Cornelius Reid, in his book The Free Voice, comments on the nasal passage as a resonator, saying, “the nasal cavities are non-adjustable. This being true, nothing much can be done about improving their capacity for tonal amplification.” He continues, “without adjustable cavities this cannot be done, and there can be no resonance.”

 

But wait, you may say. What about all the talk about needing to feel the sound in the mask? Isn’t that caused by nasal resonance? Probably not.

 

According to the writing team of Gates, Forrest and Obert, in their exhaustive book The Owner’s Manual to the Voice (2013), it’s sympathetic vibrations–not resonance. They assert that “There is no such thing as a sympathetic resonator. Something is either a resonator or is not. Resonance occurs only when sound waves directly fill an acoustic space. Our sounds can only resonate in the pharynx, mouth, nose, and sinuses. Anything we feel outside of these resonators during phonation is sympathetic vibration. Sensations felt behind the eyes while singing are sympathetic vibrations, for instance. Sensations felt in the nose and sinuses are as well if the soft palate is raised while singing, as this prevents sound waves from entering the nose and sinuses. Perhaps it would be better to say “mask vibrations” rather than “mask resonance.”

 

In all probability what people think of as nasal resonance is actually sympathetic vibrations caused by the presence of the singer’s formant (which lies between 2-4 kHz). This is what singers, particularly classically-trained ones, have sought after to produce ring, ping, squillo, core–whatever you want to call it–to achieve a desired level of projection.

 

While discussing nasal resonance, I’m sure you noticed that the esteemed authors I quoted don’t even agree. I will leave it to them to puzzle it out. My useful take away is this: whatever amount of nasal resonance there may be, is clearly less present and powerful than I was led to believe was possible. If increasing resonance is the goal, the nasal passageway should not be a singer’s first choice.

 

Our brief excursion through the nose has come to an end, so let’s wrap up with a few summary statements.

 

Singing with nasalance is not a sign of bad singing. Whether you should or shouldn’t, and if so, at what level, is guided by the genre, style, and storytelling goals.

 

Nasalance control is the work of the velum adjusting the condition (open or closed or anywhere in between) of the velopharyngeal port.

 

If you speak or sing with a higher level of nasalance than you desire, you now know how to manage it.

 

If you are looking for a resonant boost in your sound, maybe look beyond your nose.

Singer’s formant is a vitally useful tool for projection and may manifest itself as sympathetic vibrations.

 

Thanks for listening. Keep singing, and keep singing smart!