Beginner Singing Technique - SOVT Exercises

SOVT, or Semi Occluded Vocal Tract exercises, are any exercise that narrows the vocal tract. Included in this would be singing on a V sound, an NG sound, a hum, an N sound, lip trills, cup phonation, or singing through a straw. Of these, the most popular and most effective are singing through a straw and lip trills, but if for whatever reason you cannot do these two the others do work. SOVT exercises accomplish a number of things.

1. They move the placement of the sound to the front of your mouth.

2. They create consistency in the airflow so that there are no sudden increases or ceases of air.

3. They force the correct quantity of air so a singer does not sing forcefully or breathily.

4. They encourage the back of the tongue to get out of the way of the voice.

5. They help open the inside of the mouth.

6. They find and flex the support muscles.

This is a rather long list, and the best part is, they accomplish all of these without any effort by the singer. Simply doing the exercise encourages these things to happen. Essentially showing you what "correct" feels like so that you can imitate it when singing. Here are some tips to get the most out of your practice.

1. Make sure you are using your mouth to create the sound when possible, so do not put a straw in your mouth and just hum. You may need to plug your nose to be certain (unless you're singing a hum or an NG sound, then do not plug your nose).

2. Sing the same way you would without doing the exercise so that you can match feeling. For example, don't sing a note through a straw in head voice and then try to belt it and wonder why it didn't help.

3. If using a straw or cup, make sure the sound is going into the object and not around it. It may sound obvious that singing through a straw should involve singing through a straw, but many people do this wrong by mistake.

4. When switching from SOVT exercise to singing, switch in the middle of a note so that you can be aware of any changes. Do not sing on an NG and then stop and start on an AH but rather sing NGGGAHHH.

5. Look at the above list of six things and try to be aware of each of those feelings when switching so you can identify mistakes and what correct feels like.

While easy, this is an incredibly useful exercise. I highly recommend it for anyone at any skill level. If you need help, or are not certain if you are doing it correctly, sign up for singing lessons with me by clicking here!