Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Seven Vowels in Theory and Practice

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As a poet, I took Robert Bly's advice and picked this book up because I want to focus more on the natural music of language in verse. But I must tell you, this is heavy going, for as small a volume as it is. I found myself just not really interested in much of what was being said, and its focus is really geared more toward musicians -- singers -- than writers. I do think that anything that allows me to concentrate more on the sheer sounds of words and letters (as opposed to simply meaning) is a good thing, so I'm glad I do have it. But the most valuable part, for me, is probably the appendix that features some vocal exercises that get us to really listen to the way sounds sound coming out of our mouths.

I think a lot of people would not see much value in a book that essentially just collects all the literature on the esoteric nature of the vowels across historical languages, but I am a speech-language pathologist, and this is exactly the kind of "niche" book that appeals to my interests. It is part mysticism, part acoustical physics, and I think that it takes a professor of music to pull all of these areas together in the outlining of practical voice exercises. I encourage all speech therapists and vocal performers to take a look at this book for the good explanations for capturing harmonics and tones for potential spiritual healing (if you believe in that sort of thing), and all linguists and historians to take a look at the chapter on the vowels and the naming of the gods in history. Very succinctly written but also written for an educated audience.

I wish I had found this book when it first came out. I got so much out of this book, and much of it I truly wish I had when I was younger.

First off, it confirms the suspicion that so many musicians have-- that when they are playing they are more than happy but somehow engaged in a spiritual act. I have felt that for years, struggled to explain it friends and colleagues, and felt somehow like I had some secret that should be plain for everyone to see. This book confirms a powerful side of music that I've experienced, and it explains it (to me anyway)-- and for that I'm grateful. I have to point out that this is my own experience. While I think you can have this experience too, unless you're a musician and have at least a hint that it is there, you'll have to just take in on faith that singing in this manner can be a spiritual experience. Developing your voice takes a bit of practice but anyone can do it-- afterall the task here is to sing, not sing like Ella Fitzgerald. But I do promise that if you do it you'll like your singing a lot more than you might otherwise expect to.

Luckily the book is also a very practical tool that can help you use your singing to serve a wide range of practices. I've seen simplified vowel singing exercises used as warm-ups for acting troupes-- and that they were a tiny part of a "group mind" building exercise. But this book shows that they can be used for a much more powerful group mind exercise. I've since learned that Del Close on occasion had his students sing vowels-- I suspect he had this book or was aware of some of the source material. The point is that they applications of this kind of thing go far beyond manner described in the book.

Finally the book can serve as a big step forward for any performing artist that realizes that their art is also practice in "self-mastery". Your voice is a big part of who you are and of your presence-- either on stage, in a room full of people, or alone. This book shows why that is and gives you simple ways to build that part of yourself-- and it does so simply by showing what was done very long ago in the ancient world.

This is no new-age self-help book, though that might be how I'm describing it. It is very straight forward explanation of an enigmatic musical and spiritual practice from very long ago, and a survey of how that practice was interpreted by later generations. He simply shows what they did, and why they did it, and how successive researchers looked at these ancient practices. But, the inescapable conclusion anyone could draw from it is that you can and should do it too.

If what I'm saying makes little sense, or if you buy the book and don't see what I'm talking about, post a comment and I'll try to help.