German diction for singers: glottal stop, ich-Laut and ach-Laut, final devoicing and r

A handful of sounds trip up English-speaking singers every time: the glottal stop, the two ch sounds, the devoiced finals and the r. Singers use the IPA because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation, especially across languages like Italian, German and French⁴. This page takes the German rules in order of how often they are missed. The wider diction section covers the other languages.

Vowels

Long vowels are closed and held; short vowels are more open and clipped². The length mark means the vowel is held longer, which matters in German, where [iː] and [ɪ] are distinct phonemes⁴. Write the mark in every transcription and sing the difference.

Diphthongs and the reduced vowel:

The vowel in Vater is often closer to central [ä] than to the darker vowel of English father⁴. The vowels i, e, ä, ö and ü are the front vowels; they take the ich-Laut after them⁵. The varieties of standard German have no official pronunciation standard; a de facto standard is documented in reference works¹. The pronunciation Germans usually consider closest to the standard is that of Hanover¹.

Schwa

The schwa occurs only in unstressed syllables¹.

The two ch sounds

German has two ch sounds, and singers should treat them as distinct sounds². The ich-Laut is the voiceless palatal fricative [ç], as in ich¹. The ach-Laut is the voiceless velar fricative [x], as in ach¹. They are allophones of one sound in the language¹, but the ach-Laut itself splits into two allophones, [x] and [χ], depending on the preceding vowel¹.

The rule is simple: back vowels precede [x], and everything else precedes [ç]². The ach-Laut follows the back vowels a, o, u and the diphthong au². The ich-Laut appears after i, e, ä, ö, ü and often after l, n, r⁵.

The standard learner mistake is substituting English sh for the ich-Laut⁵.

Final devoicing

In German the voiced obstruents b, d and g become voiceless [p], [t] and [k] at the end of a syllable². Final devoicing makes homophones of such pairs as Rad and Rat³. The example singers meet first is Abend: the d in Abend devoices to [t], and gut already ends in [t]². Guten Abend, gut Nacht is the model phrase: the d of Abend is sung as [t], the t of gut is already [t], and the ch of Nacht is the ach-Laut [x] after the back vowel a².

Two points keep this rule in context. The German varieties of the north, and many pronunciations of standard German, keep voice in the fortis-lenis distinction³. In southern varieties the lenis obstruents are voiceless¹.

The glottal stop

A glottal stop is a consonantal sound produced by obstructing airflow in the glottis⁷. In German it occurs in careful speech before word stems that begin with a vowel¹. Word-initial vowels receive [ʔ], as in ich atme [ɪç ˈʔaːt.mə]².

Mark it in your score wherever a word stem begins with a vowel.

The r and other consonants

The German r can be uvular, alveolar or even dental¹. Its place of articulation varies from uvular to velar depending on the vowel context¹. The uvular r can be reduced to an approximant in an intervocalic position¹, and it is devoiced after voiceless plosives and fricatives¹. Pick one realisation for a role and keep it consistent across the score.

The German consonant system has an average number of consonants compared with other languages¹. One of the more noteworthy consonants is the unusual affricate pf¹.

Sung versus spoken

The glottal stop occurs in careful speech¹, and singers also need the ich-Laut and ach-Laut as distinct sounds². Ignoring final devoicing is the most common German diction error². Do not sing the d of Abend as a [d]; sing [t]². Vowel length is marked with [ː], and a long vowel is held longer⁴.

Common mistakes for English speakers

• English sh for the ich-Laut. Use the palatal fricative [ç]⁵.
• One ch for every word. There are two: [ç] and [x]².
• Voiced finals. Rad and Rat sound the same because b, d and g devoice³.
• A schwa that disappears. The schwa occurs in unstressed syllables, so sing it¹.
• Short vowels where length is marked. [iː] and [ɪ] are distinct phonemes⁴.
• Vater with the English father vowel. The German vowel is closer to [ä]⁴.

Next steps

Learn the symbols in IPA for singers, then mark every ch, every final b, d and g, and every vowel-initial stem in a short Lied before you sing it. Compare with the rules in Italian diction to feel where German consonants are heavier. For scores, work through Der Rosenkavalier or Fidelio.