Nasality versus Twang: What's the Difference?

Ask your vocal coaching expert Dr Anikó Tóth.

We break all of these ideas down even more deeply in your Vocal Coaching Lessons, where we use anatomy images for your science-based learning, as well as imagery for your artistic side.

Many people struggle to understand the difference between ‘nasality’ and ‘twang’. This may be because the feeling of a twangy sound seems to vibrate behind the nose and facial sinuses.

However, there is a marked difference in where in the vocal apparatus and how these sound qualities are created.

Let’s explain.

The muscles of the aryepiglottic sphincter

Image via Brown (p. 33) in DIMON, T., 2018. Anatomy of the Voice. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.

Twang happens in the larynx (voicebox), above.

A set of muscles that make up the aryepiglottic sphincter (sphincter: a term which refers to any round muscle, e.g. the ones around the mouth and eyes), squeeze to lift the larynx slightly and reduce the space from which the sound emanates.

Like a whistle…

the smaller opening in the larynx creates a higher-sounding tone, which sounds more shrill and carries farther = twang.

The resulting sound features boosted upper harmonics (more on harmonics here!) in the voice, which makes it very resonant.

Think cartoon characters, like the Animaniacs, a witch’s cackle, a cat’s meow.

(See our blog post on exercises to create Twang).

Twang is what the Italians called the chiaro of the chiaroscuro, the ideal operatic sound (the balance of brightness and darkness in the voice). A singer (or speaker/actor) may feel the secondary vibrations of this boosted high sound behind the sinuses (dans la masque, as the French would say), which is why these two elements are often confused.

Nasality, however, is a different story.

While some singing teachers will call twang ‘nasality’, they actually mean twang (in the larynx).

What is actually happening when we get a truly nasal sound is…

an opening of the nasal port.

What the heck is a nasal port, you ask?

Try a sniff and swallow. Any gunk in your nose will come through into your throat / mouth. So, the nasal port is the ‘blowhole’ between your nose and your mouth and throat.

THE NASAL PORT

The velum (soft palate) separates the mouth and throat from the nasal passage.

It is dropped / open in nasal articulation (left) and up and closed in purely oral articulation (right).

Image via the awesome Mimic Method French Pronunciation Guide.

Your nasal port is (and should be) open in nasal consonants like M, N, and NG (as in sing).

However, if it remains open on non-nasal vowels and consonants, some of the sound that should be coming out of your mouth to create a clear sound is diffused via the nose (as above, left).

This means the sound will be less clear. Vowels (on which we sing!) will be muddy, and consonants will lack crispness and precision.

It also means a singer may struggle to manage their breath pressure and may run out of air faster because of nasal seepage (air, I mean!).

So, how do you close the nasal port?

I like using the letter P.

Creating a strong pressure behind a held in ‘P’ means the nasal port must be closed. (Otherwise, it would be an M!).

Exercises on scales or arpeggios on ‘PA’ are really useful.

You can monitor air seepage via the nose by gently placing your thumb and forefinger to cover your nostrils.

If you have any ‘puffs’ of air, your nostrils will flare, and you will feel this with your fingers. You can additionally place your other forefinger on the tip of the nose. If it is ‘buzzing’ / vibrating, it indicates nasal port opening. Go back to PA exercises to get used to the closure.

Finding your nasality versus twang may take considerable time, if you have always spoken and sung with at least a partially open nasal port. So, be patient with your muscles and synaptic pathways you are forming by making this exercise a regular (daily) habit.

Extra credit 1: Try this with a TWANGY PA - PA - PA sound to feel that you can have twang with a closed nasal port.

Extra credit 2: Speak or sing the French word ‘maman’ in a sobbing voice to feel that you can have nasality without twang.

Try vocal coaching lessons with our vocal coaching expert Dr Anikó Tóth.

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