Coup de Glotte
The coup de glotte is a very contested concept. Manuel Garcia introduced this concept in his Treatise on the Art of Singing. The first part of this work was originally published in 1841. There have been several translations and editions of this work since then.
Garcia invented the first laryngoscope - a way to visualize the vocal folds using a dental mirror and sunlight directed by another mirror. By looking at the vocal folds in action, he wrote his treatise to describe the actions these small tissues and cartilages perform. He also described how these actions apply to singing. For more information about the physiology of the voice, check out my blog post “How does the voice work?”
The English translation of this concept has led to some confusion about what Garcia meant. “Coup” can be translated as “cough.” “Glotte” means “glottis” - the name for the space between the vocal folds. “Coup de glotte” was also translated as “glottal shock,” which sounds very harsh. If this was truly what Garcia was recommending, he wouldn’t have had so many successful students. He would have been out of work quickly, as a cough is like slapping the vocal folds together at 250 miles per hour! That kind of force can cause vocal fold swelling at least, and vocal fold pathologies at worst.
Here’s a very simplified version of the science of the coup de glotte: For a singer (or speaker) to produce a vowel, the vocal folds have to come together. Air flow from the lungs builds up under the vocal folds, and eventually blows them apart. This sets the vocal folds into vibration.
The concept of coup de glotte is essential to a clean onset in singing. It requires some coordination to get this right - not too breathy, but not too harsh either. Let’s delve into how we can accomplish this technique. One way would be to over-do things each way to find a “happy middle.” Richard Miller (author of “The Structure of Singing,” and “The Art of Singing,” among other works) describes three types of voicing onset - soft/breathy, balanced, and hard/glottal. Soft and breathy sounds much like the quintessential Marilyn Monroe voice - think how she sang happy birthday to JFK or even how she talked. Hard glottal attack could sound like an angry person - this is a very harsh production, and should only be used to explore the extreme, not for long periods of time. By finding these two extremes, it becomes a bit clearer how to produce a sound that is between them.
Another exercise we can use to find a well balanced coup de glotte would be to make the movement of the vocal folds almost silently. This is my adaptation from Ian Howell’s “unpublished primer” as described in an article by Dan Mitton in the Journal of Singing (requires subscription to read this article - not an affiliate link).
Take a breath, and then hold your breath with your mouth open - almost as if you’re about to say something, but then your conversation partner says something.
Then, let the air come through. You should hear a light clicking sound. The abdominal muscles will feel engaged.
Once you’ve done this several times, and get a sense of how this feels, try doing the same thing, but this time allow your voice to turn on.
Try different vowels using this concept.
As you work toward finding a balanced onset, you will find voicing - singing and speaking- becomes easier. David Jones writes about how this concept helped several students throughout his career in this blog post. My hope with this blog post is that you will start to explore this concept on your own or with your voice teacher or voice-specialized speech pathologist. Finding a healthy onset will help you sing for years to come!