Habit #4 Diphthongs sustain primary

A diphthong is two consecutive vowel sounds in the same syllable. Often, a word or
syllable containing a diphthong will have only one written vowel but two vowel sounds.
Ex. night, day.
There are nine different combinations of vowels that create diphthongs:
1. + as in night
2. + as in day
3. + as in boy
4. + as in now
5. o + as in no
6. + as in fair
7. + as in fear
8. + as in four
9. + as in sure
Rules for singing diphthongs:
1. When singing a diphthong, sustain the first vowel sound and pronounce the
second vowel sound at the last moment and with less emphasis than the first.
This is often called fading or vanishing the second sound.
2. Be careful to properly identify the first vowel.
3. If the syllable is sung on more than one note, continue to sing the first vowel and
pronounce the second vowel at the end of the last note.
4. Always sound the second vowel but deemphasize it.
5. Do not break between the two vowels.
6. Suggestion: When a diphthong occurs in the text of a song, write the initials dt
above the syllable and write down the primary vowel sound. For example, above
the word night you would write dt (diphthong) and (or ah).

N ..t

N ...t

D..

N.

N ..

No...

No

F .

F ..

S..

Triphthongs
A triphthong is three consecutive vowel sounds in the same syllable. The same
rules for sounding a diphthong apply to triphthongs: sustain the first vowel and sound
the last two quickly and at the last instance.
Suggestion: When a triphthong occurs in the text of a song, write the initials tt
above the syllable and write down the primary vowel sound. For example, above the
word fire you would write tt (triphthong) and (or ah).
There are two different combinations of vowels that create triphthongs:
1. + + as in fire
2. + + as in our

F..

Copyright Don McMinn, 2015