Place the Tone?, What does that mean?

Have you heard this phrase, 'place the tone', or 'place the tone in the mask'? Do you know what it means, - I mean, actually really know what it means? I heard this 'vocal instruction' from singing teachers, vocal coaches, conductors, stage directors, and choral directors from a young age, and to be honest, I had no idea what they were talking about. I tried, I really did, for years and years. And, the phrase was presented in such a way that it seemed to be assumed that I would automatically understand what to actually do with my voice. And I was too afraid to ask the teacher what it meant - after all, they were the expert. Did I ask them to demonstrate what 'place the tone' sounded like in their own voice? No. Did I ask them what I was to do physically, anatomically, in order to achieve this concept in my voice? No. Was information provided about what the end result would be if I were able to 'place the tone'? No. So I tried. I tried to glean what they meant by their facial expression, gestures, metaphors, their encouragement, and by their responses when I tried to 'place the tone'. It was very confusing to say the least. I would go home and practice and try to remember how it felt when I supposedly was 'placing the tone' according to what they were looking for, but it was frustrating, and difficult to replicate any success, however minor, that I experienced in the lesson. Simply put, I had no idea what I was doing - for years, and it was getting very expensive, in fact, into the 6 figures... I wasn't satisfied with these vague phrases about how to sing. I was restless, concerned, eager, confused, disturbed, and determined to get my answers. So, I worked with experts on both sides of the Atlantic, did a lot of my own experimenting with my voice, began researching scientific data about the voice, interviewing voice doctors, researched historical vocal treatises dating back several hundred years, and listened to thousands of singers in performance and in recordings of different repertoire from classical, jazz, baroque, pop, and R&B, analyzing, continually analyzing as best I could as to what they were actually doing to achieve whatever sounds they were making. I began to challenge this status quo of 'place the tone' type of thinking, and found that - wait for it - that it is: a metaphor, nothing more, nothing less. Even when it was presented to me as actual 'vocal technique', in reality, it is a metaphor.

As a professional singer and voice teacher for many years, I have heard so many singers complain about this phrase, saying that they had no idea what it meant. Well, yeah, I get it.

When a singer tries to match a vague concept, the vocal cords and anatomy struggle, because the singers doesn't know what to do with their voice, and often the result is confusion, vocal tension, a fake sound, a hooty sound, a tendency towards a wobbly vibrato, vocal strain, a harsh sound, a nasal sound, a less flexible sound, etc.

Let's distinguish then, between a metaphor, and actual vocal function. If you hear a phrase like 'sing into the mask' or 'place the tone', just remember that it is a metaphor. To help yourself out when hearing this phrase, ask the instructor to share in as much detail as possible (and demonstrate with their own voice), exactly what they mean by these two phrases, especially as different instructors have different ideas about what these two phrases actually mean. In fact, believe it or not, there isn't any agreement on vocal terminology at this time, so what one teacher says about 'place the tone', could and probably does, mean a completely different thing than another teacher using the same phrase.

It is for this reason, that I make a clear distinction between metaphors and vocal function when I am teaching singers. And it works. Here's a word from George:

"Within the first year of Zoe's training, I was able to shed nonsensical descriptions of singing technique, eschewing metaphor of feelings of resonance for an anatomical, physical, and visceral understanding of how my body makes sound. With this came improved breathing, decreased vocal strain, increased power, stamina, and resonance, and improved range, strength, control, and balance of my vocal registers." - George, Tenor, Pop, Opera

by Zoe Vandermeer, PhD candidate in the history of vocal pedagogy, University of Birmingham United Kingdom Copyright September 6, 2025 Zoe Vandermeer www.vandermeervoicestudio.com