Shadow vowels when singing in French.

I am a big advocate for the use of shadow vowels when singing in any language, and French is no different.
They help singers be heard on consonants, no matter the size of the hall, without tiring their throat to sound the consonants.

In French, shadow vowels (written as a “mini schwa) particularly come in handy when words ending with a voiced "r" like "coeur" or "soir" end a musical phrase, but also in between two pronounced consonants, in words like "place" (between the “p” and the “l”) or "pourquoi" (between the “r” and the “q”), for example.

Specifically, I find that consonants such as "r" or "l" are often unclear because of the difference in their pronunciation from English to French. In other words, in English, our tongue lingers on the hard palate for "l", whereas in French, it flips quickly. Adding a shadow vowel when pronouncing a final "l" can go a long way in releasing the tongue and making the sound crisp to the audience.

On final flipped "r" or "r" placed before another consonant, our tongue can easily get thick and not move fast enough in between sounds, which suppresses the sound altogether. A shadow vowel keeps the line moving and the vocal chords together.

It all comes down to ensuring we have clear consonants, because while when we think about French, consonants are not the first thing that come to mind, they are of the utmost importance. French consonants are fast, clear and not throaty, but should be strong nonetheless. And shadow vowels are a great way to make them as such, without hurting our voice.

So pull out your scores, and whip out those shadow vowels. There will never be enough of them!!