VoxLingo

German has three vowels with no direct English equivalent, each with a long and a short form. To produce ö and ü: round your lips as for /o/ and /u/, but position your tongue as for /e/ and /i/ respectively.

• ä – long /ɛː/: Väter /ˈfɛː.tɐ/; short /ɛ/: Männer /ˈmɛ.nɐ/. This vowel is also written e in many words: Weg /veːk/, Seele /ˈzeː.lə/.
• ö – long /øː/: schön /ʃøːn/, Höhe /ˈhøː.ə/; short /œ/: Götter /ˈɡœ.tɐ/, offen (not an umlaut, but short /ɔ/ – distinct from /œ/).
• ü – long /yː/: über /ˈyː.bɐ/, süß /zyːs/; short /ʏ/: Glück /ɡlʏk/, Mütter /ˈmʏ.tɐ/.

German also has three falling diphthongs. Each begins with an open vowel and closes toward a high position; on a sustained note, hold the opening element and delay the glide to the very end.

• ei / ai – /aɪ̯/: mein /maɪ̯n/, Leid /laɪ̯t/, Kaiser /ˈkaɪ̯.zɐ/.
• au – /aʊ̯/: Haus /haʊ̯s/, Traum /tɾaʊ̯m/, auch /aʊ̯x/.
• eu / äu – /ɔʏ̯/: Freude /ˈfɾɔʏ̯.də/, Träume /ˈtɾɔʏ̯.mə/, neu /nɔʏ̯/.

Long monophthongs must stay pure on sustained notes. /øː/ should not drift toward /ʊ/ — schön /ʃøːn/ must not become /ʃoːn/. /yː/ should not slide toward the back of the mouth — über /ˈyː.bɐ/ must not become /ˈuː.bɐ/. The vowel colour heard at the start of the note must be the same colour heard at the end.

In German, the voiced obstruents b, d, and g become voiceless (/p/, /t/, /k/) at the end of a syllable – whether word-final or before another consonant. This rule (Auslautverhärtung) affects an enormous number of common words and is the single most frequently missed feature in non-native singing:

• b → p: lieb /liːp/, halb /halp/, Grab /ɡɾaːp/, gibt /ɡɪpt/.
• d → t: Lied /liːt/, und /ʊnt/, Abend /ˈaː.bənt/, Leid /laɪ̯t/, Kind /kɪnt/.
• g → k: Weg /veːk/, Tag /taːk/, liegt /liːkt/, klagt /klaːkt/.

The voiced consonant returns when a vowel-initial suffix follows: lieben /ˈliː.bən/, Lieder /ˈliː.dɐ/, Wege /ˈveː.ɡə/. The spelling is the same; only the syllable boundary determines which value applies.

The letters ch represent two distinct fricatives in German, and the choice depends on the preceding vowel.

The ach-Laut /x/ (a velar fricative) appears after the back vowels a, o, u and the diphthong au:

• Bach /bax/, nach /nax/, Nacht /naxt/, Sprache /ˈʃpɾaː.xə/
• noch /nɔx/, hoch /hɔx/, Buch /buːx/, auch /aʊ̯x/

The ich-Laut /ç/ (a palatal fricative – produced with the tongue raised toward the hard palate) appears after front vowels (e, i, ä, ö, ü), after the diphthongs ei and eu, and after the consonants l, n, r:

• ich /ɪç/, nicht /nɪçt/, mich /mɪç/, dich /dɪç/, Bücher /ˈbyː.çɐ/
• welch /vɛlç/, Milch /mɪlç/, leicht /laɪ̯çt/

The -ig ending: word-final -ig is always /ɪç/ in standard German. The /ɪk/ pronunciation is regional (Bavarian and some southern dialects) and does not belong in lyric diction:

• selig /ˈzeː.lɪç/, heilig /ˈhaɪ̯.lɪç/, König /ˈkøː.nɪç/, ewig /ˈeː.vɪç/
• But before a vowel-initial suffix: heilige /ˈhaɪ̯.lɪ.ɡə/, ewige /ˈeː.vɪ.ɡə/ – the g returns to /g/.

The -chen diminutive always uses /ç/ regardless of what precedes it: Mädchen /ˈmɛːt.çən/, Märchen /ˈmɛːɾ.çən/.

• w → /v/. German w is always the labio-dental /v/ – never the English bilabial /w/: Winter /ˈvɪn.tɐ/, Welt /vɛlt/, wie /viː/, Wald /valt/.
• v → /f/ in native words: von /fɔn/, Vater /ˈfaː.tɐ/, voll /fɔl/, vor /foːɐ̯/. In loanwords, /v/: Violine /vi.oˈliː.nə/.
• z → /ts/: Zeit /tsaɪ̯t/, zu /tsuː/, Herz /hɛɐ̯ts/, zart /tsaɐ̯t/. German z is never the voiced English /z/.
• s is voiced /z/ at the start of a syllable before a vowel: Seele /ˈzeː.lə/, singen /ˈzɪŋ.ən/, Rosen /ˈɾoː.zən/. Elsewhere it is voiceless /s/: das /das/. ß is always /s/: süß /zyːs/.
• j → /j/: ja /jaː/, Jesu /ˈjeː.zu/, Jahr /jaːɐ̯/.
• Initial sp and st → /ʃp/ and /ʃt/: Stimme /ˈʃtɪ.mə/, Stern /ʃtɛɐ̯n/, sprechen /ˈʃpɾɛ.çən/, Spiegel /ˈʃpiː.ɡəl/. After the initial position, sp and st revert to /sp/ and /st/: Knospe /ˈknɔs.pə/.
• ng → /ŋ/ with no following plosive: singen /ˈzɪŋ.ən/, Klang /klaŋ/, Engel /ˈɛŋ.əl/. Unlike English finger, German ng produces only the nasal /ŋ/.

German r behaves differently depending on its position in the syllable. Never use the English rhotic /ɹ/, which colours the vowel before it and is completely foreign to German diction.

• Onset r (before a vowel, at the start of a syllable): a lightly tapped /ɾ/ – one brief contact between the tongue-tip and the alveolar ridge. The uvular /ʁ/ of conversational German is also acceptable, but the tapped form sits more naturally on a sustained vocal line: Rosen /ˈɾoː.zən/, Bruder /ˈbɾuː.dɐ/.
• Coda r (after a vowel, before a consonant or at word end): vocalises to /ɐ̯/, a brief open central vowel. This is standard in modern lyric diction: Herz /hɛɐ̯ts/, Wort /vɔɐ̯t/, fern /fɛɐ̯n/, Morgen /ˈmɔɐ̯.ɡən/.
• The -er suffix always vocalises fully to /ɐ/: Lieder /ˈliː.dɐ/, Winter /ˈvɪn.tɐ/, Bruder /ˈbɾuː.dɐ/, Vater /ˈfaː.tɐ/. This applies to the stand-alone word der as well: /deːɐ̯/.

• Merging umlauts with plain vowels. Singing /o/ for ö or /u/ for ü changes the word. schön sung as /ʃoːn/ becomes something closer to schon (already).
• Ignoring final devoicing. Leaving the d voiced in Lied or the b voiced in lieb is the most common German diction error.
• Using English /w/ for German w. Winter, wie, Wald all begin with the same /v/ as Vater and voll. There is no English-style bilabial glide in German.
• Saying /ɪk/ for -ig. Regional in German; never correct in lyric diction. Selig, heilig, ewig all end in /ɪç/.
• Wrong ch allophone. Saying /k/ for Bach (the most common English error) or /ʃ/ for ich. The two allophones are distinct sounds – learn the simple rule: back vowels precede /x/, everything else precedes /ç/.
• English r. Adding an English /ɹ/ shape colours the vowel before it and introduces a retroflex quality entirely absent from German. In coda position, replace it with the vocalised /ɐ̯/.
• Dropping the schwa on -e endings. Final unstressed -e is a distinct /ə/ in German – Seele has two syllables, Liebe has three. Swallowing it distorts both text and rhythm.

Three phrases from widely performed works, illustrating the key rules.