Guide to German pronunciation for singers
originally prepared for performances of
Bach’s ‘Singet dem Herrn’ and Brahms’ ‘Liebeslieder’
This short pronunciation guide will introduce you to the various sounds of German, and will
give you an opportunity to practise some of the German words in Bach’s ‘Singet dem Herrn’
and Brahms’ ‘Liebeslieder’. Most of the examples are taken from these two pieces, and you
can also read them in the printed notes which come with this recording. If you wish you can
pause the recording at any time and repeat the words to practise individual sounds.
Vowels
Let’s start with German vowel sounds. The German alphabet contains the same five
vowels as the English alphabet:
a
e i
o
u
Unlike in English, all German vowels are produced ‘pure’, which means they are not
joined with another vowel to form a diphthong. Listen again and repeat if you wish:
a
e i
o
u
Now listen to a few examples of vowels sounds in words; don’t be concerned with the
meaning of the words, but just listen to the sounds:
Vater
den ihn Odem Blume
German vowels are pronounced either quite long or very short. German spelling doesn’t
always indicate the distinction between short and long vowels, but here are two rules of
thumb:
 vowels followed by two or more consonants are usually short, except where the
first consonant is an ‘h’
 ‘h’ after a vowel makes a vowel long
Let’s go through the five sounds in more detail:
a
The vowel ‘a’. You will first hear a word with a long ‘a’, and then with a short ‘a’:
Bahn Bann
Abend allen
e
Now listen to some examples of a long and short ‘e’:
wer wenn
mehr Mensch
i
The following long and short ‘i’ sounds resemble the English vowel sounds in keen and
fit respectively:
dies nimmer
mir in
o
When you listen to the following long and short ‘o’ sounds remember that the German
‘o’ is pronounced ‘pure’: ‘Boot’, not boat:
ohne
wohl
u
sollen
Wonne
The German ‘u’ sound is similar to the English oo sound. A long ‘u’ sounds like moon, a
short ‘u’ sounds like foot:
du unser
nur und
Umlauts
In German, the vowels ‘a’, ‘o’ and ‘u’ may be written with an umlaut. Vowels with an
umlaut are pronounced distinctly different from the same vowel without the umlaut, and
may also be long or short. It is important to distinguish between vowels with and without
an umlaut – they are distinct letters, and can therefore change the meaning of some words
if pronounced incorrectly. Listen to the three umlauts and repeat if you wish:
ä
ö
ü
Let’s hear a few example words to illustrate the ‘ä’ umlaut. You will first hear a word
with a long ‘ä’, and then one with a short ‘ä’:
Mädchen Gemächte
käme gefällt
Now the same exercise for ‘ö’:
fröhlich völlig
König könne
And finally the same for ‘ü’:
trügt
über
Vowel combinations
Before we go on to consonants, a short note on vowel combinations. There are only three
vowel combinations in German, although they are spelled in more than three ways. These
sounds resemble English vowels, but they are pronounced more energetically. Vowel
combinations are always pronounced long, but not as drawn out as their English
counterparts.
[a-u] The vowel combination ‘a-u’ is pronounced similar to the English words mouse or cow.
Pauken
Staub Laub
[e-u] The vowel combination ‘e-u’ is pronounced similar to the sounds of the English words
void or annoy:
neues freue
[e-i]
seufzen
The sound made by the combination ‘e-i’ is similar to the English words light or guide.
Heiligen rein nein
Take care not to confuse the vowel combination ‘ei’ (the one you’ve just practised) with
the letter combination ‘ie’ (which is nothing more than simply a long ‘i’). A few
examples to illustrate the difference:
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Wein Bier
Leid Lied
meine Miene
preiset Frieden
Consonants
The pronunciation of German consonants is generally similar to that of English
consonants, therefore we’ll concentrate on those German consonants that differ from their
English counterparts.
ch
The letter combination ‘ch’ after a vowel sounds like the sound in the Scottish word
‘loch’. To produce it, tense the back of your throat while forcing air through it:
gemacht auch noch
sucht weich sich
Be careful not to replace the ‘ch’ sound with a ‘k’ sound. In most cases this difference in
sound will change the meaning of the word. Listen to these examples to hear the
difference between ‘ch’ and ‘k’:
acht Akt
lachen Laken
Docht dockt
r
In German, the letter ‘r’ has two different pronunciations. Let’s do the easy one first: the
letter ‘r’ is almost not pronounced at all when it either follows a vowel, or when it comes
before a ‘t’, as in these examples:
dort
der
arm nur Garten
In all other cases, however, the ‘r’ is very different from an English r. Whereas an
English r is formed with the tip of the tongue in the front part of the mouth, the German
‘r’ is formed at the back of the throat. To produce it, try saying the Scottish word ‘loch’,
but with much less breath force:
Reigen
h
drum drüber Herrn
At the beginning of the word the letter ‘h’ is pronounced as in English house – it is never
silent as in English honour:
hallelujah Herrlichkeit
When ‘h’ follows a vowel, it is usually silent, and it makes the vowel very long:
nah fröhlich
j
The letter ‘j’ is pronounced like the English y:
junge ja Johannes
p
The letter ‘p’ in the combinations ‘pf’ and ‘ps’ must always be pronounced:
Hopfenranke Psalm
z
The letter ‘z’ is pronounced like the English letter combination ts, as in cats.
Zion allzu zum
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s
At the beginning of a word or between vowels, the German letter ‘s’ is pronounced like
the English letter z as in zoo or ozone:
sollen
Sachen
Sinn
‘ss’ or ‘esszett’ (ß) are pronounced like the s in the English word sea:
dass
sch
büssen
Schlösser
The German letter combination ‘sch’ is pronounced like the English sh:
Schirm
rauscht
sp / st ‘sp’ and ‘st’ are pronounced like ‘schp’ and ‘scht’:
Sterne spielen
v
In most cases, the letter ‘v’ is pronounced like an English f:
Vater verlässt
w
Vogel
The letter ‘w’ is pronounced like the English letter v – and there is no equivalent to the
English w sound!
wohl
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Wand Wiese