The Tongue: What Does It Mean? (Part 2)

Time for the first part 2 in this series (Part 1). We’ll do a bit more diving into the acoustic implications of the tongue and give ideas and remedies for the major issues that the tongue presents. Disclaimer: this series is meant to demystify some of the commonly used lingo in the voice studio and beyond. I will give evidenced information and cite sources so you can dive deeper. 

Tongue acoustics?

As stated in the last article (and through all the sources), the tongue is the key to vowel formation. If you look at a vowel chart, you’ll notice that there are different vowels on different vertical and horizontal planes. The above chart also gives some explanations as to how the tongue’s position deals with each vowel. For instance, the /i/, or the vowel sound in ‘beat,’ has a high front portion of the tongue. If the tongue is in the generally agreed upon “tip touching the back of the bottom teeth,” that front section lifting toward the front gumline of the hard palate will create your version of /i/. If you move directly horizontal on the chart, you will find the /u/, or the vowel sound for ‘boo,’ which has a high lifted back part of the tongue. The reason for the changes in vowel deal with the adjustments of the first two formants (which could use their own articles respectively), but the thrust of it all is that the tongue’s movement in the mouth creates balances in the formants which give us the noises that we interpret as vowel sounds. Move the tongue while singing and you will change the vowel sound being made as well as some other aspects regarding “twang” (think of country music) and air flow.

So why is the tongue so problematic? 

The tongue is composed of muscles within and outside of itself that connect it throughout the face. Muscles when activated can only contract, so the tongue is in a way a marionette for use in swallowing, protecting the throat, and making sounds among its chief purposes. One thing all voice teaching can agree upon is that extra muscular effect is not what we are looking for, and I believe we can say the same thing about the tongue. This extra tension causes the sound to have that quality and inhibits the singer’s ability to sing with proper classical resonance ideas and necessary stamina.

Common problems with the tongue stem from its need to add tension and retract into the back of the mouth. Again, with primary functions of protection and swallowing which both cause the tongue to stiffen and retract (or raise and retract and lower), we are fighting a natural battle to allow the tongue to not get in the way of what we want to do with singing. Since it is also connected to the larynx, any problems will affect those structures as well. So, what do we do?

I want to encourage a couple general exercises and some checks for singing. If we can only contract muscles when we activate them, it would seem to help our tongue by not activating the muscles. A few ways to check for a lack of activation would be to do some slides on a nebulous yet fronted /ə/, the vowel sound of ‘of,’ and either looking into a mirror to see if the tongue maintains a neutral high position, holding your tongue gently with your hand (wrapped in a napkin or with a food service glove) and making sure it doesn’t tighten, or slightly arching the front and middle bodies of the tongue forward like a wave toward the top lip. These actions will instill the idea of an elongation of the tongue rather than a retraction. Additionally, as most of us are native English speakers, we should be careful of how much we use the tongue as we are breathing and beginning the onset of pitch. Singers will often tighten the muscle before they sing like speech. Try saying “I’m hungry, Mom!” and see how your tongue reacts before you even start. Tongue exercises are many and vast, but the main goal is to not engage more of the tongue than needed to articulate clearly. It is something that professional singers constantly work on, so have faith that with your teacher and lots of practice room time, you’ll be able to eliminate as much excess tongue tension as possible. 

What’s next?

Let me know if there are any other voice specific topics you’d like me to cover! I’m continuing my way through anatomy and will probably also tackle some of the other common words used in the voice studio.