TONGUE LESSONS FOR SINGERS - Where To Place Your Tongue And Which Exercises Help

today I want to answer the question once and for all what to do with your tongue when you're singing so stay tuned I've we haven't met yet my name is Freya Casey I'm a professional singer and vocal coach from Germany and I've performed in opera musical theatre jazz pop rock with fans and orchestras all over the world I want to share my knowledge with you so tongue position is something that is really complex but actually it can be very simple a lot of times that's what I found when I talk about tongue position to my students it really creates more problems than it helps solve them so thinking of the tongue is maybe not so advantageous as it is to think of that entire part that moves that is in your mouth and throat you have to understand it's all connected we know this there's the tip of your tongue there is that large area of your tongue that you see like when you stick it out like mmm mmm right and then there is the back of your tongue and that back of your tongue continues on into your throat so when you're right around the area where your uvula is on the top that's called your soft palate and on the bottom there's the back of your tongue when you raise your soft palate essentially at the same time you lower the back of your tongue which then creates an open throat let's continue on the throat area a throat is not an appropriate term because it doesn't really describe exactly what you mean it could be the Larenz it could be the pharynx we are talking about that large pharyngeal space that is really the entire area anything that is like above your larynx that space that begins like right where a uvula is and that space can be moved in many different ways it's not just open or closed it's really shaping it in very different ways opening more in the front or opening more in the back all these different sounds can be created by shaping that roof if you want or that space in different ways and that's how you can create all the different sound qualities in your voice but of course that is the space inside of your mouth is also a very important space because it is potentially a big space so changes in tongue position whether it's the tip of your tongue the middle of your tongue the back of your tongue or further back when talking about your tongue continuing on into the pharyngeal space it's all connected remember it does have a large influence here is what I always teach my students it can be helpful to think of the sound that you want to make rather than try to push the tongue down for example a lot of times singers are told by their teachers the tongue has to be lower or you have to dike raise your soft palate what can help you to feel what it feels like to raise your soft palate or lower your tongue is the sound of a vowel for example ah ah you can hear there is a difference and sound the AH when I have a more open space it also sounds different so training yourself to actually listen for the openness when you sing vowels or even for the matter of fact when you speak vowels to actually notice the differences the subtle nuances in vowels especially the open vowels like it all doesn't sound like ah unless I'm opening up that space meaning I'm automatically lowering the tongue and raising the soft palate and continuing on through there back into the throat opening that entire pharyngeal space so in order to practice like how do I feel this you can actually train the different parts of your tongue for example when you're singing la la la la la let's just do this la la la la la la la you should train singing this by not moving your jaw because it's not your jaw that shapes and then ah but it's the tongue and its shape and the shape of that entire space in your mouth and fur area then actually shapes those sounds okay so instead of moving jhaggat used of thinking I'm moving the soft parts meaning the tongue Lala I could do the same in head words I can move the tongue and become more aware of what is the tongue doing let's move on to the back of your tongue or actually let's move on to s so the L it kind of curls right you want to think of your speaking voice first in order to not do weird stuff assuming you don't have any problems with your speaking patterns in your appropriately shaping all the sounds that are in the language assuming that you should always start with hello hello oh you can feel that your tongue naturally curls just a little bit and then presses against the back of your top front teeth just a little bit so let's move on to s it's the same it's like saw saw saw saw saw saw saw saw or zazas zazas zazas or I need a little bit of jaw here just because the S is a little bit more narrow and the tongue does come up just a bit more than on the T you see that pattern of really examining where is the sound in mind speaking voice and when you translate it into your singing voice you always need to make sure that the space further back where your tongue connects into your throat in that pharyngeal space that it does stay open there so instead of which nah ah see ah my arm is very closed and then my becomes also nasal which it's it's a half nasal sound anyway but that doesn't open trading those transitions between a sound where the tongue is in a higher position and then lowering the tongue again in order to achieve the open vowel those transitions help you feel the motion and therefore help you feel what it feels like to open or where the tongue actually rests right so let's move on to for example an NG sound which that is not shaped by the tip of your tongue now the tip of the tongue does lower again and the back of your tongue right where your soft palate is meaning where your uvula is it meets like the soft palate and the bottom of your tongue in the back of your throat they come together so [Music] when you do it slower it's a little bit easier to feel do it slow and really register that movement and the motion that is happening and this time it's not the middle of your tongue so much or the tip of your tongue it is more the back of your tongue that is actually moving anything else you shouldn't pull it back or do anything strange with it so again think of the sound and not of tongue what am I doing with my tongue but at the same time while thinking of the sound and trying to create the specific sound of openness whenever you're opening back up to the vowel register the motion the same happens with a G like AG uh sound gah gah gah gah gah see I'm not gah gah gah gah when I'm Kiki when I lift the middle of my tongue the sound isn't right anymore cuz that's not how this specific sound is created notice how your tongue moves when you do the natural sound gah gah gah gah gah gah gah gah gah gah gah let's talk about one more thing the R the R in the English language is a very difficult sound because basically your curl the tongue you're closing up or and you're actually lowering the larynx just a bit that's the tendency so what you want to try to keep is that open throat while registering that the tip of your tongue comes up just a bit and you see it's not just the tongue it has to be in combination with the lips right right right I don't go all right if I forget to use the lips which I normally do when I speak right oh yeah all right all right my lips actually go along with moving along with the tongue and if I don't do this the sound isn't right so always register what is the sound of that natural sound how do I actually do it when I speak translate it into your singing do it the same way except keep the pharynx wide and open and of course here's the rule the higher you sing the more difficult of course it becomes to seeing certain sounds you adjust in order to accommodate better resonance so I can't stay that narrow I have to open this really goes especially for head voice and then also some nasal sounds you know no no no no when I'm down low no no no no no it is not as crucial to stay open in your pharyngeal space as it is when you're singing high you're doing an N nasal sound followed by an open ah or even not followed by an opener but even singing that nasal sound press that tongue against your back teeth on the top but at the same time further back in your throat you want to stay open you don't want to close there otherwise it's gonna be hard to have that transition between a nasal sound and a non open sound which it never opens then even while you're holding the end further back it's open it's not but it's more like [Music] no no no no so I hope this really helps you understand what you're supposed to do with your tongue and how to freaking place it when you're singing and not doing weird stuff in your throat and choking on your own tongue I have a live training come up check out the link below it's how to 10x your progress you're gonna love it you have to sign up in order to be part of it it is gonna be live and I'm gonna have a QA it's not gonna be on YouTube officially it's just gonna be for those who sign up I hope to see you there have a wonderful day and I'll see you soon makes me feel sad for the [Music] [Music] you do

Channel: Freya Casey - Master Your Voice

Views: 8,362

Rating: 4.941349 out of 5

Keywords: how to sing, how to sing better, online vocal coach, online singing lessons, freya casey, tongue placement for singing, tongue exercises for singing, where to put the tongue when singing, how to relax your tongue while singing, tongue tension, how to get rid of tongue tension when singing, how to get rid of tongue tension

Id: N2CWjwsHsf8

Length: 12min 30sec (750 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 25 2019