Tip of the Week #5--How to Relax Your Tongue When Singing

[jspankin]

i thought the NG position makes the back of your tongue raise up??? not flatten.

I thought flat is bad because it blocks up your throat?

[annademme]

@jspankin You are correct that the NG position does cause the back of your tongue to raise up, but it causes any throat tension to dissipate because the soft palate is raised and the sound is automatically placed in the mask (the frontal position). For anything else, the tongue should be forward (touching the back of your bottom teeth), down and out of the way, but in this particular instance, it's a good start to singing without throat tension. I hope that helps to clarify the purpose a bit.

[yellowjupiter]

this is really good. i've been havinga lot of problems with relaxing my tongue, especially when i hit the high notes. my conductor's been telling me its causing a lot of strain and restricting my range. thanks for the tips!

[Addetheswe]

Hi I'm an 16 year old boy and I wonder how high I'm suppose to be able to sing with chest-voice at my age and if I'm going to be able to sing higher in time or if I need to exorcise it?

with my head-voice I can sing higher then some girls, actually I can sing high like this women, does any one know how to exorcise the chest-voice so that I can sing some ''boys like girls'' kind of songs ''/ please I really need help with this... ''/

[annademme]

@Addetheswe Great question! Whether your voice has already changed or not, or whether it's in the middle of changing, it's always a good idea to exercise the voice :) How high your voice goes depends on what type of voice you are (baritone, bass, tenor). I will be putting up a new video about this very soon, but for now, a good rule of thumb is let your voice switch where it is comfortable. Don't push your chest voice too high so that it's uncomfortable or pinched. Good luck!

[Addetheswe]

@annademme

well my voice started to change when I was 13 and I can feel that it is still cracking sometimes, when I was 13 i really couldn't sing at all but now I can sing for example the song ''Thunder'' by ''boys like girls'' if I tone it down three times. (using that song cause it's a good example) I'm really looking forward to your new video :)

[seaking020492]

@Addetheswe you should really be able to sing any tenor part in chest voice. The key is to focus on creating your sound through your core area while keeping your throat and mouth relaxed.

[sexything1997]

That happens to me when I'm hitting high notes. I tense up. but not lately its weird Ive actually gotten better at singing and I never practice! @_@

[SeniorSmurf1]

my throat never gets soar, it is the muscles around my neck (in front mostly)

[greghawaii007]

Can you give a rock singing example like Janis Joplin?

[guitarforfree]

ur so sexy OMG.

[mark321123]

@guitarforfree Control yourself.

[fendertexas]

thanks so much for posting

[benobel]

Is that your cell phone vibrating? :)

[NujabesNinja]

This is, in my opinion, my biggest problem. I understand pitch and I'm starting to finally breathe correctly. By the way, I like that you always say, "Hello" at the beginning of your videos, it sounds very heartfelt and genuine. Thanks again for this tip and, "Hello" back!

[benobel]

Thank you. This really helped. ;)

[Lstar07]

Thank you so much!

[jamebozo]

Thank you sooo much : )

I always had throat tension problem when i sang. This really helped a lot !!!!

[IanJTime]

good vid! ima definitely practice a few of these in my warm ups :)