Articulation

Anatomy & Physiology Part 1

Ms. Rachel Lim

MUA4215 Vocal Pedagogy
Wk 7: 28 September 2021
 What is Articulation?
How the tongue and jaw and other moveable structures
move to create the phonemes of speech and singing.

What are phonemes?

Smallest sound unit in a language; perceptually distinct units
of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word
from another
Articulation
● Moveable structures
○ Pharyngeal constrictors
○ Velum (soft palate): opens and closes passage to nose (movement affects
nasality)
○ Mandible (jaw)
○ Tongue
○ Lips
○ Buccinator (cheek) muscles
○ Larynx/Glottis
Articulation: Pharyngeal Constrictors

● Superior, middle, inferior

constrictors make up the
pharynx
● Pharyngeal muscles in
singing: Passive Relaxation
Articulation: Velum
● Opens and closes the passage to the nose
○ Uvula hangs from this area
● Neutral position allows air to flow free from mouth to nose
Articulation: Velum
● Movement regulates the nasality of a singer
○ Decreasing nasality requires a higher soft palate
■ Levator veli palatini and tensor veli palatini
○ Increasing nasality requires opening the velopharyngeal
port via soft palate moving down
■ Palatopharyngeus and palatoglossus muscles
● Palatopharyngeus: Elevates, widens pharynx when swallowing

● Palatoglossus: Elevates tongue, depresses soft palate

Articulation: Velum

Where is the velum in

classical singing, MT,
Pop???

One cannot affect

palatal movement via
raising the eyebrows,
cheek muscles etc.
Articulation: Mandible (Jaw)
● Appendage (attached) to the skull - only ONE JAW
● Importance of TMJ mapping: Temporomandibular Joint
● Muscles that open/close the jaw
○ Masseter, temporalis, medial pterygoid (close)
■ In singing, these must be released with the exception of
a few consonants ([s],[z], [f], [v])
○ Digastric, geniohyoid, mylohyoid muscles (open)
Articulation: Mandible (Jaw)
● Ramus: Upward projection seen at the
posterior of each side
● Two processes located at the top of
each ramus, the anterior of which is
the coronid
○ When jaw is elevated and mouth
close, coronid process slips into
the opening between the
maxillae and the zygomatic bone
of the skull (cheekbone)
● Condylar process (condyle) arises
from the posterior of the ramus and
articulates with the temporal bone of
the skull at the TMJ
Articulation: Mandible (Jaw)
TMJ Movement

● Depression
○ Generated by the digastric,
geniohyoid and mylohyoid muscles
on both sides, assisted by gravity
○ Because it involves forward
movement of the head of mandible,
lateral pterygoid also involved
● Elevation
○ Generated by temporalis, masseter
and medial pterygoid muscles
○ Involves movement of the head of
mandible into the mandibular fossa
Articulation: Lips
● Extremely important for
articulation of sounds
● Great effects on resonance,
although movement should be
subtle
○ Rounded (Orbicularis
Oris)/forward: lengthens the
vocal tract
■ Classical
Articulation: Lips
● Great effects on resonance,
although movement should be
subtle
○ Pulled wide (Zygomaticus
major and minor, Buccinator,
Risorius muscles): shortens
the vocal tract
■ MT singers have wider
opening
■ Jazz, country, pop have
speech-like opening
Articulation: Cheeks (Buccinator Muscles)
● Using these muscles when singing with the lips pulled back and a
wide, lateral opening
○ Think bright [a]
● When these contract, they also pull on the superior pharyngeal
constrictor, pulling it forward
○ Affects the palatoglossus, which can pull up on the base of the
tongue and the palatopharyngeus, which can pull up on the larynx
■ Shortens vocal tract
Articulation: Tongue
● Major articulator
○ 4 intrinsic
■ Superior longitudinal, inferior longitudinal, transverse,
vertical
○ 4 extrinsic
■ Styloglossus, hyoglossus, genioglossus, palatoglossus
Articulation: Tongue
● Intrinsic: alters shape
■ Superior longitudinal (elevates tongue tip)
■ Inferior longitudinal (pulls tongue down, retracts tongue)
■ Transverse (narrows tongue)
■ Vertical (depresses tongue)
● Extrinsic: alters position
■ Styloglossus (pulls tongue upward and back)
■ Hyoglossus (pulls sides of the tongue down)
■ Genioglossus (retracts and pulls tongue forward)
■ Palatoglossus (elevates back of tongue)
Articulation: Tongue
● Forms vowels and consonants
● Affects sound if excessive tension is present due to a damping effect
○ Singers may push down on the larynx with the back of the tongue,
resulting in a throaty tone
■ Drawing tongue back in order to open throat opens the
eustachian tubes, which makes the sound bigger and richer
inside the head (but is dark to the listener)
● Tongue can move independently from the jaw
Articulation: Tongue
Articulation: Larynx
● Height in vocal tract affects resonance
○ Larynx sits lower in pharynx during classical singing, thereby
amplifying lower resonances
○ Musical Theatre is higher position, amplifying higher/brighter
resonance
Articulation: Glottis
● Glottal stop/Voiceless glottal plosive
○ Its phonation is voiceless; the vocal folds are held tightly together,
preventing vibration
● Unvoiced fricative [h]
○ “Aspiration”
○ Insertion of [h] sounds between separate pitches on the same
vowel
■ Can be related to musical or historical style or preference
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Bye! See you on Friday.