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The tongue is the master articulator of a singer’s formant. It is also a muscle

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that can give a singer a lot of valuable leverage to hold the larynx into a
favorable position for “bridging and connecting” in the head voice. Skillful use
of the tongue can provide huge benefits to stability, as well as favorable shaping

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of your vocal tract and tuning of your formant. Both the tongue positions
described below are legitimate and useful for anchoring, or stabilizing the larynx

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to maintain the shape of the vocal tract, vocal fold compression and larynx
dampening. You should be aware of their unique benefits, so you can decide

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where to put your tongue when you are singing.

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h The Leveraged Tongue Positions
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Leverage Into The Bottom Teeth T
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As a component of the intrinsic anchoring set, the tongue plays a crucial role in
helping to dampen and stabilize the larynx. With the back of the bottom teeth

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position, a singer pushes the tip of the tongue against the back of the bottom
teeth to help guide the larynx to a dampened position and anchor it for stability

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while bridging the passaggio and singing inside of M2.

V Leverage Into The Lingual Vestibule

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Another powerful tongue leveraging position is leveraging into the back of the
bottom teeth, but lower, below the roots of the teeth where the root ends and

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the fleshy lower gums begin. In medical terms this is known as the lingual
vestibule. This position tends to create more leverage then behind the bottom

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teeth and I have found this to be particularly useful when bridging and anchoring
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inside of M2. In regards to the larynx manipulation required for formant tuning,

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as you get stronger and more coordinated, you will learn to dampen your larynx
to achieve your formant without tongue leveraging.

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Benefits of the Leveraged Tongue Positions

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THEY ARE HELPFUL FOR GUIDING THE LARYNX INTO A DAMPENED POSITION.

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THEY ARE HELPFUL FOR PRODUCING TWANG VOCAL MODE, BECAUSE THEY ENGAGE SYMPATHETIC CONTRACTIONS

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THEY HELP CREATE STABILITY WHEN BRIDGING.

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THEY ADD STABILITY TO SUSTAINED SINGING INSIDE M2 (HEAD VOICE).

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THEY KEEP SINGERS FROM PULLING THE TONGUE BACK, WHICH IS A COMMON HABIT FOR BEGINNERS.

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Th The Open Throat Tongue Position
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The open throat position is one of the major components of great Appoggio
technique. Appoggio requires singers to engage the respiratory support more

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effectively for the purpose of achieving vocal fold closure, instead of relying too
much on twanging to gain vocal fold closure. First addressed in the section

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regarding Appoggio, the open throat tongue position is one of my favorite
techniques to help students make great strides forward in their training in

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regards to balancing respiration, trading musculature contractions for
Bernoulli fold closure physics and lightening the mass.

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The open throat tongue position is created by resting the tongue behind the
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teeth in a rested position, instead of pressing or leveraging it behind the teeth
or into the lingual vestibule. The advantage of the open tongue position is it

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opens up the vocal tract by making more space in the pharynx. When this

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happens, the body intuitively kicks in more respiration to fill the increased
volume of the vocal tract. This chain reaction produces a slightly darker
harmonic and relaxes the intrinsic musculature contractions.

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From a physiological perspective, open throat takes more physical exertion to

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maintain. While you will have to work harder using open throat, especially as a
beginner, it is less fatiguing once you get used to it, because there is less

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manipulation of the musculature for twanging.

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The best thing about open throat is how wonderfully it gets your respiration
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going in your singing! When executed properly, your phonations will feel more
buoyant, as if they are floating on a fatter column of air, since indeed that is
exactly what is happening. T
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Benefits of the Open Throat Tongue Position

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EXCELLENT FOR ENGAGEMENT OF APPOGGIO TECHNIQUE.

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CREATES A SLIGHTLY DARKER OR WARMER SOUND COLOR.

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Th LESS FATIGUING.

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IS FAVORABLE FOR SINGING WITH LEGATO.

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OFFERS VOCAL FOLD CLOSURE WITH MORE BERNOULLI PHYSICS, INSTEAD OF CONTRACTING MUSCLES.

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Training Vocal Athletes – Cagliari, Italy – Robert Lunte

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