Welcome to Part 3 of the Elite Vocal Academy Tongue Tutorial. Together we have come closer to mastering one of the most elusive muscles in our body. Congratulations!
With all that focused energy & exercise we need to give the Tongue a relaxing holiday. The root of the Tongue is hanging off the back of your throat, it is resisting gravity constantly (usually reaching up for the cookie jar on the top shelf) staying up & over the shelf that is your mouth. We need to help it out a bit.
How to relax your tongue
1). Letting your jaw go slack again, place your Tongue gently over your bottom lip and bring your top teeth softly down on it to hold the tongue in place. We are now going to give the Tongue a well-deserved buzz & take all the weight off the root. With your Tongue between your teeth (see above) simply start to hum. Hum for 8 seconds & then repeat up to 8 times.
2). For this next relaxation exercise you might want to put the mirror down. Although, it is good to laugh at ourselves sometimes, so maybe you might want to take a look. Life is too short to take ourselves seriously & singers especially, need to grow their humble muscle & this is perfect for doing just that. OK, so let you jaw go slack once again & let your Tongue fall where it will. Now shake your head side to side quickly as if to say “No, I didn’t eat all the cookies”. Repeat x 3. This may feel like a silly exercise but it does relax the Tongue. Remember, stress is the enemy of any muscle.
Result
This lets the Tongue rest and relieves it of pressure. It will also help relax the neck muscles as well as any surrounding muscles. Hmmmmm doesn’t that feel nice….
Well done! Now you can have a cookie.
Once you are comfortable with all the Tongue & Jaw exercise, please feel free to have a look through our Elite Vocal Academy Blog on the Palate.
Confused? Understandable. Intrigued? Of course you are! Want to learn more? Book a lesson at www.elitevocal.com & enrol online today!