#tongue root

[ainotherlimb]

Oh, yeah? Well Porcupine and I will cut this Tongue Root and heal the massive fissure in the Universe.

[i-remember-there-was-mist]

Everyone says the throat should be relaxed when singing, that we shouldn't feel any movement or anything. Do you really mean NO movement, or no movement other than usual sound making movement? Also I feel like under my chin, like I guess where my tongue is, it's puffing out? Or dropping down? when I start to sing. It's not that way when I talk...

It is a bit of a misconception.  There does have to be a certain level of tension in the throat in order to function, but what we want is no tightening of the throat, no straining, no clenching.  We want the throat to be like an open tube that sound just reverberates throughout.  But again, that’s really a big metaphor because in reality, the sound does originate in the throat, there’s no denying that.  But we don’t want the effort to begin in the throat.  But when I sing, I feel no movement in my throat, but I do feel the reverberation of sound bouncing around in there.  If I gently hold my throat, I can feel my larynx lowering as I sing, which is also movement.  But I don’t feel clenching or straining.  

And that’s your tongue root! You’ve got tension there, and boy do I feel your pain.   It’s been a big issue for me as well.  If you’re holding it too much, it’s going to push out.  A little puffing out isn’t an issue, but if it’s hard and tough under there, we’ve got a problem.  It’s going to cause it to get sore, because you’re essentially tensing up that muscle in order to sing. (So bizarre, our bodies are so weird.)  My big problem right now is if I put my finger on my tongue root as I sing, I’ve finally gotten it to relax, but when I stop singing there’s a spasm, because I create the cutoff with my tongue root to an extent.  Who knew.  (Well, I guess that’s why I have teachers, I would never have noticed that!)  So yeah, the tongue root can definitely be a hidden source of tension.  It takes a lot of concentration to eliminate it, but I’d recommend gently putting your finger on it as you sing and pay attention to how it behaves.  Again, a little puffing out isn’t that weird--but if you’re actively pushing down your tongue and it’s getting hard and tense under there, you’ve got to reteach yourself to loosen it up!