Finding Solutions for Throat, Jaw, Tongue, and Neck Tension During Singing
Do you suffer from neck, jaw, or throat tension while singing? You are not alone. This is one of the most common issues I hear as a teacher when students enter my studio. I hope this post will help you begin to find a few solutions for your tension issues.
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED
All muscle tension along the vocal tract is connected. If there is inefficient muscular activity, it will affect the entire body and prohibit freedom of your voice function. All muscle tension along the vocal tract is interrelated. If you take time to resolve one area of tension it will serve to improve another.
THE CAUSE
The first step in reducing any kind of tension is figuring out what is causing it. Once the causes for the excessive tension have been identified, you can then begin applying the appropriate techniques to eliminate the problem. Although singing is based on muscle memory, muscles can relearn good habits with regular practice. Singing is a highly athletic pursuit. So make sure you are training regularly and appropriately to develop your singing muscles. Get lots of rest and eat healthily. All of this will contribute to developing your singing muscles to be the best they can be. It is easy for these muscles to become fatigued quickly when you neglect your vocal training.
STRETCH
Take a moment to stretch out your spine. Many singers have an unconscious habit of elevating their heads in order to find those high notes. What's your singing posture telling you? Start with assessing your posture. When your body is your instrument, the way that you hold it will affect your sound. Try a scalene stretch by placing your hands behind the lower back, dropping one arm to the side, and lowering the same shoulder. Tilt your head to the opposite side. This position is held for ten seconds while breathing. The exercise should be repeated to the other side of the neck.
A chiropractor can quickly identify and safely correct misalignments of the neck bones, that may be blocking the nerve signals to your muscles and even your lungs.
THE STANCE
Feet: You want your feet to be shoulder-width apart, under your hips. Be sure to check they are not too close together or you will be off-balance, with excess tension in your upper body. Similarly, if your feet are too far apart, you will notice that you are using excess energy to maintain an unnecessarily wide stance. Place one foot slightly in front of the other mid-step. Now you have created a nice solid foundation for your singing.
Knees: Keep your knees loose and don’t lock them. Don’t bend your knees too much, that would exert too much effort in the legs and lower body.
Hips: The hip position directly relates to the knee position. You want to keep your hips slightly tucked under. If you over-tuck, the upper body will collapse cutting and causing breath collapse. Make sure the hips aren't pushed too far back, which creates excess tension in the lower back.
Chest: You want to keep your chest in an open position, to allow for the lung expansion required for singing.
Shoulders: Keep your shoulders low and back. One way to achieve this position is to place your arms behind your back and try to touch your elbows. This maintains an open, flexible chest position while preventing the shoulders from rising up and creating tension.
Head: Make sure your chin is not coming forward. If your jaw is allowed to raise forward, it will create tension in the front of the throat. If your jaw is pulled too far down, tension is created in the back of the neck, and the air supply is compromised. Find a neutral position.
When finding good posture you will find the first step to having a relaxed jaw and neck. Take time to find singing posture and begin a journey of efficient and healthy singing.
STRESS
Stress may cause an individual to hold tension in the neck, shoulders, jaw, and tongue. Not only does your daily life, and work stress cause tension, but how you perceive yourself as a singer can also cause tension. When you aren’t trusting your singing voice, you can tense up while worrying about how others are perceiving your performance.
PHONETIC POSTURE
Finding a relaxed throat, neck, and jaw is also finding great phonetic posture. Begin with a close assessment of your vocal habits. One very common area of tension is created due to the over-opening of the mouth and excessive diction. Singers should not exaggerate their articulatory motions in an effort to improve diction, as this is unnatural for the body and will likely create tension and constriction within the vocal tract.
EXERCISES TO RELEASE JAW TENSION
A great exercise to reduce tension is to simulate a chewing motion. With the lips slightly apart, simulating a gentle and subtle chewing motion while humming.
Next, with the lips closed, hum a short scale 123454321 while moving the jaw up and down in a gentle chewing motion.
On a single pitch, make a vowel sequence /i-e-a-o-u/, Make sure to stop the lateral movement of the tongue apex. The acoustic-at-rest posture of the tongue should be noted. The key in the above exercises is to keep the movements of the tongue very small and subtle. If the tip and body of the tongue are moving dramatically, the singer may end up increasing the tension instead of lessening it.
Another great exercise is to place the tip of the tongue on top of the lower teeth, just behind the lower lip while singing short scales.
OVER OPENING THE JAW AND MOUTH
I often have students arrive at my studio, after being told by a choir director or a previous teacher, to drop their jaws or open their mouths wide. However, allowing the jaw the mouth to open too widely does not make your voice project. Opening your jaw too wide creates tension and decreases jaw mobility. Opening the mouth too wide, does not create more resonating space within the vocal tract. Sadly, this method narrows the pharyngeal space and forces the submandibular musculature to press downward on the larynx. This would make the volume muted and then the performer’s natural vocal tone would become distorted. Furthermore, forcefully opening a jaw causes the vocal folds to approximate poorly, which causes breathiness and weak tone. When you over-open your mouth, the tongue pushes back into the pharynx, making a caught sound in the tongue root and a throaty sound. It also causes the larynx to elevate. A high positioned larynx makes thin, and not fully developed sound.
FINDING FREEDOM FROM VOCAL TENSION
Once the integrity of the vowel, determined by postures of the jaw, lips, tongue, velum, and larynx are discovered most singers recover from tension and conditions such as lock jaw, without the need for medical treatment. Finding your best phonetic posture is one of the things I teach in my private lessons.
If you would like more information and a complete assessment of your vocal habits and tensions, please contact me for a one-on-one lesson.
