Tongue Posture and Singing (aka...mewing)

Where should the tongue be when singing?

A lot of time is spent talking about how our tongues should be held in singing. But what if we should be paying more attention to what are tongues are doing in daily life? Much like body posture, tongue posture plays a huge role in our physical health-- not only our singing.

Dentists and Orthodontists have long written about correct tongue posture- which is, surprisingly, not what most people think it should be. When you hear the phrase, “Relax your tongue.” What do you think? If you’re like most people, you will naturally drop your tongue down to the bottom of your mouth. However, this is actually incorrect. The correct “resting” position of the tongue should be against the hard and soft palate. In other words, on the roof of the mouth. Crazy, right?

Most recently, Dr. Mike Mew has been actively advocating the importance of this tongue posture in our jaw, sinus, and muscular health. It has also become a YouTube phenomenon- known as “mewing”- with claims as far reaching as it will change the shape of your face. Well, I don’t know about that if you are already a fully formed adult. But, I do know that maintaining this correct tongue posture is essential for gaining more freedom in singing.

So, lets get into it. As I advocate in my teaching, the backs of our tongues should be slightly arched toward the palate when singing. The back of the tongue and palate work in tandem, so when the tongue is arched upward, the palate is also lifted. So, when we are at rest, our whole tongue should come up to rest on the roof of our mouth. An easy way to find this position is by starting with the tip of the tongue about a half inch back from your upper front teeth. Then, with a great suction force inside your mouth, suck the back of the tongue up into the palate while keeping the front of the tongue glued to the hard palate. You then want to close the lips, but feel a space between your teeth so your jaw will be very loose.

A word of warning- this will take a while getting used to. You may have to play around as you might not have the requisite control to manage the tongue. But don’t give up. Play around and see if you can be aware of your tongue posture throughout the day, just as you should be giving attention to your body posture.

What are the benefits of correct tongue posture on singing?

Less warm up time
Greater ease when singing high notes
Less vocal fatigue.
Ease in registrational balance
Improved carrying power of voice
Less jaw tension

Give this a try and let me know your experience in the comments!

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