You may be able to feel where the tip of it hits your teeth but there is so much more to the tongue’s mass than we can see and directly feel. The tongue’s size and position in the mouth is hard to perceive. The hump of the tongue plays a strong role in determining which harmonics are accentuated, and therefore which vowel we perceive. It is situated at the bass of the chin, so a resting tongue is a forward tongue. The tongue comprised of 8 different muscles, is one of the strongest muscles in the body, and one of the more complex parts of the vocal mechanism. If all other articulators are held still besides the tongue, most vowels and consonants are still intelligible. The tongue is arguably one of the most instrumental articulators in the vocal tract. The muscle groups surrounding the lips will have to work harder and more efficiently. Almost like trying to fog up a window.įor clearer consonant articulation, gently put two fingers between your cheeks to bring the lips forward. If you're interested in more forward lips for perhaps a darker sound, try putting a finger out in front of you and see if your lips can gently touch it while singing different sounds. Use a mirror to check out what they're doing. The lips are easy to key into because you can touch and see them. This action is usually associated with some form of tension farther down the vocal tract.Ī narrow embouchure (or mouth shape) made by the lips can have acoustic benefits similar to SOVT exercises (see SOVT page for more information). The lips can also suck in and cover the teeth. The pitch of the air in the vocal tract will be higher and overall sound may be perceived as brighter. If the lips spread (like in a smile) the vocal tract becomes shorter. The pitch of the air in the vocal tract will be lower and the overall sound may be perceived as darker. If the lips come forward (like for the spoken vowel /o/) the vocal tract becomes longer.

They can also be moved by muslces inside the cheeks (the buccinator muscles)

The lips are moved by a circular muscle group that descends half way down the chin and all the way up to the nose.

Lips sound reference