The tongue helps you form vowels and pronounce words clearly. When you sing, it needs to remain relaxed so that singing does not start to feel harder than it should.
Your tongue also helps shape the space inside your mouth as you sing. The position of your tongue helps you form different vowels. If it becomes tense or pulls too far back, you may find some vowels harder to sing comfortably, and your sound can feel less free.
The goal isn’t to keep your tongue still. That would be like trying to speak without moving your mouth. What you’re after is awareness. Get to know how your tongue feels when you sing, and you’ll start to catch the tension you don’t need.
Keeping the Tongue Relaxed When Singing
When you sing, let the tip of your tongue rest gently behind your lower front teeth. The rest of it should simply be relaxed. No pressing it down, no pulling it back.
For the exercise later in this article, this is a useful starting position. It doesn’t mean that your tongue should stay in exactly the same position for every vowel or every word you sing. It just needs to change shape and position naturally as you sing different vowels and pronounce consonants.
Try saying “Ah” right now and see how your tongue feels. Then say “Ah” again and hold it comfortably for about five seconds. Notice whether your tongue stays relaxed or starts to tense up as you hold the sound. If you find yourself pushing it into a particular position, ease off. It shouldn’t need to be forced anywhere.
Using a mirror is a good way to build this awareness. Look at your tongue while you silently count from 5 down to 1. Try to keep it soft rather than holding it in place. Then say “Ah” and keep noticing. You’re not trying to fix anything yet. You’re just trying to see where the tension hides.
This simple exercise can also help you notice if your jaw is starting to tighten. Your jaw and tongue work closely together. So if you see or feel the jaw tightening, take a moment to relax before continuing.
A Simple Singing Exercise
Once you have a feel for your tongue, try this exercise. Sing every note on the vowel “Ah”.
The first four notes get one beat each, and the final C is held for four beats.
As you travel from C up to E and back down again, keep your attention on your tongue.
The audio below is the same exercise shown above, played on the piano. At the beginning of the audio, you will hear the starting C so you know which note to sing. You will then hear a four-beat count-in played on the hi-hat. The exercise, played on the piano, starts immediately after the count-in.
As you sing the exercise, listen to the quality of your voice as well as noticing how your tongue feels. Does the tongue suddenly pull backwards as you move towards the higher note? Does your jaw tighten? Does the sound start to feel squeezed or harder to produce? There’s no need to worry if you notice any of these things. They’re simply useful signs to pay attention to.
The tip can stay resting behind your lower front teeth while the rest of the tongue moves as it needs to. When you reach for the higher note, watch for the urge to pull the tongue back or tighten it. This is what we are trying to avoid.
On the final C, hold the note and keep both your tongue and jaw relaxed.
The long final note gives you a chance to notice what your tongue and jaw are doing while you hold the sound. See if you can keep the same easy feeling without pushing the tongue down, pulling it back or tightening your jaw.
Repeat it a few times. Aim for easy and relaxed, not big and powerful. If it feels almost too simple, that’s a good sign.
If you find that the tongue becomes tense, stop and reset rather than trying to force your way through the exercise. You can also try it again at a slightly different comfortable pitch. You’re trying to notice and let go of unnecessary tension, not see how high or loudly you can sing.
The Tongue Still Needs to Move
Let’s be clear on one thing: a relaxed tongue is not a motionless tongue.
Your tongue shifts position all the time when you sing. It’s how you shape different vowels, and it’s how consonants and words come out clearly. These exercises aren’t about stopping that movement. They’re about letting go of the extra effort that was never needed in the first place.
Different vowels naturally require different tongue shapes. That’s why the relaxed position used for the “Ah” exercise shouldn’t be treated as a fixed position that you have to maintain when singing every other vowel. Your tongue needs to be free to make those changes so you can sing the vowels and words clearly and comfortably.
The more aware of your tongue you become, the more you may find that singing takes less effort and feels freer.
Learning Healthy Singing Technique
Good technique takes time, and that’s perfectly normal. Breathing, vowels, resonance, articulation and your tongue all work together, so progress in one area tends to help the others.
At Do Re Mi Studios, our singing teachers guide students through these skills with practical exercises and regular lessons. If you’d like to develop your singing technique further, you can learn more about our singing lessons in the Sutherland Shire.