Courtney-McCoy-Chapter 9

 Summary: 

There are a variety of muscles involved in articulation so it can be easy to experience excess tension in this area. The tongue is important in forming vowels (formants) and consonants. It is made up of muscles that can raise the front and back of the tongue, curl the tongue, depress it, and pull it forward. In singing, the pharynx and palate are important for resonance. The pharynx can be widened and constricted and the soft palate can be lifted or lowered. Many of the same muscles connect these two structures and/or the tongue which can cause problems in vocalists. For example, certain muscles that raise the palate also raise the larynx. Like the tongue, the jaw is important for articulation of both vowels and consonants. The fact that the muscles that close the jaw are much stronger than those that open it, and the fact that using muscle antagonism will raise the larynx, make it essential to find as much release in the jaw as possible. 

Application:

Understanding these muscles has many direct applications to pedagogy. Due to the fact that all of these muscles are interconnected, it can be easy to use them in a way that creates tension in more than one, if not all, the articulators. When we understand how they work we can design exercises that separate the jaw from the tongue and the tongue from the palate etc. For example when we understand the tendency for the larynx to raise as we bring the tongue forward, we can design an exercise that allows students to find the correct tongue posturing (using the vowel [e] or [i]) while letting the larynx lower (precede the exercise with low panting).