Singing tips: the jaw

Among other parts of your body that are used when singing, the jaw is not the first one we usually think about. It's usually when it's not working properly that we become conscious of how important it is. Indeed, when stressed or under pressure, like prior to singing a karaoke song or going on stage for a concert, we can feel this resistance due to the tension in our muscles. As well as a tight throat, a tight jaw becomes an obstacle for the diffusion of sounds.

Paying close attention to your jaw is especially important before singing. Like a professional athlete, you'll need to warm up and stretch your jaw for flexibility and to overcome the tension. We're not saying you'll need to be like Jim Carrey, but simple exercises will be enough.

Exercise #1 : let-it-go

The easiest and most natural exercise is to let your jaw relax. Open your mouth slowly (don't break anything) and keep your lower jaw hanging towards your neck. Your sex-appeal will be reduced to zero for a short time and you will look silly, but this will relax your muscles between your jaws. Put one finger on each junction between both jaws and try to feel the hole that just appeared. Keep your fingers on it for about 10 seconds.

Exercise #2 : massaging

Put your index and middle finger at the back of your cheeks, next to your ears. Open your mouth slowly until you feel a small bump in your jaw. Massage your jaw where your fingers are, but not too hard. You should soon feel an urge to yawn. Don't try to stop it, yawning means your jaw needs to relax.

Exercise #3 : rest your neck

Place your hands behind your head and on your neck, so that you are supporting your head. Relax the muscles of your head. Your hands should only be supporting your head now. Sing like this, and you should feel your jaw relax and your voice gaining strength.

Exercise #4 : reading

Talk out loud using words with a long « o » sound ([o:]). For instance, « rose », « pose », « close », « vote ». Your jaw will work in a position that will allow it to relax.

Practice these exercises just before singing, and you should be able to notice the differences right away, and improve your singing.

Published on: 5 November 2014