Tongue questions

ulrich

Ken,

I've been watching videos of you over and over. I noticed that you tend to stick your tongue out a bit, especially when belting high note stuff. Does that "forward-moving" of the tongue help you to keep the throat open? I am right now in the middle of applying the open throat-feel with my repertoire. Very often I will have no problem doing higher phrases on an AHH vowel but when I sing the lyrics I feel like I'm swalloing a frog

I try to keep the tongue down, but for example on a phrase like "the night isn't over" it seems impossible (A below tenor C on "night") Should I modify the vowels?

On a side note, my neck seems to swell and ateries pop out when I sing high in chest. It doesn't hurt tough. Is that still a sign I'm overpowering?

Thanks for the insights,

Ulrich

Kokonuht

It could be a sign that tension is building up. Also, the sticking out tongue thing is an advanced open throat technique. For now, try mastering the curved tongue. I think some time in the future Ken will talk about the "lizard tongue".

"The night isn't over"
The = T (uh)
Night = N (ah) (ee) t
Isn't = (ee) s (uh) nt
Over = (oh) v (uh) r

Now try to trace back which base vowel these vowels come from and start with that vowel then immediately change to the desired vowel sound.

Eg: "The" T (uh). Which is like look (luhk). So you do it "LAH -> LUH K". However this is supposed to be done pretty quick that people can't tell you're singing LAH first . Takes time to practice the agility in getting into those vowel sounds!