Step 5: Sing Freely 

Sing these exercises with a relaxed and free jaw, neck and tongue. A tight tongue can muffle the sound and affect the warmth of your tone, causing you to unnecessarily force your voice.

Tongue exercises:

• Put the tip of the tongue between the lips and then swallow.

• Put half the tongue between the lips and then swallow.

• Put the whole tongue out fully, as far as you can, and then swallow.

• Next, pull out the tongue and imagine a clock face; point the tongue to 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 9 o’clock and 6 o’clock.

• Use a mirror to look at yourself doing these exercises. Pull your tongue all the way out and sing a siren going up. Do not let the tongue return into the mouth.

Lay lee lee: keep the tongue light and relaxed as you sing this exercise.

Ma ma ma: sing these in one breath, remembering to keep the tongue, jaw and neck relaxed.

Variation: sing to other sounds such as ‘me’ and ‘maw’.

Delay: pay careful attention to your vowels when singing this exercise. Be aware of the diphthong (two vowel sounds within the same vowel) and target the sound at the front of the word, completing the rest quickly at the end of the note. Sing the exercise in one breath.