The 4 Best Vocal Exercises to Release Tongue Tension for Singers

Tongue tension is an incredibly common cause of vocal issues in singing (I did another video all about the signs here: • What are the Signs of ... )
But how do we get rid of this tension? How do we train our voice to be able to hit high notes and add power without tensing, retracting, pushing or flailing around?
Here are 4 of the best exercises for relaxing and releasing your tongue to be used on repeat in your singing practice sessions:
1. Raspberry (2:26)
2. Tongue resting on bottom lip (3:21)
3. Tongue slightly folded over bottom teeth (6:10)
4. Tongue behind bottom lip in EE vowel (7:11)
Let me know in a comment below what your favourite vocal exercise was and what changes you noticed!
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𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩)…
Head this way and choose the free workshop that excites you the most: thatsweetroar.com/free-singin...

[@reflectingtrees]

Oh my goodness this is working for me. Though my raspberry work is pathetic.
You articulate these work outs incredibly well.
I must say "you've got a beautiful aura illuminating around you."

[@thatsweetroar]

Thanks so much for your very kind words! I'm delighted that the exercises are working for you (and don't worry if the raspberry is not for you, work with the other two). And how beautiful that you think my aura has a good energy, thank you! 😊

[@PurgatoryProductions]

Bit of background, I recently performed my last gig with an old band a few days ago. During the performance, I found that much of my high end; mixed voice notes were almost impossible to achieve. I knew going into the gig that it wasn't going to be 100% because we hadn't really practiced all that much before the show, and it had been around a month since Id been singing the material regularly. It bothered me, so after the show I did some digging online and got a more solid understanding of the tessitura. My voice tightening back up likely seems to be the culprit of the issue. But looking into this area of the voice also pointed out some issues with my own voice that seemed beyond vocal stretching.
A problem I've always had with listening back to live performances with my singing is noticing this "throaty" tone to my notes that usually isn't there when I'd record in the studio. I always chalked it up to live dynamics leaving me less confident unless I pushed harder so I'd come out more clear in the monitors. But after reading your article online and coming to this video, I think it may be more of a tension and pressure issue. I guess the point of this comment is basically to ask if you've heard of this issue before. Specially in the live setting. And if so, what steps can I take to project more without relying on this bad habit. Does this sound like I'd need a coach, or could I take steps on my own to eliminate this problem?

[@thatsweetroar]

This is a great question, thanks so much for asking it! If it's only cropping up in the live setting I think you might be right that it's because of either nerves/insecurities or pushing because you can't hear yourself very well on stage.
Re nerves or the notion that we feel we need to "impress" people when performing - this CAN bring it tension such as the tongue or the jaw, a way of trying harder (or sometimes holding our voice back).
If it's an issue regarding not hearing yourself and over-singing because of this, where possible working with whoever is in charge of the sound in sound check to get the balance right can be helpful. Otherwise in ear monitors can be supportive for some singers. Another way of training ourselves to stop over-singing can be using noise-cancelling headphones to help us pay more attention to the FEELING.
In terms of learning/coaching, the one thing that could be beneficial would be to learn about vowel shaping and how you can boost the acoustics/resonance/projection.

[@Evolveweb]

🎉 your teaching style is amazing

[@thatsweetroar]

Thank you so much Justin, that's so kind of you to say! 😊

[@veronicaeugenia2231]

Thank you, Kim! I can't wait to immediately incorporate these exercises. I'm intuiting that ninety percent of my vocal issues are tongue tension related.❤

[@thatsweetroar]

That's so exciting Veronica, I hope you already noticed a difference simply testing out the before and afters for yourself. Let me know how it goes after you've explored them for a while! x