tongue tension is a thing. so i made a quick live about it.
CLICK HERE if you wanna’ JUST WATCH IT ALREADY (in all it’s 20-minute glory!) … but if you’d rather do the highlights? HERE THEY ARE:
00:00 “Am I live? I hate the new FaceBook Live thing. I guess I’m live. THE BUTTON DOWN THERE SAYS I’M LIVE. GAH”
- “Hi. I’m Shannon Coates, creator of The Vocal Instrument 101 and I am not at all off my rocker. NOT AT ALL.”
- REAL LIFE TESTIMONIAL ABOUT THE RESONANCE SECTION OF THE VOCAL INSTRUMENT 101 that didn’t make me want to cry AT ALL.
- “I came in here today to …” #sawrynotsawry
2:20 Tongue tension is the symptom, not THE THING. (and to prove it, here’s an analogy.)
- SQUIRREL
- “I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE NEW FACEBOOK LIVE THINGGIE AND IT IS DISTRACTING ME. IS ANYONE OUT THERE? WHERE ARE THE COMMENTS? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHO AM I?!“
4:17 Why do we have tongue tension, anyway? (if you’re not in to watching my shannonigans [see what I did there? #ikillme], START WATCHING THE VIDEO HERE.)
- “muscle sandwich” (yeah. I said it.)
- neck sticky-outness alert (yeah. That’s the medical terminology.)
- training is good for something (#pinkyswear)
- “you’re not a piano” (although you look good in black and white, dahlink.)
- IS ANYONE OUT THERE?! (*shakes fists at the sky* literally)
8:54 ALL THAT TO SAY …
- life isn’t fair
- “mer mer merrr“
- “THE BODY FOLLOWS OUR INTENTION” [#truthbomb]
11:20 Also: physiology is a thing.
- #shoutout to my Singing Through Change colleagues
- “aren’t you so impressed by my #voiceped texts? i thought so.”
- quick note on male expanding voice #yourewelcome
- punny. but not really.
14:35 oh. And here’s what to do. FINALLY.
- send them to a voice doctor. #scopestellyouwhatshappeningsoyourenotguessing
- consider sending them to an SLP. #especiallyiftheyneedvocalrehabilitationcuzthatsnotourjob
- what to do. #explanationfirstexercisesafter
- GIVE THOSE MUSCLES SOMETHING ELSE TO DO
- ENCOURAGE THE COORDINATION THAT WILL ALLOW THOSE MUSCLES TO NOT NEED TO “HELP OUT”
- summary of what to do. NOW WITH MORE GIVING OF THE FINGER. #yourewelcomeforthatdearfriend
17:20 ACTUAL DEMONSTRATION OF ACTUAL EXERCISE(S) TO TRY (AKA what you’ve been waiting for this entire time)
- movement in the body to release the torso: draw a circle on the floor with your tailbone
- give the tongue something else to do: lick the outside and inside of the teeth over and over again
- use an SOVT to encourage the most efficient phonation possible: in this case, mmm (ie lips closed)
- give your body an external cue re breath energy and/or breath pressure: Hoberman Sphere [better for breath energy cues] OR resistance band (or scarf) [better for breath pressure cues]
- Hoberman? Holderman? WHO KNOWS?!
JK. THIS is the actual demonstration.
- “we don’t care what it sounds like [in a manner of speaking. ahem]; what we care about is the process.”
- “It’s not covid.”
- one final shot at FaceBook-the-Jerk.
Alright, friends. THAT WAS A LONG READ. And if you made it ALL THE WAY TO HERE? I CONGRATULATE YOU. With MANY CONGRATULATIONS.
I hope this wee talk was useful for ya’ and, as I said in the intro to the video, if you want more #voiceped goodness, I hope you’ll check out my online course, The Vocal Instrument 101 and get on my mailing list so you’ll KNOW ALL THE THINGS AS THEY HAPPEN.
#teachyourfaceoff,
Shannonigans. I’M DYING HAHAHHA.
On another note, thank you for a PERRY GOOD VIDEO (see what *I* did there?)
HAAHAHAHAAAAA!!
I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.