How to Place the Jaw in Female Voice Training

The ability to properly place the jaw while singing is a crucial component of female voice training. Correct jaw placement makes the female singer appear more attractive, poised and relaxed. Even more importantly it helps her produce superior vocal tone. To develop proper jaw placement while singing, follow these steps.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Begin with good posture. Stand up straight with shoulders sloping and relaxed, chin level and head up. Keep the front of your neck loose, rather than stretched. This posture will help put your jaw into proper position for voice training.

2. Relax your jaw, and keep it relaxed as you sing. Do this by letting your jaw drop open as you form your words instead of using your muscles to forcefully open your mouth. This is known as lengthening your jaw.

3. Maintain proper chin posture even when singing very high or very low notes. This will ensure that your jaw remains properly aligned for optimal voice training no matter what material you may be working on. An accomplished singer never cranes her neck forward or juts out her chin when reaching for high notes, nor does she tuck in or drop her chin when executing low notes. This consistent posture helps to create a more balanced voice training session and, eventually, a more pleasing performance.

4. Open your mouth only wide enough to get a full, resonant tone, but no wider. The idea that powerful singers open their mouths as wide as possible is a myth. Although singing requires opening the mouth wider than speaking does, exactly how wide depends not only on the specific vowel or consonant sung, but also on the pitch and volume of the note. To help facilitate correct jaw placement, experiment to find the optimal mouth size for each sound you sing.

Tips & Warnings

• If you find yourself looking up at the ceiling while practicing, that should be your cue that your jaw placement is incorrect. Make your gaze level again, which will help bring your jaw back into proper alignment. A level line of vision during voice training can also help prepare you to engage your audience when you later advance to performing in public.
• Practice in front of a mirror so you can more accurately measure how well your jaw's relaxation and alignment, as well as your overall body posture, conform to the instructions given in each of the above steps.