“You’ve got style-oglossus… and jaw tension!” On Tongue-Tie Tuesdays

Tongue-Tie Tuesdays with Jacqueline Ward.

You’ve got style-oglossus… and jaw tension!

The styloglossus is a tongue muscle that runs along the sides of the tongue. It starts at the styloid process of the temporal bone AND the stylomandibular ligament- mandibular, mandible, jaw. The function of this muscle is to retract or pull back the tongue, and lift the sides of the tongue.

But what else might happen when it is under tension, being pulled forward by the frenulum and genioglossus muscle? You might have guessed it: it pulls on the stylomandibular ligament, which in turn pulls on the… mandible and its associated muscles.

Tongue and jaw independence are very important in singing and healthy day-to-day function. Every student of any credible voice teacher has learnt about tongue and jaw independence. We should be able to articulate certain vowels and consonants, and move from note to note, without “help” by moving the jaw. Some struggle with this more than others and for many of those singers, the root cause is restriction caused by tongue-tie.

I know even professional singers who were diligent with good technique for years, yet they continued to struggle with this… Only to discover they were tongue-tied.

Styloglossus tension can look like a retracted jaw, retracted tongue, lifted sides of the tongue but potentiallywith a dip in the middle, and chin tucking. Symptoms can look like TMJ dysfunction and jaw pain, headaches, ear problems like ringing and popping, inability to isolate jaw movement when singing, and jaw tension when opening the mouth. Sound symptoms include a broken legato line, and a darker tone with less clarity.

If this sounds like you, and you’ve found yourself in practice time, saying, “WHY CAN’T I RELAX MY JAW?!” it might be time to have a closer look at your tongue.

On the side, since the styloglossus inserts into the hyoglossus, hyo as in hyoid bone, it can also effect the all-important larynx, which we’ll talk about next week. Spoiler alert: it raises it!

I’m Jacqueline Ward, see you next Tongue-Tie-Tuesday!

Ask questions in the comments!

~ Jacqueline Ward

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