Sound and air directed into the nasal cavity produce a more “nasal” sound. The yellow arrow shows the air and sound going behind the soft palate toward the nasal cavity:
When the soft palate is “down” air and sound waves (originating at the vocal folds) can go behind the soft palate, and/or into the mouth. Like any athlete, singers are training muscle groups to work in extraordinary ways. In the initial stages of voice training, few students will be able to differentiate between contraction of the anterior and posterior bellies of the digastric – let alone between the adjacent geniohyoid and genioglossus muscles! Time, patience and practice, however, should eventually lead to appropriate control.” (McCoy, 2004, p.
#Soft palate trial
Control at this level is truly a learned behavior, often acquired only through extensive trial and error. “when the levator palati tenses to lift the soft palate, the palatoglossus muscle must remain relaxed and pliable to avoid the consequential elevation of tongue and larynx. To spell them out helps accentuate that there is a lot going on at the back of the throat, AND that everything is connected to everything else. This would not be important to mention if it were not for the fact that these complicated sounding muscles tend to be in competition with each other, which affects our ability to control the vocal tract. 145) The soft palate (and pharynx) are connected to the tongue, jaw, hyoid bone, and larynx by these five sets of muscles: In Scott McCoy’s book Your Voice: An Inside View, there is a diagram of the muscles and structures associated with articulation and how they are interconnected. The soft palate is connected to the other structures of “the voice” by 5 sets of muscles Do NOT say I didn’t warn you about *strange.* At least you’ve either been entertained or grossed out.Ģ. I shall put it after the “read more” tab below so you have time to prepare yourself for this little bit of weirdness.ĭid you catch that? Dude just put his tongue behind his soft palate. It’s quite bizarre, but it’s also an unforgettable demo. Honestly, the following video originally inspired this post. The uvula is that little dongle that hangs down from the soft palate, just in case you needed to know that.Īnother name for the soft palate is the velum. The soft palate dips down and can be seen at the back of the throat when you open your mouth. You will reach the edge of the “hard palate,” and run right into the soft palate. Take the tip of your tongue and run it along the roof of your mouth, starting at your teeth and moving backwards. But, before we head off into *strange,* find the soft palate in your own vocal tract. The following video is a graphic and bizarre look at the soft palate. Learn where the soft palate is and what it looks like Here are 5 things to know about the soft palate that may help you on your vocal journey.ġ. Either that, or we haven’t sung a note in our lives.) (Don’t get bent out of shape one way or the other, y’all – we have ALL experienced soft palate confusion. How can that be? How can we be so convinced that the soft palate is moving in one certain direction, to only find out that it is doing the exact opposite? Once she saw what was happening by looking in the mirror, the conversation was settled. Turns out the soft palate was lifting, but she was 100% convinced it was lowering. Just this week I went tête-à-tête with a client about whether her soft palate was lifting or lowering during a particular sound. The soft palate is one of those structures that both mystifies and intrigues us, and (at first) isn’t easy to control. There is much to know about the anatomy of vocal tract for singing and voice teaching.
edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from ).~almost a bazillion voice teachers, across time This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. Its lower portion, which hangs like a curtain between the mouth and pharynx is termed the palatine velum. Its upper border is attached to the posterior margin of the hard palate, and its sides are blended with the pharynx. Its posterior surface is convex, and continuous with the mucous membrane covering the floor of the nasal cavities. e., relaxed and pendent, its anterior surface is concave, continuous with the roof of the mouth, and marked by a median raphé. It consists of a fold of mucous membrane enclosing muscular fibers, an aponeurosis, vessels, nerves, adenoid tissue, and mucous glands. The Soft Palate (palatum molle) is a movable fold, suspended from the posterior border of the hard palate, and forming an incomplete septum between the mouth and pharynx.