Meet Your Soft Palate

You’ve seen it in the mirror, that soft pink flap of skin at the very back of your mouth from which the little blob of tissue dangles down toward the tongue (the uvula). This marvel of a muscle is very helpful in swallowing, coughing, yawning, speaking and singing.

I teach that soft palates play an integral role in keeping the air pressure in the larynx low so the vocal mechanism can vibrate freely and the vocal cords can change freely from pitch to pitch. Together with steady, strong appoggio in the trunk of our bodies, our soft palates help to keep the air pressure in the larynx as light as a gentle sigh.

While studying with Audrey Stottler I discovered that movements of the soft palate differ for the different parts of my vocal range. Disruptive low range laryngeal pressure magically disappears when the soft palate flattens and moves forward low behind the back of the hard palate. My high, light soprano easily navigates pitches below the staff with a strong and focused tone when I tell my soft palate to move forward aggressively at ‘low altitude.’ At the same time, the sense of reliable strength and connection from low back muscles into the back of the sternum keeps the airflow slow and steady so that pressure is held away from the larynx both from above and below. As a result the larynx (which has been ‘breathed free’ during inhale) is able to hang loosely so that resonance can freely mix from chest through to head. Another wonderful result of low palate movement is the smoothing of the low passaggio (passageway) at E flat 4 through F sharp 4. No cracks!!

I usually teach the low palate from G sharp 4 and below for women’s voices, although certain voices and certain repertoire can blur the shifting point. My students begin by speaking a low range syllable, “DDDEE-AH.” While holding the articulation of the ‘D’ loosely against the alveolar ridge the singer experiences the sense of breath filling the airway from deep in the chest to the tip of the tongue. It should produce a sensation of the larynx floating in a tube of air both below and above. The awareness of breath pressure gently filling the under side of the soft palate awakens the palate to be ready to spring low, wide and forward at the onset of the ‘EE’ vowel. When the singer moves from ‘EE’ to ‘AH’ the soft palate continues to stretch forward above a relaxed tongue.

Usually starting on G sharp 4 and upward to F sharp 5, I ask students to imagine the middle layer of soft palate muscle arching upward in the center as if to ‘climb’ onto the back of the hard palate. As the pitch rises toward F sharp, the soft palate will have a greater arch (horseshoe image?) that widens, grows higher, and ‘hooks’ forward toward the back of the nasal cavity. I call the this mid-layer of soft palate the ‘WOO’ layer. Lower pitches are ‘gentle WOO’ and as one enters the upper passaggio, they become ‘SUPER WOO’ arches. It is very important to remember that the singer perceives the movements of the soft palate as a trigger for deep laryngeal release rather than a means of ‘placing the voice’ or ‘projecting the sound.’

At G 5, it is time to release pressure in the larynx by activating the third layer of soft palate muscle. This muscle forms the top layer of the soft palate. It attaches to the floor of the nose and runs downward behind the lower two layers to end in that weird, soft ‘tail’ that we see when we look at our throats in the mirror. In partnership with the very top of the naso-pharyngeal muscles at the top of the airway, we stretch those muscles as if to produce a very nasal tone on the syllable ‘AE’ as in hat. The result is a good balance of body strength with the stretch at the top of the airway. It feels quite strange, but allows for high range production without fear and fatigue.

Stay tuned for refinements to my ideas on this subject. I have not researched scientific studies on this. I just note that it has made significant improvements in my studio. Students report less vocal fatigue and more stamina, increased flexibility and range, and the ability to successfully produce the musical ideas they hear in their heads. Tone quality is clearer, stronger and more beautiful across the board as LOVS singers learn the role of soft palate in balancing air pressure. – LJO