SENSATION AND POSITION OF THE TONGUE
We feel the placing of its tip against or beneath the front teeth; and place the tip very low, so that it really curves over in front. ([See plate].)
Its hinder part must be drawn back toward the palate, in the pronunciation of every letter.
Furthermore, by looking in the mirror we can see that the sides of the tongue are raised as soon as we wish to form a furrow in it; that is, as we must do to produce the palatal resonance. (Only in the head tone—that is, the use of the resonance of the head cavities without the added palatal resonance—has the tongue no furrow; it must, however, lie very high, since otherwise its mass, when it lies flat, presses against the larynx and produces pinched or otherwise disagreeable tones.)
The best way is to get the mass of the tongue out of the way by forming the furrow in it. In high notes, when the larynx must stand as high as possible, the back of the tongue also must stand very high; but since there is a limit to this, we are often compelled to make the larynx take a lower position.
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The correct position of the tongue, preparatory to singing, is gained by saying the vowel sound aou, as if about to yawn.
The tongue must not scrape around upward with its tip. As soon as the tip has been employed in the pronunciation of the consonants l, n, s, t, and z, in which its service is very short and sharp, it must return to its former position, and keep to it.
It is best to watch the movements of the tongue in the mirror until we have formed the correct habit permanently. The more elastic the tongue is in preparing the form for the breath to pass through, the stiller will it appear, the stiller will it feel to us. It is well, however, for a considerable time to watch in a mirror all functions of the organs that can be seen; the expression of the face, the position of the mouth, and the movement of the lips.