Mewing, or orthotropics is a technique that’s usually practiced to gain a more defined jawline, get rid of a double chin, and improve looks. It involves a series of oral posture exercises that affect the structure of your face, making it look more toned and youthful.
However, mastering mewing can give you more than just cosmetic improvements. In fact, the positive outcomes of mewing can also include noticeable changes in your vocal depth, clarity, and range.
In this article, we’re going to explore:
- 👄 The anatomy of the mouth and vocal tract
- 🔎 Exactly how does mewing change your voice
- ✅ The vocal health benefits of the mewing technique and more.
Anatomy of the Mouth and Vocal Tract
The vocal tract, or larynx, is responsible for the production of sound in humans. It’s located just above the lungs and features a tube with two flaps that vibrate at various speeds. This speed determines whether a lower or higher-pitched sound will be produced.
The oral cavity is responsible for adding shape to the sound that comes out of the larynx, forming it into syllables and words. These two, paired with the lower part of the skull, the chest, the pharynx, the tracheal tree, and the nasal cavity, form something called the resonating area.
If your resonating area is more spacious, your voice will be deeper. Given that hard mewing is a technique that works on opening up vital parts of the resonating area through exercises, it can help you achieve a naturally deeper pitch.
Effects of Mewing on Your Voice and Singing
Let’s start by exploring the 5 main effects you can achieve if you develop a consistent mewing practice.
Improving Neck and Jaw Position
When the head is pushed forward, and the jaw rest position is open, your throat and neck muscles stiffen. This happens for a variety of reasons, including an uneven jaw, mouth breathing, crooked teeth, and bite problems.
This poor posture constricts the larynx and doesn’t allow enough space for a deeper sound to form. By practicing effective mewing as an alternative way to fix uneven jaw, you can help relax these muscles, widen the resonating area, and achieve a clearer, deeper voice.
Proper Tongue Posture
For most people, the default tongue position has the tongue rest comfortably against the hard palate. If the tongue rests unnaturally, it applies pressure on the jaw and affects your voice and overall appearance.
When you practice mewing, you engage the posterior third of the tongue, which helps to develop the resonating area and gain a better vocal quality.
Strengthening the Tongue and Facial Muscles
Having tongue and facial muscles that are strong can help you with your diction and articulation. Effective mewing can develop strength in these areas and allow you to speak more clearly, pronounce words more easily, and avoid getting tongue-tied.
Mewing voice exercises also help by boosting the jaw mobility, which allows for additional control.
Increased Nasal Airflow
The nasal cavity is one of the seven resonating cavities. If it’s blocked or deviated, it can badly affect the way your voice sounds. Through mewing, you can help develop the area and free up the cavity, allowing for unobstructed airflow and nose breathing.
Improved Tongue Positioning
An essential part of mewing is pressing the tongue on the roof of the mouth. This keeps the tongue in a flexed position, makes it stronger, and tones the throat and neck muscles as well.
Learning the correct tongue positioning when mewing will give you more control when speaking and allow for more space within the throat, promoting more resonant speaking.
Factors that Affect Voice Changes from Mewing
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Now that we’ve explored how mewing affects your vocals, we’d like to go over the effects of other factors.
Age
As you age, you start experiencing natural muscle deterioration, loss of resonance, and noticeable changes in the volume. Mewing encourages exercising some of your main resonating areas and reduces the effects of ageing on your voice.
Duration and Consistency of Mewing
If you don’t mew consistently and regularly, you may start losing the benefits you’ve gained. Follow the example of many mewing patients, turn it into a regular, day-to-day thing, and reap all the mewing voice change benefits.
Illness
Illnesses that affect lung capacity can lead to compromised breathing and a weaker voice. Inflammation of the vocal cords can also affect the tone and intensity of speech.
Sleeping Disorders
Conditions like OSA and mouth breathing can also affect the quality of your voice. You should avoid sleeping positions that worsen OSA and learn how to mew to prevent sleep apnea.
Teeth
If you have uneven teeth, larger front teeth, tooth decay, or another condition that affects the way you breathe, you can end up with compromised oral health, which can affect your voice.
Why Mewing is Healthy for Your Voice?
To wrap up, let’s look at the top 5 benefits of mewing on vocal resonance.
Stronger Muscles
A stronger neck, face, and lips mean more control over speaking and articulation.
Wider Resonating Cavities
By practicing mewing, you’re causing internal changes within the face and introducing more space into crucial parts of your resonating cavities.
Correct Tongue Positioning
A good tongue posture is essential to a properly-formed oral cavity, which can affect your speaking in a positive way. Furthermore, it can help keep your lips sealed, which encourages you to breathe through the nose.
Improved Jaw
A better, stronger, more defined jaw also means more control over your speech and supports a good overall oral posture.
Confidence
This effect may not be medical, but it’s definitely a positive one. Scientific evidence shows that confident people tend to speak in a lower, more stable tone and are able to speak faster and more clearly.
Does Mewing Make Your Voice Deeper?
When you take everything into account, mewing can help to make your pitch deeper.
Whether you decide to go for an advanced hard mewing method or soft mewing, we hope you’ll manage to improve not only the structure of your face but the quality of your resonance as well.
To avoid mewing mistakes, we recommend using the Mewing.coach app to ensure correct and effective exercising.
