What is twang? How does it relate to the tongue? And how can singers master this vocal technique? Read on to find out.

Speech and Language Therapist Kerrie Obert explains twang, the vocal technique that adds brightness to rock, musical theatre and pop performances.

First, let’s look at where the word ‘twang’ comes from

The word twang appeared in vocal pedagogy literature as early as the 1920s. The etymology of the word is that twang is a sound resembling a plucked string. A good example is the bright, brassy sound you hear when the string of a banjo is plucked.

In the 1980s, [vocal pioneer] Jo Estill re-popularised the term twang in relation to singing. Her definition of the tone was that it was a bright, brassy sound or a bright, piercing sound that resembled the cackling of a witch.

Twang can give vocalists a soulful, resonant sound.

Other terminology

In vocal pedagogy, terms that hint at elements of twang include ‘adding brightness’ or a feeling of ‘forward focus’. This is because when we’re twanging, we get this perception of the sound being in the front of the face.

What role does the pharynx play in creating twang?

Sometimes in singing we’re not aware that we’re shaping the pharynx for these various configurations—these things are often happening just with emotional intention.

We shape the pharynx because we need narrowing in the vocal tract somewhere to create resonance and a boost in spectral energy. And we’ve got options as to how we do this.

We can narrow using pharyngeal constrictors (there are three of them). These start at the level of the nose and wrap around. They give our throat its rounded shape, and when we swallow, they constrict.

We can use those muscles for lateral to medial narrowing (LMN) and get a concurrent lift of the pharynx that gives us a bright sound. We can also narrow the pharynx from front to back using the back of the tongue.

This option is called APN because we’re narrowing from anterior to posterior or from front to back in the pharynx. With APN, we’re controlling the back third of the tongue separately from the front two-thirds. It’s a mind-blowing concept and it can be hard for singers to imagine this because we haven’t had a lot of teaching on the tongue.

The tongue is a ‘miraculous structure’

A lot of teaching has suggested that the tongue is bad [when it comes to singing]. But I think that is because we don’t understand it well enough.

In actuality, the tongue is a marvellous structure: the front two-thirds can behave independently from the back third of the tongue. This is because we have muscles going in all different directions.

Tips for experimenting with twang

• Find the shape that you want in your pharynx in a quiet voice first. Ask: Is my pharynx right? Then you can go and add volume to that. Once you have the shape that you’re happy with, go back and play with adding in some volume.
• Be playful. Experiment with childhood sounds or try mimicking barnyard animals.

Learn more

Tune into the Singing Teachers Talk podcast to hear Kerrie Obert talk more about the mechanics of the pharynx and tongue.

Image credit: Canva