A tongue trill is a speech technique that involves vibrating the tongue to produce a rolling “r” sound. This sound is created by the tongue tapping against the roof of the mouth in quick succession. Tongue trills are used in many languages and also have applications in speech therapy. Read on to learn more about how to do a tongue trill, its linguistic functions, and its uses in vocal exercises.
How to Do a Tongue Trill
Learning to correctly produce a tongue trill takes some practice but is relatively simple once you get the hand of it. Follow these steps to practice this technique:
- Open your mouth slightly and allow your jaw to relax.
- Place the tip of your tongue just behind your upper front teeth, lightly touching the alveolar ridge (the bumpy part behind the teeth).
- Elevate the middle portion of your tongue towards the roof of your mouth, leaving space on either side for air to pass through.
- Force air through the openings between your tongue and teeth/roof of mouth. You should feel the tongue vibrating rapidly as air flows over it.
- Maintain the tongue’s position while continuing to force air through. Adjust the tongue placement and air pressure as needed until you achieve a steady, buzzing trill sound.
Once you get comfortable with the basic tongue placement, try practicing tongue trills while voicing different sounds like “brrr,” “drrr,” or “grr.” Work on controlling the speed and duration of your trills. With practice, you’ll be able to smoothly transition into and out of the rattling tongue trill motion.
Linguistic Purposes
Across languages, tongue trills serve a variety of linguistic purposes:
- Rolled Rs – One of the most common uses of tongue trills is for rolling “r” sounds, known as alveolar trills. These are prevalent in Spanish words like “perro” and “carro.” The flapped “TT” in American English “butter” employs a quick single tongue trill.
- Consonant Distinction – Some languages use trilled consonants to differentiate letters. For example, the Spanish “rr” represents a distinct sound from “r.”
- Prosodic Effect – Tongue trills can emphasize certain words or phrases for prosodic effect. For example, a low, growling trill can indicate anger or frustration.
- Tonal Contrast – In tonal languages like Mandarin Chinese, tongue trills distinguish between tones and pitches in words. These subtle sound contrasts carry lexical and grammatical significance.
Native speakers learn to produce these tongue trills from a very young age when acquiring their language. But mastering new trilled sounds can prove challenging for language learners later in life.
Speech Therapy Uses
Beyond linguistics, tongue trills also serve several functions in speech therapy:
- Oral Motor Skill – The complex tongue coordination required helps develop overall oral motor control and strength.
- Respiratory Control – Managing steady airstream during the trill promotes proper breath support.
- Speech Clarity – Rapid tongue movements massage and stimulate the tongue, improving articulation.
- Rolled /R/ – As mentioned, trills can help correct difficulty rolling “r” sounds.
Some speech disorders that can benefit from tongue trill exercises include:
| Speech Disorder | Tongue Trill Benefits |
|---|---|
| Apraxia of speech | Improves motor planning abilities for speech |
| Dysarthria | Increases control over weak tongue muscles |
| Childhood apraxia of speech | Develops sequencing and coordination of speech movements |
| Speech delay | Provides oral stimulation to encourage speech development |
| Lisps | Enhances tongue tip elevation and positioning |
| Cleft palate speech | Builds strength to redirect airflow through nasal passage |
A speech language pathologist can provide specific guidance on how to leverage tongue trills to target an individual’s speech goals.
Vocal Warm Up
Tongue trills are commonly used as a vocal warm up exercise for singers and public speakers. Here are some of the benefits for voice:
- Loosens the tongue, jaw, and lips
- Activates and increases blood flow to the resonating structures
- Encourages optimal positioning of the tongue and soft palate
- Prepares the vocal cords for phonation
- Warms up breathing muscles
This makes tongue trills an excellent exercise to add to a pre-performance vocal routine. Try alternating between short and long trills, on different pitches, and in conjunction with head voice slides up and down the range. With a sufficiently warmed up voice, trills can also be incorporated while singing. Add in vowel sounds to trill through vocal riffs and arpeggios for an added challenge.
Sample Vocal Warm Up with Tongue Trills
Here is a sample 5 minute vocal warm up sequence incorporating tongue trills:
- 30 seconds of relaxed, mindful breathing
- 30 seconds humming with lips closed
- 5 rounds of slow and controlled deep breathing
- 30 seconds light tongue trills on a comfortable mid-range pitch
- 30 seconds tongue trills up and down a five note scale
- 1 minute of continuous tongue trills, slowly increasing pitch
- 30 seconds tongue trills with head voice slides up and down range
- 1 minute of tongue trills alternating between short and long trills
After completing this sequence, the voice and resonating structures should feel more awake, flexible, and prepared for phonation. The trills effectively massage and stimulate the speech mechanisms. Be sure to start softly to avoid excess muscle tension. Focus on steady airstream and smooth tongue movements. This simple routine can be expanded or condensed as needed.
Fun Tongue Trills
Once you master the basic tongue trill technique, you can start to have some fun with it by trying:
- Accents – Trill through words or phrases in funny accents and voices.
- Songs – Add trills as a garnish while singing songs, rapping, or scatting.
- Animal sounds – Imitate rolling purrs, growls, and rhythmic sounds.
- Sirens – Simulate the sound of a police siren with oscillating pitch trills.
- Beatboxing – Incorporate tongue trills into basic beatboxing patterns.
You can also try “tongue trill twisters” – say a tricky tongue twister phrase while trilling. See how fast you can go without messing up! These kinds of games engage your articulatory muscles and oral motor skills in new ways.
Conclusion
The tongue trill is a valuable vocal technique with many applications. It develops important skills for speech production and language development. With practice, anyone can learn to perform tongue trills and incorporate them into linguistic, therapeutic, and creative contexts. Start by mastering the basic tongue placement and air flow, then explore different variations. Tongue trills are a fun way to strengthen and stimulate the speech organs while warming up the voice.