Dependence of jaw opening on pitch and vowel in singers

In singing, F0 sometimes is much higher than the typical frequency value of F1. According to previous investigations, sopranos raise F1 to a frequency near F0 by widening the jaw opening in such cases. In the present study, the jaw opening was measured in 10 professional singers of different categorizations whose task was to sing an ascending two-octave scale on different vowels. Their normal F1 values for these vowels were determined at a low F0. Only for the vowels /a/ and /a/ did the singers widen the jaw opening when F0 approached the F1 value measured at a low pitch. For the other vowels, jaw opening was widened, beginning at a higher F0. It is assumed that for these vowels the singers used other articulatory means to increase F1.