Another Jaw Question

[Guest]

Hey folks,

Got another jaw question for you. As I'm sure most of you know, the lower jaw in a retracted position can open up let's say half of the way, but in order to open further you need the condoyles to move down and forward. To feel what I'm talking about, put your hands on your cheekbones and open your mouth as tall as you can - those thingies that move forward to let your jaw drop are what I'm talking about.

This brings me to my question. When you're dropping your jaw, let's say for a high note, do you only drop it as far as you can keep it retracted? Or do you go all-in and let the condoyles move forward and all that?

If you're not sure, sing a little 3 tone scale on the vowel "awe" in or near your passagio. Did those things near your cheekbones come forward, or stay back as though you were singing "uh"?

[Guest]

True that... it's all bewildering to me. I have found that when I let those condoyles move forward I feel kind of a cool, spacious feeling behind my upper molars, which I like because it's reassurance that the next thing I sing is going to be bright and resonant. That just brings up more questions though, like is the relationship between the molar thing and resonance causal or correlative? Can you stimulate the molar feeling without moving the condoyles forward? Blah blah blah... always another discovery to be made!