You might thing that vocal warm-ups are a waste of time. However, if you've ever heard someone sing and thought to yourself "They sound like an angel", you might be interested to know that, in order to sound like that, even the most gifted singers have to go through very down to earth procedures to keep their voice in top form. It all begins with vocal training exercises and warm ups.
You need to look at singing as a sport, if you want to keep your voice in top form. For example, would you expect a professional swimmer to swim in a meet right after eating a large meal? Of course not! Yet, many people might ask you to sing at the spur of the moment during dinner parties or at other inopportune times. If you really want those people to hear you at your best, you should take the time to do some vocal warm-ups before you sing.
In an ideal situation, under the best possible circumstances, you should do vocal warm-ups on a regular basis, in the form of vocal training exercises. You should do them as a way to get in touch with your inner self, calm yourself and exercise your vocal chords and larynx muscles. Vocal warm-ups should not be done when you are hurried or rushed, if you want the best results from them. It should be a fun, relaxing experience for you.
Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. Often, you may find yourself in a hurry to perform. There just may not seem to be enough time in the day for a relaxing warm up. You might be stressed trying to memorize a song or prepare for a performance. Even in such situations, though, vocal warm-ups are essential.
Each singer will have his or her own technique for doing vocal warm-ups. Some start by exercising their entire bodies. They then begin focusing on their articulation muscles, which are the muscles that control the tongue, soft palette, lips and jaw.
No matter how you choose to begin, it is a good idea to begin your vocal training exercises by starting in your mid-range voice and moving to your lower and upper registers afterwards. Recent studies indicate that extreme changes from high to low or low to high can cause harmful and uncomfortable muscle tension. So, you should always do vocal warm-ups before attempting such pitch leaps.
Cooling down is also important. Just as if you were a runner after a marathon, you should do cool down exercises to relax your vocal chords after a performance. Which cool down exercises you do depends on what type of singing you've been doing. For instance, it may be helpful to sing in a falsetto voice a bit, as a cool down, if you have been using a "belting" voice. Also, it can be helpful to massage your jaw, as well as your neck and shoulders, as a way of relaxing after a performance.
No matter which vocal warm-ups you choose to do, the key is consistency. By practicing vocal training exercises on a regular basis, you can improve your voice quality and keep your voice as healthy as possible.
Coming from a classical singing background and years of 7 a.m. choir rehearsals, I find it really helps if you are up at least one hour before you are expected to perform.
If you're awake 60 minutes before you hit the mic, you'll be alert (hopefully!) and also may have already spoken to someone, using your voice a wee bit to prepare for your warm up. During that interval, you may have possibly eaten breakfast, had a drink, showered, and dressed for the day.
Waking up earlier for an 'early' session does more than stabilize your vocal folds, it gets you in form mentally as well.
OK, so that's getting up an hour before. How about these ones?
Have you ever tried humming?
A loose, gentle modulating hum is a nice way to ease in your facial muscles as well as create space for resonant sound. It gets your resonators going which in turn will help restore your vocal tone quality after sleeping for several hours.
One of the favorites at the Don Wright Faculty of Music was The Hum closely followed by lip trills.
On one occasion, a classmate of mine had to run from her residence at the main gates on Richmond Street over the bridge at UWO doing lip trills in the dead of winter as she scrambled to get to her lesson in the Music Building near Talbot College. She sounded great! Now, that's a feat.
Also, another good trick to open up the passages is to descend on a nasal consonant sound. If you are a fan or student of IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet), you know that there are a number of ways you can warm up your sinuses and nasal passages.
Take the English word onion for example. It's quite nasal, particularly the second syllable. The 'gn' sound, as in the Italian "gnocchi" is precisely what I'm thinking about.
Take that 'gn' sound and lovingly stretch it, slide it, and descend glissando style. Go from the fifth down to the root of a scale on that with an 'ah' sound.
Another favorite warm up is voicing anything that ends in a Z, like buzz or fuzz. Linger on the Z to get resonating as well.
Back to some more ideas.
Articulate, articulate, articulate. This is one of the most important aspects of your performance. If you don't articulate or enunciate clearly, no one is going to understand a word of what you are saying.
Here are five tongue twisters that are old hat for some but may be new to your repertory:
1. Unique New York, Unique New York, Unique New York.... (repeat and speed up as necessary) 2. A big black bug bit a big black bear 3. She sells sea shells by the sea shore 4. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers 5. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
One trick to see if your diction is clear is to ask someone who doesn't know you to listen to you speak. If they have trouble deciphering your message, it's time to go back to the drawing board and really start spitting out those consonants.
Well, that may be good for resonators and articulators, but what about range?
Yawning is a good thing. Yawning naturally drops your jaw and regulates oxygen while extending your soft palate. With more oxygen flowing up to your brain, you'll also find that you are more alert. Yawning is one of those involuntary responses produced by your autonomic nerve system.
Have you ever heard of the 'yawn-sigh'?
You open your mouth as if to yawn and slide all the way down from the top of your vocal range to the lowest grumble you can muster. You'll know when you bottom out. Only do this a few times tops per warm up and never start with this one - leave it until the end when you have already exercised your voice.
Now, those are just a number of things you can do to get going with your voice.
It may go without saying, but a good sleep the night before, about eight hours if you can swing it, and a well conditioned, lubricated voice is the best preparation for warming up at the crack of dawn.
If you're a multi-tasker, you could probably fit your warm ups into your morning shower routine. The acoustics will be great and warm water is also a plus.
Just so that we're all aware, these warm ups are not solely reserved for early risers but for any vocal activity at any time.
Also, please note: The sillier you sound and the better a warm up makes you feel, the more elastic, agile and comfortable your voice will become. Have fun with it!
Both Lisa Lopez & Stephanie Ciccarelli are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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