Vocal warm up

A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises which prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use.

Why Warm Up

A study by Elliott, Sundberg, & Gramming emphasized that changing pitch undoubtedly stretches the muscles, and any singer will tell you that vocal warm-ups make them feel more prepared.

Physical whole-body warm-ups also help prepare a singer. Muscles all over the body are used when singing (the diaphragm being one of the most obvious). Stretches of the abdomen, back, neck, and shoulders are important to avoid stress, which influences the sound of the voice.

Some warm ups also train your voice. Sometimes called vocalises, these activities teach breath control, diction, blending, and balance.

How To Warm Up

Range and Tone

Start easy, with light humming. Pick a note in the middle of your range (Middle C is reasonable) and begin humming. Move between notes, but stay in the middle range.If you get bored with humming, try lip trills or tongue trills, which will additionally "wake up your breathing" by requiring more air than a hum.

To start warming up your range, sigh from the top of your range to the bottom, letting the voice fall in a glissando without much control. Do several of these, working on getting really to the highest and lowest parts of your range.

Next, sing an arpeggio of three thirds to an octave "(1 3 5 1 5 3 1)", again starting from middle C. Use open vowels, like o, ih, ay, and ah, starting with a consonant like B, D, or P. Repeat the exercise a half-step higher, and continue up to the top of your range, but don't push too high.

Next, sing down a five note scale, with an open vowel and a sibilant like Z. "Za a a a a" is reasonable. This time, repeat the exercise a half-step lower, to the bottom of your comfortable range.

Finally, sing a slightly more difficult phrase, again starting an octave lower than middle C. Jump first an octave, then down a fourth, then down a third, then another third. "(1 8 5 3 1)". The phrase "I lo-ove to sing" fits with this exercise. Others choose to sing a few words over and over to warm up, such as "Me, my, mo, mull."

References

Elliot N, Sundberg J, Gramming P, Iwarsson J. Effects of vocal warmup, part II. 23rd Annual Symposium Care of the Professional Voice, Philadelphia, June 1994.

See also

* National Center for Voice and Speech
* Vocology - science and practice of voice habilitation
* Human Voice

External links

* [http://ncvs.org/e-learning/warmup.html www.ncvs.org] - suggested warm-ups from the National Center for Voice & Speech