Simple Warm-Up Ideas for Singers

 

Singers are vocal athletes.

 

Just like any athletic sport, singing requires the development and articulation of very specific muscle groups (albeit very small muscle groups). Some of those muscles just happen to be the size of your thumbnail.

 

And just like any other athletic activity, singing requires you to warm up.

 

Why?

 

For the same reason you would stretch before running.

 

Or roll out sore muscles before a work out.

 

Singing is the same. You need to dust off the chords, so to speak, before using them, and make sure that you ease into it before going full speed. If you don’t warm up, you risk damaging the muscles.

 

Here is what I do personally to warm up my voice and the voices of my singers.

 

Warm-up the Body

 

The first thing you need to do is warm up the body. Usually this means stretching. Just get the blood moving a little bit before you make any sound. Sometimes I have groups do massage lines, sometimes jumping jacks, just something active that will get them loose and ready to sing.

 

Something I always have groups and individuals do is stand. Something that simple can make all the difference for getting the body ready to perform optimally.

 

Warm-up the Breath

 

Before you get to phonation, you have to make sure the breath is there.

 

A simple warm-up you can do on your own is simply picking a pitch in the middle of your range and reciting the alphabet. Try going as long as you can on one breath. When you run out, stop. The next time you do it, try and go beyond where you did before.

 

One I like to do with groups is a static time for breathing in together, then having progressively longer exhale phases. I like phonating with a buzzing sound of some kind.

 

Warm-up the Voice

 

To ease into warming up the voice, I like to start with humming. I like to start in the middle voice and work my way down on a hum. Maybe I’ll open it into a vowel like “ah” at the bottom of my range. That’s really the easiest way to start to get the voice working well.

 

Flexibility & Agility

 

The next thing is to get the voice moving.

 

Reset to the middle voice and do a vocalese that “skips” (pitches). Ascend to the top of your range, and maybe even try and extend beyond what you’re usually comfortable doing in performance.

 

Strength

 

This is the time to really let out your inner opera singer!

 

I like to start just below my middle range and work up to the limit of my full voice. This is the “I Love to Sing!” or “Mamma Made Me Mash My M&M’s” time. Pick something that is limited in range and that will really let you let loose.

Your goal at this point is to unleash your full volume, full breath capacity, full “space” in the mouth, FULL EVERYTHING!

 

Team-Work

 

This last thing is something I add to group warm-ups.

 

Just do something that forces everyone to sing together, preparing them for the rehearsal or performance. I like to have everyone sing a scale up and down, but be careful what key you pick.

 

Minor or major is fine, or even a modal scale if you have an advanced group, but the range is what you want to pay attention to. Too high and your basses and altos won’t make it, too low and your tenors and sopranos won’t even start right.

 

Sing the scale till it is together. Consider changing the style, dynamic level, whatever you want. You can even do it in a round, but be sure to set your group up for success here.  

 

You could also use this time to try out a new, simple song or hymn to sharpen your group’s sight-reading skills. If you want to learn more about that, try reading my article on Sight-Reading that walks you through the process.

 

When everyone is singing together and warm, you’ll be ready to start singing those anthems. I bet you’ll find you have more endurance, but also that the immediate sound improves after warming up.

 

 

Have some favorite warm-ups you do before singing? Let me know in the comments below!

 

 

Go in peace.