Do you see your voice getting very fatigued at the end of a rehearsal? Probably the problem is that you didn't make an effort to do a good warm up beforehand. Just as athletes need to warm up their muscles before a contest or a game, singers need to warm up their voices before a rehearsal or performance.
A good warm up technique can have many benefits. It helps get your body and mind prepared for singing, and can stop vocal strain and injury. It doesn't have to be boring.
Warm up #1: Relax. Start with the "rag doll" exercise. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Bend over forward from the hips and let your arms, head, and upper body to hang loosely. Shake your arms and head a bit, then allow them dangle again. Next, stand erect and do a few neck rolls from one side, forward, to the other side, forward, and back. If you're practicing with a group, give yourselves brief back rubs.
Warm up #2: Stretch. Hold your arms straight out in front of your body and clasp your two hands together. Keeping your hands clasped, turn your palms apparent and raise your arms overhead. Now little by little lean to one side, come back upright, then lean to the other side.
Warm up #3: Breathe. Take in a deep breath with good expansion of your midsection. Now exhale slowly with a whoosh sound, and try to maintain the expansion even as you breathe out. Do that several times.
Warm up #4: Produce Good Tone. Do a few yawn-slides or vocal sirens. For the yawn-slide, breathe in as if to yawn, then exhale on the syllable "hoo" or "hee" starting at the top of your scale and sliding rapidly to the bottom. For the siren, commence at the bottom of your range and slide to the top, then back down, on a hum.
Warm up #5: Vocalize. There are several different exercises to use for vocalizing. Here are a few of the best.
1.Up & down arpeggios. This is a straightforward broken chord up and down: do mi so do so mi do. Move upward by half-steps with each succeeding repeat. Make use of the buzz or your favorite vowel sound or syllable.
2.Upward arpeggio & downward octave with turn. This is a little more complex variation on the previous exercise. You sing the upward arpeggio (do mi so do), then do a turn (ti do re), then the 8-tone descending octave scale from do to do. Use vowel sounds; do a few on "ee", a few on "oo", a few on "ah". Start each new arpeggio a half-step higher than the last one. The pattern is below.
3.Ascending triplet scale. This exercise is complicated to explain, but easy if you read the notes down below. Use the solfege syllables (do, re, mi, etc.). Sing an eighth-note triplet upward commencing on each syllable; when you get to the top of the range, reverse and sing each triplet downward. Sing the exercise as quickly as you can. In the key of C major you would sing C-D-E on do, D-E-F on re, E-F-G on mi, F-G-A on fa, G-A-B on so, A-B-C on la, B-C-D on ti, then C on do. For the downward part of the scale, sing C-B-A on do, B-A-G on ti, A-G-F on la, G-F-E on so, F-E-D on fa, E-D-C on mi, D-C-B on re, and, yet again, C on do.
This warm up habit takes longer to describe than it does to really do. You should be able to do it in about ten minutes. You'll find it's worth the time--you will sing better, without difficulty, and with less vocal fatigue.
A good warm up technique can have many benefits. It helps get your body and mind prepared for singing, and can stop vocal strain and injury. It doesn't have to be boring.
Warm up #1: Relax. Start with the "rag doll" exercise. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Bend over forward from the hips and let your arms, head, and upper body to hang loosely. Shake your arms and head a bit, then allow them dangle again. Next, stand erect and do a few neck rolls from one side, forward, to the other side, forward, and back. If you're practicing with a group, give yourselves brief back rubs.
Warm up #2: Stretch. Hold your arms straight out in front of your body and clasp your two hands together. Keeping your hands clasped, turn your palms apparent and raise your arms overhead. Now little by little lean to one side, come back upright, then lean to the other side.
Warm up #3: Breathe. Take in a deep breath with good expansion of your midsection. Now exhale slowly with a whoosh sound, and try to maintain the expansion even as you breathe out. Do that several times.
Warm up #4: Produce Good Tone. Do a few yawn-slides or vocal sirens. For the yawn-slide, breathe in as if to yawn, then exhale on the syllable "hoo" or "hee" starting at the top of your scale and sliding rapidly to the bottom. For the siren, commence at the bottom of your range and slide to the top, then back down, on a hum.
Warm up #5: Vocalize. There are several different exercises to use for vocalizing. Here are a few of the best.
1.Up & down arpeggios. This is a straightforward broken chord up and down: do mi so do so mi do. Move upward by half-steps with each succeeding repeat. Make use of the buzz or your favorite vowel sound or syllable.
2.Upward arpeggio & downward octave with turn. This is a little more complex variation on the previous exercise. You sing the upward arpeggio (do mi so do), then do a turn (ti do re), then the 8-tone descending octave scale from do to do. Use vowel sounds; do a few on "ee", a few on "oo", a few on "ah". Start each new arpeggio a half-step higher than the last one. The pattern is below.
3.Ascending triplet scale. This exercise is complicated to explain, but easy if you read the notes down below. Use the solfege syllables (do, re, mi, etc.). Sing an eighth-note triplet upward commencing on each syllable; when you get to the top of the range, reverse and sing each triplet downward. Sing the exercise as quickly as you can. In the key of C major you would sing C-D-E on do, D-E-F on re, E-F-G on mi, F-G-A on fa, G-A-B on so, A-B-C on la, B-C-D on ti, then C on do. For the downward part of the scale, sing C-B-A on do, B-A-G on ti, A-G-F on la, G-F-E on so, F-E-D on fa, E-D-C on mi, D-C-B on re, and, yet again, C on do.
This warm up habit takes longer to describe than it does to really do. You should be able to do it in about ten minutes. You'll find it's worth the time--you will sing better, without difficulty, and with less vocal fatigue.
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