It’s finally time to practice your singing. You have your music, your water, and a quiet space to yourself. You stand up tall, breathe in deep, and… now what?
Anyone can follow a warmup routine from an instructor, but warming up yourself can be an entirely different task! How do you know what to do? How do you know you’re doing it right? Fear not, these five exercises will answer all of those questions and more.
Lip Buzzes
It’s easy! Purse your lips together (think early 2000’s duck face) and blow. Try a few without tone first, then choose a comfortable pitch and buzz your way five steps up, then back down again. Ideally you would do it in one breath, but don’t pass out! This exercise activates your breathing muscles as they prepare to work overtime during your practice session. It also opens up your throat and moves the sensation of breathing from your chest, down to your abdomen – where it should be!
Sh, Hah, and Other Short Sounds
Now that the air is moving, we need to give it some energy and really get the diaphragm moving. The “sh” sound is controlled almost completely by the diaphragm, so start with five short “sh”s (think aggressive librarian), followed by five short “hah”s. Sing three up, then two back down on C, E, G, E, C. Move up by half steps, rinse, and repeat. Be sure that your “sh”s and your “hah”s are using the same set of muscles.
Slides
Now that we’re breathing, let’s play with range! On “zee” sing your starting note, then slide that note up an octave like a siren sound, from C to C on the piano (or another comfortable note). Once you reach the higher note, drop your jaw to form an “ah” sound and slide your way back down to the first pitch. To keep yourself in check, you can make pit stops on the fifth and third notes of the scale (G and E if you’re using C to start). It’s important that the sound doesn’t stop throughout the exercise, and remember to slide!
Vocal Agility
Singing is an odd thing. There’s so much to remember to do, but it’s also important to not think too much. Quick exercises with lots of notes can help narrow the focus to only one thing: pitch. Start at a higher note in your range that’s in falsetto/head voice and quickly sing the following sequence on “ooh:”
Solfege: Sol-La-Sol Fa-Sol-Fa Mi-Fa-Mi Re-Mi-Re Do____
Numbers: 5-6-5 4-5-4 3-4-3 2-3-2 1____
Letters (in C): G-A-G F-G-F E-F-E D-E-D C____
It’s important to not pause between any of the notes. Only on the final note is a pitch extended beyond a single, quick beat.
The Low Notes and Resonance
Starting on A in your most comfortable octave, sing one word on each pitch as you descend the scale down to E. Don’t forget the C# in the middle! Contrary to our other exercises, this one is all about the consonants. The “ns” between “can” and “sing” as well as the “-ng” sound at the end of the latter word are important for warming up key resonators in the nose and cheeks. The “ah” and “oh” vowels are also to be kept very open with a dropped jaw so the sound can escape. Repeat this exercise, descending down a half step each time, as low as is comfortable.
At the very end, return to your lip buzzes and slide up and down a few non-challenging octaves and you’re ready to go.
The Finale
We’ve activated the breath, the vocal folds, the resonators, and the articulators in turn. Each one is now ready to do its job! If you run into an issue during your practice session, don’t be afraid to return to one or more of the exercises to re-settle that area of your voice. Trouble breathing? Staccato sounds! Feeling tightness in your throat? Lip buzz! A note feels too high? Slide up to it!
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