Vocal Exercises: Tuesday 9th September 2014: Warm Up (Vocally)

Tuesday 9th September 

Warm Up (Vocally)

After warming up your body it's time to warm up your voice! First off you want to ensure you're standing correctly and your posture is strong.

The following is what to focus on to ensure correct standing and posture:

• Weight balanced - If the weight is balanced the performance will look relaxed. By balancing the weight equally your posture will be upright. 

• Shoulders relaxed - The more relaxed the shoulders are the more relaxed the body is. If you have tension in your shoulders then this can cause strain whilst performing, making you look like you're uncomfortable. If the shoulders aren't relaxed there will be strain on the spine and the chest won't be able to be held high. 

• Open chest - An open chest allows more control over breathing which is an essential part to singing. 

• Hands by your sides - The focus should be on your singing so if gestures/actions aren't needed then the hands should be relaxed at the sides. 

• Knees relaxed - Tightening or locking your knees can make your body tense and affect your breathing so every part of your body should be relaxed. 

• Feet in parallel - You should be standing with your feet in parallel slightly apart, grounded on the floor with the toes opined forward. This will help when containing a strong posture. 

Here is an image of bad posture and what we aim for in good posture:

A good posture will increase air flow into your lungs as access to your windpipe will be easier. Correct alignment of your body will help projection too. 

Standing with good posture won't only just help your breath control but also engagement of your diaphragm which is an important factor of singing! If your diaphragm is restricted, it won't work to it's full potential. The diaphragm helps to hold a note and created better tonal quality. 

It's easy to correct your posture when singing alone or in a class but if I were to be cast in a play it may involve me singing in different positions and not just upright. Meaning posture isn't everything and I would need to work on other factors to aid my singing. 

Good posture comes with practise and the more you exercise your body with it the better it will become whether it be singer or just standing up... Posture makes or breaks a person's confidence when being viewed by the world! 

My Vocal Warm Up: 

• Breathing: 
• I take deep breaths in and out whilst placing my hand on my stomach. As you breath in the stomach should expand and as you breath out it should decrease. This helps me breath correctly and controlled. The whole body should be released when breathing and make sure you don't bring your shoulders up! 
• Sirening (with mouth closed): 
• I warm up my voice by increasing and decreasing the pitch of a sound whilst keeping the mouth closed. The vocal folds are being open and closed gently and gradually so isn't too intense to begin with. 
• Sirening (with mouth open): 
• This slowly and gradually then warms up the jaw whilst warming up the voice as well. 
• Sounds:
• I create the sounds of 'pft', 'sh' and 'tf' by contracting my stomach muscles and using my breath control to create a strong and sharp sound. This also helps to enhance projection because the stronger the breath the increase volume of sound by encouraging the diaphragm to become active. An easy way to develop this exercise is to increase the length of the sound, this means a lot of breath control and by practising the exercise more your breath control should increase and longer sounds become easier. 
• Number Scale:
• Gradually counting up to eight from one really helps diction and articulation of the words along with the pitching. The vocal exercises I do gradually increase all parts of the voice and then allows them to work together. 
• Tongue Twister: 
• I tend to use tongue twisters which focus on the 'th' and 'ss' sound as I have a slight lisp and I don't want this to come across in a song. This means practising and repeating words with this sounds in. 

Although this warm up may seem slightly boring it is important for a singer to warm up their voices increasingly. I tend to play with different variations of the same warm up to increase my range and keep it upbeat and active. 

Even Celine Dion stresses the importance of vocal warm ups: 

Celine Dion's warm up shows how to slowly and gradually warm up and start developing the warm up throughout. Celine Dion is one of the best singers and her warm up must really play a significant part in her performance. 

I hope this has helped you in what you need to include in your own vocal warm up and how to gradually do the preparation needed for a performance or a practise of a song and be the best you can be! 

Good Luck, 

Somer x