#voicetip

Warm up Warm down

One of the first questions that we ask before starting a vocal session is “are you warmed up?” Most students will say something to the tune of “I’ve been singing all day” or “I sang in the car on the way here”.

Guess what? Singing is not warming up...this is why.

There are a myriad of vowel consonant combo’s that take place throughout your register when you sing. If your voice isn’t warmed up and you go for a big wide AH in your upper register, it isn’t going to happen. You will likely fail to hit the note, or strain your voice, or both.

Why is warming up important?

Would you run a marathon without warming up first? No!  Would you do a high intensity workout at the gym without stretching your muscles first? Nope! Before you sing songs, or work your voice, you should warm up. If your day job includes a great deal of talking-- you should also warm up before you begin work.

When should you warm up?

You warm up before you exercise so that the voice is able to build new habits and skills correctly. You also warm up before you sing songs. This is so that you keep your voice safe and healthy.

So what does it mean to warm up the voice?

To warm up the voice means to activate the vocal cords and related muscle groups to a place of balance, connection and ease.  A good warm up needs to be done mindfully and gently. When we warm up we don’t say anything. We use semi occlusive, non articulates that move easily throughout our register. In simple terms, we make sounds with our mouths closed, or mostly closed.  A proper warm up should take 5-10 min (approx) The warm up is complete when you can sing a song with ease and freedom.

Lisa Witt / ViP vocal instructor