Vocal Warmups and Their Benefits
Hey guys!! It’s been a while I made a post, I’ve been very occupied with so much but thank God am a bit free now. Thanks for sticking around.
Today we’re gonna be talking about some really great vocal tecniques and their benefits, that will help you perform very well when next you have a concert or gig.
Vocal warmups are vital to our voice just like a car often needs to be serviced every morning before use so that the car can perform smoothly. Vocal warmups actually get you ready to perform efficiently and they also moderate breath control and resonance. In addition, they help you identify which muscles you will use while singing a song.
There are three basics to vocal warmups.
- Breathing – breathing is the bedrock of singing because every sound is made from the vocal cord through air or breath. If you do not have control over your breathing you just might never be a powerful singer. Anytime you hear critics and professional singers referring to the voice as an instrument they are talking about the person’s ability to sustain control over his/her breathing. This can be seen when a vocalist sustains a high note
for five minutes or more in a song. Examples of professional singers that have really worked on breath control are R-kelly and celine Dion.
To practice breath control, stand in the classic position with feet at shoulder width and knees flexible. It is important to release tension in the body. The key word is relax! Relax!! Relax!! Breathe in and exhale – let the tension release with the exhale. Over the next minute or so, change your breathing – it should already become slow and deep. Next, take a deep breath and hiss upon the exhale. The exhale should be normal and the hiss must be sustained as long as possible. This exercise should be repeated for five minutes or more depending on the therapy of your vocal instructor.
- Rolling Lips – Rolling the lips actually allows you to loosen face muscles. This vocal exercise begins with the lips together. You should exhale with enough force to make the lips flap. Continue this for up to one minute. This exercise can be repeated as a sustaining exercise – repeat the same exercise but sustain the exhale as long as possible and repeat for up to five minutes.
- Humming – Humming is by far the most well-known of the vocal exercises. This type of vocal exercise combines the lip rolls practiced above with sustaining exhalations and adds sound. Make sure to complete breathing and facial muscle exercises before humming. First of all, hum normally with lips together. Breathe in a normal manner and hum at a low level. Next, inhale and do a lip roll. When you exhale begin to hum for one minute.
You can alternate between humming on the exhale, and saying ‘ah’ on the exhale, holding for two seconds each. This process should be repeated for up to five minutes.
Here are extra tips to help you warm up.
- Siren – Creating a siren-like noise is an excellent way to warm up the vocal chords. This exercise stretches the vocal chords from their lowest note to their highest
note that it sounds like a siren.
Starting with the lowest note in your range, slowly move up the scale, step by step, until you reach your highest note. When you reach your highest note turn around and go back down to your lowest note. - Scales – This age-old vocal technique really works. To warm up using scales, slowly move up the scales changing
the vowel sound every time you complete an octave. - Funny Words – Tongue twisters are a fun way to warm up vocal chords. These are a great way to get children excited about warming up. They kind of help you pronounce words
clearly.
For example
(say 8 times as fast as possible)
i. The blue bluebird blinks
ii. Six thick thistle sticks
iii. Three free throws
iv. Four candles and fork handles
v. Unique New York New York Unique
You will eventually find that no matter what type of music you sing, from opera to folk to metal – vocal warmups are important. They are necessary for everyone, no matter how experienced a singer you are. Experts have concluded that the more experience a person has the more he or she will benefit from extended warmup sessions.
Warmups not only prepare your voice for singing, they have a way of improving the tone and quality of your voice. Your singing capacity gets better with practice and vocal warmups stretch important vocal muscles.
You can also begin to include exercises that stretch your abdomen, your back, your neck, and your shoulders for even better voice control – all of these elements work
together to create your individual sound!
Don’t forget that the keyword is relax!! Relax!! Relax!!, make sure you follow all the warmups serially and to the latter for effective results. Getting an experienced vocal coach is a brilliant idea and will help to bring out the best in you.
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