Warm Ups for singers

Vocal warm ups are similar to the way an athlete warms up before a game by stretching out their body. The two bands of muscles that make up your vocal cords need to be exercised, just like any other muscle in your body. Vocal warm ups get you ready for the intense vibrations that come with singing, thus reducing the risk of tension, damage, and voice loss. Warm ups are important to your singing career since they prepare your voice for rehearsal, performance, a live event, or recording to help ensure that your notes are clearly heard and felt. Your regular rehearsals will help you get better at singing (rhythm and harmony), but vocal exercises will help you improve the quality of your voice, develop your vocal range, and improve your breath control and voice articulation. Here are some vocal exercises that you can do to warm up before singing:

Exercise 1: Humming

One of the best ways to warm up your vocal cords without straining them is to hum. Relax your face and body while you perform this exercise. With your mouth wide and your lips closed, place the tongue's tip behind the bottom of your front teeth and produce the sound "hmm." As you move up and down in your range while keeping your mouth closed, increase the intensity of your hum. When you do vocal exercises that involve humming, your facial muscles relax. This helps you improve your vocal resonance and tone quality.

Exercise 2: Jaw loosening exercise

The jaw massage exercise loosens up your jaw and mouth, so you can sing high notes like Mariah Carey, Freddie Mercury, or Ariana Grande without straining too much. This makes singing more comfortable. There is a particular area below the cheekbone that runs from the jawbone to the ear. Massage this area in a circular motion to stimulate blood flow. While lowering and raising your jaw, continue to massage. Loosening your jaw muscles lets them move more freely, which makes singing easier and improves your pronunciation.

Exercise 3: Solfege

Solfege is a musical system that gives a unique syllable to every note of the musical scale. There are seven notes in the major and minor scales, due to which Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, and Do are the seven fundamental syllables of the solfege system. To practice, one exercises the solfege exercises on middle C and sings through the solfege up and down the scale. (The solfege exercise starts on middle C and has the singer sing through the solfege up and down the scale.) You can do this exercise with or without a piano but try to do it without a piano (acapella), since this will benefit the development of your ear. This vocal practice will improve your ability to recognize the appropriate pitch by ear and prevent you from singing out of tune.

Exercise 4: Tongue twisters

Presenting the right lyrics is a crucial part of singing, and tongue twisters help you achieve this by improving your vocal articulation and pronunciation. Your lips, tongue, teeth, and jaw collaborate in order to produce sounds. So, you can train your brain and lips to handle difficult syllable transitions by repeating different types of tongue twisters quickly and clearly. The following are some of the most popular tongue twisters:

1. Unique New York, unique New York, unique New York.

2. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

3. She sells seashells by the seashore.

4. A big black bug bit a big black bear.

5. A proper cup of coffee from a proper copper coffee pot.

6. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Exercise 5: Vocal Siren Exercise

You would be familiar with the sound a fire engine produces; simply recall it and mimic it with your voice. Starting with the lowest note, make the sound “Oooh” and slowly try to move to the higher note. Once you reach the highest note possible, glide back to the lowest note. Your voice is tired if you are unable to sing the high and low notes. If you are feeling uncomfortable, stop the workout and take a rest rather than pushing yourself too hard. The Siren vocal exercise will stretch out your vocal cords, which will make it simpler for you to change notes smoothly without cracking.

5 Important Tips For Vocal Warm Ups

1. Do breathing exercises before vocal warm up exercises to relax your body. Before performing vocal warm-up exercises, practice breathing techniques and attempt to inhale from the diaphragm.

2. To stay hydrated while warming up and practicing, make sure to drink plenty of water, and make sure it's at room temperature.

3. Always warm up your body before warming up your voice.

4. Maintain a tall posture when performing warm-up exercises by keeping your feet on the ground, knees slightly bent, and throat relaxed.

5. Start with short, gentle exercises and slowly increase intensity.

6. It is essential that you cool down your voice after warm ups and singing.

Prior to singing, recording, or performing, spend 10 to 15 minutes doing warm-ups to maintain a healthy voice and improve your vocal range. Your voice is actually an instrument, and managing it properly is a very crucial thing for a singer. Whether you're just starting out or at the top of your career, vocal warm ups should be a fundamental part of your vocal training. Which vocal warm up exercise do you like the most? Comment down below and let us know!

To enhance your singing, read our blog post: Tips for better singing.

Use the AudioRetune app for your rehearsals after finishing your vocal warm-up exercises to have the best singing experience possible. Download the app now!