Better Concerts and Music

Just as athletes need to do warm up exercises prior to a race or a game, singers need to prepare their voices ahead of a rehearsal or show. Singing warm up exercises get the air flowing and relaxes your muscles to get ready for the more demanding activity to come. It’s perhaps the best way to avoid vocal exhaustion and overuse damage.
It may seem counterintuitive–more exercises to prevent overuse injury? Yes. Your vocal folds are controlled via very small muscles, and once they’re warmed-up they’re more adaptable, simpler to make use of, and less susceptible to injury.
Before starting your singing warm up exercises, do some whole-body stretching and relaxation. hang down for another minute or so. A good exercise to begin with is the “rag doll”. Stand upright bending forward from your hips. Then allow your arms and head to droop and dangle for a little while.}Follow that with a stretching exercise for correct posture alignment. Stand with your feet level on the floor, approximately hip-width apart, and your arms at your sides. Bring your arms quickly up and across your chest in a circular fashion until they are above your head. Now up onto your tiptoes, breath in deeply and continue to move your arms up. As you gradually breathe out, bring your arms back down to your sides and come back down to flat feet. Make sure to keep the chest up and shoulders back, as they had been at the top of the stretch, after bringing your arms down. You are now able to begin singing.
The first singing warm up exercise uses a technique that goes by many names: buzz, bubble lips, lip roll, or lip trill. Breathe out through puckered lips to produce a vibration, sounding a little like a speedboat or even a “raspberry”.
You will do the buzz slide {between three tones: the base tone, up a fourth, and back to the base (do-fa-do): within the key of C major, it would transpire C,F,C. Do again, moving up a semi step each time (C, F, C, then D,G,D, then Eb, Ab, Eb, etc.). You can also execute this on the syllable “ee” or “oo”, but the buzz forces you to use good breath support.~The buzz slide will be done between three tones: the bass tone, which is up a fourth, and then back to the base. (do fa do) so in C major the notes would be C, F and C. You want to repeat this and after that move up a semi-tone every time. Perform this as well with the syllables “oo” and “ee” but the buzzing method makes for you to make use of great breath support.}The next singing warm up exercise is the fifth-slide. Start on the fifth tone with the syllable “wee” and slide downward to the base (so-do): in C major once more, it would be G, C. Repeat on the equivalent tones with “zoo”, then move up a half-step and do again, “wee” and “zoo” on  Ab and Db. Keep on moving up with half-steps.
Next is the five-tone descending scale. Starting on the fifth tone, descend stepwise to the base: so, fa, mi, re, do. First do the syllable “na”, then “nay”, “noh”, and “noo”. Go up a half-step and repeat the scale on each syllable.
The fourth singing warm up exercise is a descending 8-tone scale (do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do) on the syllable “noo”. Once more, move up a half-step with every repeat. You can in addition attempt other vowel sounds, such as “nah”, “nay”, “nee”, or “noh”, or use “m” as a replacement for of “n” as the original consonant. Attempt to feel your mask, or higher resonance, when you execute this.
Follow that with a descending arpeggio: do, so, mi, do, on the syllable “nah”. Repeat on “nay”, “nee”, “noh”, and “noo”, then shift up by half measures and repeat on each syllable another time.
The final singing warm up exercise is the octave slide. Make use of the buzz and begin on the base note; slide up an octave and back down to the base: do, do, do. Repeat on “oo”. Shift up a half-step, execute the buzz, and followed by “oo”. Carry on moving up by half-steps.

If you’ve been singing for awhile, you might start to feel that you’re in a rut. Below are several valuable vocal tips to help regenerate your enthusiasm and improve your performances.
Vocal Tips 1–Take a Lesson
Even if you’ve had extensive training prior to now, it’s always valuable to get fresh, objective instruction. Perhaps you’ve slacked off on your breathing exercises, or fallen into imperfect vocal habits. Phone your former instructor and schedule a “tune-up” lesson. Most trained singers and even singing teachers still get occasional lessons.
Vocal Tips 2–Mix it Up
If you have been focusing exclusively on one technique or type of song, try something different. Pull out one of your preferred recordings from high school and sing along with it. Choose a brand new tune to learn, maybe one in a style you haven’t done for awhile. When you come back to your standard routine, it will not seem so stale.
Vocal Tips 3–Do a Self-check
Review the basics and make sure you are still using good posture, breath support, plus tone placement. Check for any unwanted tension, particularly within your face and neck, as this can detract from your sound and make singing not as much fun.
Vocal Tips 4–Relax
Start each practice session and performance warm-up by means of simple stretching and relaxation exercises. One uncomplicated relaxation exercise is the “rag doll”. Standing with your feet about hip-width apart, bend forward from the hips and allow your arms, head, along with upper body to hang loosely. Shake your arms and head a lttle bit, then allow them to dangle again. Relieving tension can make a huge difference.
Vocal Tips 5–Get Some Exercise
For people with a busy performance timetable, you might have gotten out of your regular fitness schedule. For anybody who is on the road, the majority hotels have workout facilities; if not, just take a stroll. If the weather is inclement or you’re in an unfamiliar town, you can still walk in the hotel hallways. Unless you’re toting equipment, use stairs instead of elevators.
Vocal Tips 6–Pamper Yourself
Spend some time in a hot tub, get an expert rubdown, treat yourself to a favorite dessert, or re-read a favorite book. Indulge in any small luxury; it doesn’t need to be expensive.
Vocal Tips 7–Have a Jam Session
Get a group of musician acquaintances together for an informal jam session and play some old favorites. Steer clear of performance material and merely have fun! You may want to incorporate an informal dinner, and invite everybody to bring part of the meal so no one has to do all of the work.
“Wait a minute,” chances are you’ll be thinking. “So far, only half of these so-called ‘singing tips’ involve actual singing!” That is true, however consider it this way: whenever a guitar gets tough to tune, you replace the strings. Every time a piano gets out of tune, you call in a tuner. As a singer, your instrument is your body. As soon as your voice gets out of tune, it is advisable carry out the proper maintenance.
When one’s body is in good condition, you’re able to go back to your singing routine with further energy and enthusiasm. Select some fun new material to work on and hop back in. Review your fundamentals and take the advice you received in your “tune-up” lesson, and you should be back on track.