Are vocal warm-ups a valuable use of your time? Let’s set the record straight. Contrary to popular belief, warming up your vocal folds isn’t about heating them up like an athlete prepping their muscles. So, why bother warming up at all?
In this blog, we’ll explore vocal warm-ups versus exercises, the importance of mindfulness, incorporating your whole body, and even challenging the necessity of warming up every time. Whether you’re an aspiring vocalist or a seasoned singer, this guide will optimise your warm-up routine and boost your vocal performance.
Let’s rethink vocal warm-ups and discover what works best for your voice and goals.
Warming up to sing is not the same as warming up for athletes
Your vocal folds are inside your body. That means they are always at a cozy 37.5℃. They don’t actually need ‘warming up’. If you’ve been awake and speaking for a while, your voice is probably already ready to sing. Of course, if you’ve got to sing early in the morning and you haven’t spoken much yet, you might find it takes longer to get the blood flowing and everything fired up and ready to go.
Warming up ≠ vocal exercises
Vocal exercises have a different purpose to warming up. Exercises build on and improve your technique. Warming up sets your mind and body up for these exercises. Don’t confuse the two.
Be Mindful
If you do the same scales on autopilot every time you warm up, you could be wasting your time. Singing is a psychophysical activity – it requires the mind and the body to work together. If you are taking the time to warm up, do it mindfully. Tune into your voice and body: be aware of sensation, movement and sound.
Get Moving!
Your whole body plays a part in singing so get it moving! Here are some stretches and movements to try. Spend some time breathing into each of these stretches and movements. Try accompanying them with some middle to low range scales and SOVT exercises. (Semi Occluded Vocal Tract – think humming, lip trills etc – an exercise that narrows or ‘occludes’ the vocal tract in some way)
- Ribcage: stretch your ribcage by raising your arm up and bending to the opposite side. Spend some time breathing into the stretch a few times. Both sides, of course!
- Neck: gently stretch your neck by bringing your ear towards your shoulder and breathe into it a few times. Both sides!
- Shoulder rolls: roll your shoulders like you are swimming backstroke but with your arms by your sides.
- Tongue and jaw:
- some ‘yah yah yah yah’ and ‘digga digga digga’ movement with minimal movement of the jaw helps get the tongue active and moving independently of the jaw.
- Pretend you’re a cow and get chewing to activate those jaw muscles!
Start high, low or in between?
This is different for everyone. Start wherever it feels best then go from there.
Warm up with the result in mind
If you are warming up for a set of low songs, that’s where your focus should be. If you are going to be using your high register, work into it gradually with SOVT’s. It’s always a good idea to quickly explore the extremes of our registers. If you don’t use it, you lose it!
It’s a warm up, not a performance
Don’t overtax yourself with warming up. It should leave you with plenty in the tank for your singing session, whether it be a performance, recording, rehearsal or lesson.
How long should it take to warm up?
If you’re ‘vocally fit’ and singing regularly, it won’t take long for you to feel ready to sing. This could be as little as 5 minutes. If you aren’t singing regularly, your mind / body / voice connection may not be as finely tuned so the process could take you a bit longer. If it takes you longer than 15-20 minutes to feel ready to sing, it may be that your technique isn’t serving you as it should. It would be worth considering some changes in your technique.
Find out what works best for you
Every voice is different. Every singer’s vocal goals are different. Find out what warm up routine works for you. If what you are doing isn’t working, change it up.
Try NOT warming up sometimes (ooh, controversial!)
It’s worth it to occasionally go straight into singing a song with no warm up. It can help you discover areas for change and improvement more easily.
So, is warming up really a waste of time?
It depends on how you do it! If you are singing a few scales while you scroll through your Insta feed, then yes, it could be a waste of time. If you approach warming up as a way to tune into your voice and body, it is a valuable way to spend a few minutes.
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