How To Exercise
Here are the instructions for doing the exercises in the last post.
We start, always, by warming up with what I call 'Buzz and Roll'. These are also known as 'lip trills' and 'tongue trills'. They are not singing exercises themselves, but they get you ready to sing by vibrating the tissues in your face and throat, bringing the blood to the surfaces you sing with and generally making everything warm and flexible. They're sort of like a 'vocal massage'. It's similar to exercising your body - most people stretch before and after they exercise to avoid pulling their muscles before or stiffening up after, and these do the same thing.
Buzz and Roll:
Put your lips together and tighten them slightly so that when you blow air through them using a 'P' or a 'B' you get a buzzing, vibrating sound, somewhat like the sound a boat or motor scooter makes, or a sort of 'bubbling' sound. If you have trouble with it, sometimes it helps to gently squeeze two fingers into the cheek on either side of your mouth. The exercise involves starting at a comfortably low pitch and buzzing up and down the first five notes of the scale, and then going up a half-step at a time until you reach the highest note you can buzz comfortably. Then go back down. The Roll is the same, except done in the back of the throat like a kitten's purr. If you have difficulty with one or the other (or both) you can substitute the 'Hum-Chew' (which is exactly what it sounds like - humming with your mouth closed while you make chewing motions.) Or, you can do all three. They are all very soothing exercises.
Exercise #1 - the 'Oh':
This is actually pronounced somewhere in between an 'oh' and an 'aw'. Keep the mouth open and the jaw relaxed. This is a good exercise for navigating between your chest, your mix and your head registers. As you approach a switch, prepare mentally for going up to the next level. The more gently you approach the switch, the easier it is to cross it smoothly.
Exercise #2 - the 'Leh-Lah':
This exercise is done one breath; the first time up and down use the syllable 'leh', and the second time use the syllable 'lah'. As with the other exercises, start comfortably low and go comfortably high, and go back down. 'Eh' is a horizontal vowel and 'ah' is a vertical vowel, so you get stretch both ways.
Exercise #3 - the 'Eh-Ee':
This is good for bridging your registers, and also for taking a proper breath. You don't need a lot of air to sing. You need, rather, to properly control the air you do have; all you need is a normal speaking breath. A lot of singers hurt themselves by gulping in too much air and then having to deal with the resulting pressure which is too much for your vocal cords and the muscles controlling them to deal with. This makes your throat muscles tired and irritates your vocal folds. Begin by singing the first note of the exercise as an 'eh'; then the next note is as 'ee' and stays on 'ee' for the rest of the measure. The second measure starts with 'eh', goes immediately to 'ee', and then ends on the 'eh'. You take a short speaking breath between the two measures. Aim for the 'sweet spot' in your resonance.
Exercise #4 - the Diatonic Yodel:
This is a challenging exercise, but excellent for bringing your chest voice up into your mix, and your head voice down into your mix. With this exercise, if it sounds good, you're doing it wrong! You start in chest voice with an 'ah' sound; then jump up an octave to an 'ee' in your light, airy head or falsetto voice - not your mix! Then sing a 'yah' on the next note a half-step down - in chest voice. The object is to 'flip' or yodel to the next note. Then back up to the octave note in head, down a third in chest, back up to the octave in head and so forth, so that you switch back and forth like a donkey braying. You want to 'lean' (not push) into the note so that your voice breaks. The 'ee' is always in head voice. It's a challenge to accurately go between the two registers - especially when you take your chest voice up higher. Your object is to strengthen both sets of vocal muscles (for brevity's sake we will call the two sets of muscles that control your vocal folds the thyroid and arytenoids). It sounds strange but when you get the hang of it it's a fun exercise.
Exercise #5 - Vowel Scales:
This exercise can be done with any vowel sound. You will want to do it in one breath. I usually start with an 'ee' sound. It is good for maneuvering through a large part of your range, and for flexibility and fine-motor accuracy, which is helpful when doing licks. It's also good for sustaining and controlling your breath. Your goal is to make sure you're using cord effort and muscles, not using air to push the notes. Trying to do fast runs with air pressure instead of cord effort is like trying to run in water.
Exercise #6 - Vowel Cadence:
This is another all-purpose exercise, which can be done with all the vowels. Use this to work on different vowels, keeping your jaw loose and your larynx down. Aim for consistency in tone up and down your registers, and make sure you're open and relaxed, with plenty of space for your vowels to resonate.
This is a beginning but by no means all that we do. However, just getting a start on this set of exercises on a regular basis will get you on the road to vocal health and strength. We'll be discussing other vocal exercises and techniques as we go along, but this is the place to get started. As you grow and develop, or have specific issues that need addressing, we'll add to these.
Happy singing!
We start, always, by warming up with what I call 'Buzz and Roll'. These are also known as 'lip trills' and 'tongue trills'. They are not singing exercises themselves, but they get you ready to sing by vibrating the tissues in your face and throat, bringing the blood to the surfaces you sing with and generally making everything warm and flexible. They're sort of like a 'vocal massage'. It's similar to exercising your body - most people stretch before and after they exercise to avoid pulling their muscles before or stiffening up after, and these do the same thing.
Buzz and Roll:
Put your lips together and tighten them slightly so that when you blow air through them using a 'P' or a 'B' you get a buzzing, vibrating sound, somewhat like the sound a boat or motor scooter makes, or a sort of 'bubbling' sound. If you have trouble with it, sometimes it helps to gently squeeze two fingers into the cheek on either side of your mouth. The exercise involves starting at a comfortably low pitch and buzzing up and down the first five notes of the scale, and then going up a half-step at a time until you reach the highest note you can buzz comfortably. Then go back down. The Roll is the same, except done in the back of the throat like a kitten's purr. If you have difficulty with one or the other (or both) you can substitute the 'Hum-Chew' (which is exactly what it sounds like - humming with your mouth closed while you make chewing motions.) Or, you can do all three. They are all very soothing exercises.
Exercise #1 - the 'Oh':
This is actually pronounced somewhere in between an 'oh' and an 'aw'. Keep the mouth open and the jaw relaxed. This is a good exercise for navigating between your chest, your mix and your head registers. As you approach a switch, prepare mentally for going up to the next level. The more gently you approach the switch, the easier it is to cross it smoothly.
Exercise #2 - the 'Leh-Lah':
This exercise is done one breath; the first time up and down use the syllable 'leh', and the second time use the syllable 'lah'. As with the other exercises, start comfortably low and go comfortably high, and go back down. 'Eh' is a horizontal vowel and 'ah' is a vertical vowel, so you get stretch both ways.
Exercise #3 - the 'Eh-Ee':
This is good for bridging your registers, and also for taking a proper breath. You don't need a lot of air to sing. You need, rather, to properly control the air you do have; all you need is a normal speaking breath. A lot of singers hurt themselves by gulping in too much air and then having to deal with the resulting pressure which is too much for your vocal cords and the muscles controlling them to deal with. This makes your throat muscles tired and irritates your vocal folds. Begin by singing the first note of the exercise as an 'eh'; then the next note is as 'ee' and stays on 'ee' for the rest of the measure. The second measure starts with 'eh', goes immediately to 'ee', and then ends on the 'eh'. You take a short speaking breath between the two measures. Aim for the 'sweet spot' in your resonance.
Exercise #4 - the Diatonic Yodel:
This is a challenging exercise, but excellent for bringing your chest voice up into your mix, and your head voice down into your mix. With this exercise, if it sounds good, you're doing it wrong! You start in chest voice with an 'ah' sound; then jump up an octave to an 'ee' in your light, airy head or falsetto voice - not your mix! Then sing a 'yah' on the next note a half-step down - in chest voice. The object is to 'flip' or yodel to the next note. Then back up to the octave note in head, down a third in chest, back up to the octave in head and so forth, so that you switch back and forth like a donkey braying. You want to 'lean' (not push) into the note so that your voice breaks. The 'ee' is always in head voice. It's a challenge to accurately go between the two registers - especially when you take your chest voice up higher. Your object is to strengthen both sets of vocal muscles (for brevity's sake we will call the two sets of muscles that control your vocal folds the thyroid and arytenoids). It sounds strange but when you get the hang of it it's a fun exercise.
Exercise #5 - Vowel Scales:
This exercise can be done with any vowel sound. You will want to do it in one breath. I usually start with an 'ee' sound. It is good for maneuvering through a large part of your range, and for flexibility and fine-motor accuracy, which is helpful when doing licks. It's also good for sustaining and controlling your breath. Your goal is to make sure you're using cord effort and muscles, not using air to push the notes. Trying to do fast runs with air pressure instead of cord effort is like trying to run in water.
Exercise #6 - Vowel Cadence:
This is another all-purpose exercise, which can be done with all the vowels. Use this to work on different vowels, keeping your jaw loose and your larynx down. Aim for consistency in tone up and down your registers, and make sure you're open and relaxed, with plenty of space for your vowels to resonate.
This is a beginning but by no means all that we do. However, just getting a start on this set of exercises on a regular basis will get you on the road to vocal health and strength. We'll be discussing other vocal exercises and techniques as we go along, but this is the place to get started. As you grow and develop, or have specific issues that need addressing, we'll add to these.
Happy singing!
posted by Alicia Morgan @ 11:40 PM
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