Voice
Warming up the voice is extremely important before singing as you could run
into a lot of vocal problems if you don’t. There are many warm ups out there to
choose from: scales, arpeggios, sirens, lip rolls are just a few. You can find our
vocal warm ups on the Vocademy Student Extras section of the website.
Body
You may not think it, but it is important to gently warm up the body before
singing and especially before performing. Ways you can do this are:
Rolling your shoulders backwards and forwards
Gently tilting your neck to from side to side
Dropping your jaw to make an oval shape with your mouth
Putting a song on and stepping in time with the beat
Breathing
Breathing properly is essential when singing as it allows you to get through a
song without gasping for air at the end of each line. To check whether you’re
breathing properly, it always helps if you think of your tummy like a balloon.
Pop your hands on your ribs and when you breathe in, imagine you’re filling up
a balloon inside your tummy. Your tummy should then naturally go out and
when you breathe out, it should go back in again. It’s always good to do this
exercise before a vocal session.
Diaphragm
As you may be aware, the diaphragm is very important when it comes to
supporting your voice... them big and powerful notes will need the support
behind them otherwise you run the risk of damaging your voice. One way to
wake up the diaphragm is to let out a short sharp, ‘ha’, sound. If you do this
correctly, your tummy should clench as if you are hiccupping.