Wait! We Gotta Warm-Up! Part 1 Video
I can’t wait to teach you guys how to properly warm up the voice.
Warming up is just so important. I’m really excited to teach you guys some fun exercises to help healthily wake up those vocal cords and get us singing properly. I mentioned it in another video, but warming up- just like any other sport- is so important so that we can warm up those muscles properly so we don’t have any sort of strain or damage. Warming up is going to build on that foundation of breathing and it’s going to help us have the best voice that we can possible.
So in this video I’ll be explaining how to do the exercises and our goals along with doing these exercises. I want you guys to have all the tools possible to know how to do these at home and what you should be feeling and looking for in the voice. Now I do have another video that basically just has me playing the piano and I demonstrate a little bit and then you guys just get to follow along with what I’m playing. So it’s really important that you watch this one so that when you watch the supplemental video and practice at home, you’ll know what to look for and you’ll know how it should be sounding.
Warm-Up Goals
I’m really excited to be able to explain the goals that you should be having as you’re doing these exercises. The first thing is that we want to make sure that our breath support is absolutely there. We want to make sure we’re feeling that inner tube. We want to make sure we’re having good posture. And we want to make sure that we’re not putting any strain in the voice. These exercises need to be focused on being open, bright, and forward. We don’t want it sitting at the back of our voices or the back of our throats. That is not the goal at all. We want to make sure that we are focused on making our voices open. The reason why this is so important is because the last thing we want to do is strain our voice. And the last thing you want to do is constrict your breath making a constricted sound. That just leads to a lot of issues and bad habits. So when you properly warm up it’s very important that we’re making sure we’re totally in check with our bodies and that we have that goal in mind of creating that nice, open, bright sound.
Let’s try some exercises!
Let’s start with some lip trills. This is what it sounds like. So we’re going up the piano and we’re going to keep progressing. Now if you can’t do a lip trill that’s totally okay. Just go ahead and do it on a hum or on an ‘ooo’. Let’s do a few together. Remember: Good breath support.
Let’s do some humming now. I like to recommend to my students, that as they’re humming, to kind of put a little smile into it. That’ll just help us get that sound nice and open, which is our goal. This is what it sounds like. See the smile? And we’re just going to take it up the piano. Remember: Open, bright, & forward sound.
Now we’re going to do some sirens. And yes! It sounds exactly like what you’re thinking of – like a fire truck siren. So we’re basically going to be doing that same thing with our voices. We’re not going to be yelling and we’re not going to be screaming. That definitely is not healthy for the voice. We’re going to keep it nice and light, bright and open. Again, I know I keep saying that but that is the goal with warming up our voice. We want to wake it up and we want to make sure that we’re not putting any sort of pressure on our throat. So I’m going to do a siren and it’s going to kind of be like a call and response. So I’ll do one and then you’ll copy me, and then I’ll do another one and then you’ll copy me again. So I’ll do a few just so you can sort of get the feel.
Your turn. Good.
Now we’re going to do some ‘no no no’s’. Now if you don’t like singing this exercise on a ‘no’, you can do it on a ‘la’ or a ‘ha’ or a ‘we’. I just like doing ‘no no no’. So this is what it sounds like. And we’re just going to take it down the piano. And we’re going to explore that lower register of our voice. Remember: No vocal strain.
And that is all for our awesome warming up video. Make sure to like this video! And make sure to watch the supplemental video that goes along with this video so that you can try it at home. Thank you all so much! Keep singing and keep warming-up!
I do these videos every other week, but if you still want more musical theatre, check out my newsletter! It’s called Beyond The Score, and it just takes a closer look at musical theatre history. You can find that at jskstories.com.
Warm-Ups Part 1 Video
Welcome to our warming-up exercise video today. If you haven’t watched my other video, Wait We Gotta Warm-Up Part 1, be sure to watch that so that you can understand these exercises and the goals that I have for you as you do them. In this video, I will be demonstrating how to do it just once and then it’ll be just me playing the piano so that you can follow along at home. Thanks so much and enjoy this video!
Warm-up Exercise 1: Lip Trills
Lip Trills.
Warm-up Exercise 2: Humming
Humming.
Warm-up Exercise 3: Sirens
Sirens.
Listen to Carlee’s sirens and copy what you hear. Remember to have good breath support and posture.
Listen.
Copy.
Warm-up Exercise 4: No, No, No
No, no, no’s.
Thank you for watching! These exercise videos are made to guide you through your practicing! Be sure to take breaks if you are feeling tired and make sure to drink water.
Make sure to like this video!
I do these videos every other week, but if you still want more musical theatre, check out my newsletter! It’s called Beyond The Score, and it just takes a closer look at musical theatre history. You can find that at jskstories.com.