Wait! We gotta warm-up! Part 2
Welcome back to The Singing Studio. We are doing part 2 of our warm-ups, so if you haven’t watched Wait! We gotta warm-up! Part 1 go ahead and check it out because I have some pretty awesome exercises.
Watch episode 4 now before joining Carlee in this episode!
I have some pretty amazing exercises today, as well. I will also have a supplemental video so that you can follow along at home. Thanks so much and enjoy today’s lesson!
Before we dive right into some more warm-up exercises, I kind of wanted to review the goals that we went over in my previous video. It gives the first half of this introduction to warming-up properly. So those goals that I sort of talked about were:
1: We want to have good breath support.
2: We’ve got to have good posture.
3: We need to make sure that we’re not putting any sort of vocal strain in our throat.
And finally, we really want to focus on making our sound open, forward, and bright.
Okay we’re going to start with a vowel exercise. The vowels are A-E-I-O and U. We’re going to pronounce “U” with an “ooo” sound. So it’s going to sound like “A-E-I-O-Ooo”. The goal with this exercise is we’re trying to connect all of the vowels onto one note. So it’s going to sound like this.
So the whole goal with this exercise is we want to really enunciate so that our mouths start to move and relax. It just helps us really wake up our mouth and get our mouths moving. So let’s do a couple together.
Now we’re going to move on to some consonant exercises. So consonants are basically anything that’s not a vowel. So we’ve got “b” and “k” and “z” and “s” and “f”. We have all these really fun consonants that make really awesome sounds. I like to isolate them in an exercise so that I can really get my jaw nice and relaxed and warmed-up. And so that my mouth can practice enunciating these consonants. So this exercise is called “dooby dooby doo”. We’re focused on enunciating the “d” and the “b”. So “dooby dooby doo”. And this is what it sounds like. And really over-enunciate the “d” and the “b”. Even if a little bit of spit comes out- that’s totally fine. Just really make sure that we’re over-enunciating.
Now we’re going to talk about M&Ms! I love M&Ms. They’re one of my favorite chocolates. And you know what? It’s also one of my favorite exercises. So the phrase is “Mommy made me mash my M&Ms”. So again, that’s “Mommy made me mash my M&Ms”. And we’re really focusing on the “m” because that’s at the beginning of every single word. So if you’re having a hard time with the phrase, you can go ahead and just do it on a “hmm” or “m”. The phrase again is “Mommy made me mash my M&M’s” and this is how it sounds.
And again, we’re working on enunciating and really digging into that “m” sound. And when I do the “m” sound, it’s not coming from the back of my throat. It’s actually coming from my nose. I can feel the “m” vibration in this part of my face. So let’s try it!
Now we’re going to be singing about cute kittens. And we’re really trying to over-enunciate the “cute kittens”. Cute kittens are so fun. So again, really over-enunciate all of the words. The reason why I’m so focused on trying to have you over-enunciate and open your mouth is because it’s really going to help with that goal of waking up the voice and really waking up these muscles in our face and our jaw. So I know it kind of feels weird. You may think you look kind of foolish, but trust me, you don’t! It’s just all part of the process of warming up. So the phrase again is “Cute kittens are so fun” and this is what it sounds like.
Now we’re going to sing about bubble gum. So the phrase is “Bubblegum is good”. We’re really trying to focus on the “b” in bubblegum. And it’s a little bit of a different exercise so let me just demonstrate. So we’re going to go “Bubblegum is good”.
I’d like you to do the slide at the end so that we can really connect that vowel that’s in “good”. So really make sure, just like I’ve said with all the other exercises, that you’re really not putting any sort of strain on your throat and that you’re doing it nice and open and bright. I mean we’re singing about bubblegum, so it should be really fun! Put a little bit of a smile into it. Smile while you sing it. Here we go. Let’s do a couple.
That’s all for our video today. Again, go ahead and check out that supplemental video so that you can follow along at home. I hope you guys have a wonderful day. Thanks!
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 here.
Warm-Ups Part 2 (Supplemental exercise video)
Hey guys! Welcome to our warm-ups video part 2. If you haven’t watched episode 5,Wait! We gotta warm-up! Part 2, go ahead and watch that. That is where I explain all the exercises that you are going to see in this supplemental video. I am going to demonstrate the exercise once and then I’m just going to play the piano for you guys to follow along. Thanks and enjoy the video!
Warm-up Exercise 5: A-E-I-O-U
A-E-I-O-U
Warm-up Exercise 6: Dooby Doo
Dooby Dooby Doo
Warm-up Exercises 7: M&Ms
Mommy Made Me Mash My M&Ms
Warm-up Exercise 8: Cute Kittens
Cute kittens are so fun.
Warm-up Exercise 9: Bubblegum
Bubblegum is good.
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 here.