✨ Week 1: Understand the Warm-Up

One of the most enlightening things I learned at the retreat was the importance and need to "warm up" before the vocal work out..  Literally a light bulb that went off in my head. 

I often like to start my warm up with some breath work before I even start anything that is truly singing. There is one particular breathing exercise I love called the dock exercise that my voice teacher taught me (he also does Alexander technique). I also like to make sure that my neck muscles are not too tense since I have a connective tissue disease. I will often do a standing version of the Pilate's exercise chest expansion that helps with this. Depending on how I am feeling, I might move into doing a lip trill 5 note (penta) scale followed by a full voice version of that scale. These are my most common warm ups before I get into technical exercises and then eventually the songs I might be working on.

I recently hear someone (Heidi... I think) if you warm up in various ways... scaffolding... it helps you get the sound you want faster and easier when singing the lyrics...  Great advise.... i see the importance now... thanks 

As a dramatic tenor I pay special attention to my falsetto function and use the completely detached falsetto to learn new repertoire (especially in foreign languages) and to memorize things. It feels like softening the voice, caressing it and oiling it. I try never to rush that (depending on how fast I need to be ready to go). Especially in early morning settings it pays way more to invest time for the falsetto and head voice than to force anything in full voice. Also, when using the falsetto function I have brain capacity to focus on certain other sensations like neck tensions, tongue tensions, breath flow, low larynx and many more. Almost always the point will present itself when voice, body and mind are ready to go "full power". I feel like this approach helps me maintain vocal health and endurance. I am curious about new input for my warm-up and work-out routines for I am quite static at the moment. Best regards to everybody! 

I actually begin my singing warm-up by being sure my body is warmed up ... so I move physically, do some core work, perhaps play around on the physio ball (I'm a little crazy, as I've been working on standing and moving ON the ball) which both warms up my body and helps me find focus. Once I feel my body is warm, I begin with either some leaky-tire breathing exercises or tongue trill excises. The focus is on breath, support, relaxation. Then I'll begin to bring my voice into the picture, typically moving chromatically from low in my register and up to comfortably high using specific patterns (do-mi-sol-mi-do and other variations). Then depending on what I'm working on that day, this may be all I do. Total time including my physical warm-up is 20-30 minutes or so.

I know in the world of sport, the concept of the warmup has changed over the years. I remember going to a conference in the late 80's when I was a young coach, and hearing a talk on the science of warming up. It was eye-opening, and was quite different from how we "traditionally" performed warm-ups.  

My warm-up starts with some arm swinging, gentle stretching for main muscle groups, recently started massaging the neck area, then move to breathing in and out for a few minutes, followed by hissing then lip trills on one tone followed by lip trills working through a scale or two. Once I've woken up my instrument I lip trill whatever I'm singing that day before actually singing.   

I usually focus on the workout more than I do the warmup, and I could improve on by giving the space I need by embracing the stretching needed prior to the strength and flexibility training to avoid injury and to achieve more vocal freedom.

I'm currently in the phase of getting back into singing, so I'm still figuring out what my warm-up and practice routine should look like. I believe this intensive will help with that.

I took voice lessons for a couple of years in high school and sang in a choir all the way through from elementary school through my master's degree in music theory. I took nearly a 20+ year break from music altogether and came back first to piano 2.5 years ago and then to singing this past October. I have been taking private voice lessons from a classically trained opera singer. We have focused predominantly on vocal technique, though I do have a couple of art songs I am actively working on. I have been thoroughly enjoying learning to better use my voice. Honestly, if I had had these resources when I was younger I might still be in music as an adult. In terms of whether I would benefit from a static or flexible warm up, I would venture to guess that a bit of each is likely best. There is something to be said for having some level of ritual to help solidify a routine and provide the framework for practice. However, things do need to change as I learn more about my voice and based on what my body might need on a given day.

For today’s query about what type of singer I am. Initially, I was limited to warmup and workout as it pertained to  bel canto, now that I feel more comfortable in that technique I have moved on to becoming more flexible and exploring not only the different placements that other languages provide, but also different genres as I like to explore my instrument. Selecting the warmup and workout for the task depending on what range and resonance I want from my instrument and to not get too confused in my intention. The cross training provides more references for me to mentally draw from in order to be more attune to my body for whatever I may require to convey the story.

I don't do much singing out in public. My routine doesn't change much, my personal singing doesn't either. I like to stay relaxed during the warm-up and then when singing try to maintain the same body relaxation . When singing I will often refer back to the warm up and use hissing and lip trills if I start getting tense. 

[Day 1] My current warmup routine is a bit extensive. I start with posture and breath support, followed by straw work (still figuring out how to use that properly), resonance check, vowels, and then lip trills. I'll often go into a guided warmup (audio) after that, which I might actually consider more of a "workout" (at least in the way that I do it), and all of that could take 30-40 min.  I might start to feel tired at this point, and that's before I've had a chance to really drill technique or practice repertoire. So definitely would like to find a more sustainable warmup routine that feels very intentional and aids my practice time rather than hindering it. Or maybe I just need to take it easy during the warmup and not sing above where I'm comfortable in my range?