Want to sound better instantly?! In this lesson, Lisa will give you a COMPLETE 10-minute vocal warm-up routine that will immediately make you sound better… AND keep your voice strong and healthy.
For 10 to 20 seconds, inflate your cheeks and let air come out as if you were blowing a birthday candle. At the same time, make your best impression of a fire truck and go up and down like a siren.
Start as low as you can (comfortably), then go up as high as you can (again, within comfort). Don’t worry if your voice flips or cracks. We’ll just siren through our range. Give it a shot.
Do it a few times. Go aaaaall the way down. Then all the way up.
If you’re feeling like a method actor, you can rev the engine of the firetruck to give your voice a little more of a workout.
It feels and sounds ridiculous, so maybe you want to practice in a place where you’re completely comfortable. However, this is a great place to explore the edges of your range when you begin your warm-up.
You will hear me talk about this vocal exercise a lot. The bubble should be added to every singer’s practice routine. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced vocalist, this exercise will strengthen and maintain your vocal muscles.
Sing a scale, up and down, by letting your lips bubble. Your nose will probably feel super itchy when you do this exercise. It’s totally normal. Putting a finger on it may help lower the vibration.
This is probably the most challenging warm-up. Not because it’s difficult but because it’s really hard not to laugh.
Making raspberries can reduce the tension on your tongue and relax your vocal muscles. So we’ll do a descending scale of fart… erm, tooting noises with a pitch. Give it a try.
Rolling your ‘R’ may be a good middle ground between the lip trill and raspberry if you’re finding the exercise hard to do.
And, if things weren’t getting weird enough already, we’ll do some tongue stretches as well. Stick it out as far as you can, then relax it. Use it to push on both your cheeks, stretching them as well.
People don’t realize how much of a role this plays in the sound of our voice.
For this one, we’ll do three scales in a row. Beginning by singing ‘HUNG’ and letting the G sound…well, hang in the back of our throat. Then blend the sound with a brattier ‘EE,’ finally shifting into an ‘MM’ sound.
It’s a lot easier if you follow along in the video above.
You’ll want to make sure you don’t fully stop between sounds, but let it all be one soft evolution from beginning to end. Notice how subtly your mouth shifts shapes to produce different sounds.
Continue along the scale and move higher and higher until you’re ready to come back down to do the same.
Play around with the speed at which you do this warm-up. But make sure to stay relaxed throughout.
Using the same acting skills we used to become a firetruck earlier, we’ll now embody a very wise (and musical) owl.
Singing “Hoo,” we will do a four-note scale. It’ll be one single sound for all four.
Start high and go low as much as you can, feeling this dopey sound vibrate your throat. This is also a perfect time to introduce – and practice – some vibrato.
You’ll find the exercise to be super easy and relaxing.
At this point, I probably don’t need to tell you we’ll be going up and down a scale.
For our second-last warm-up, we’ll sing a sharp GUG with every note. Unlike the previous ones, this time, we will leave a deliberate space between the notes.
So by the time you’ve gone up and down the scale, you will have done 13 GUGs.
Our Last exercise is an all-time classic of our Singeo workouts. We use it all the time, because of how great it is!
This will be our final impression of the day…
Doing your best puffer fish, let your cheeks fill up with air and extend. Allow the air to come out as if you’re whistling. Putting your hand in front of your face is a good way to make sure you’re blowing it out correctly. You should also be able to plug your nose and hear no difference.
This exercise requires you to work from your core and can be a little challenging at first. Try to just make it through the melody of the song. Your voice may crack or flip along the way, don’t let that stop you. Do it along with Lisa. Aaaand..go!
What a good-looking puffer fish!
If you felt a little out of breath at the end, that’s perfectly fine. This is a workout for your breathing, and even Lisa needed to catch her breath at the end. If you were to speak right now, do you notice a difference? The experience of talking has changed a little bit.
You may try different letters with this one, like ‘V’ or ‘Z .’They all feel different, and they all exercise different aspects of your vocals.
That’s it, friend! Ideally, a routine like this one won’t take you more than 10 minutes every day. And will have incredibly long-lasting effects on your singing.
If you’re ever in a pinch and aren’t sure your voice is ready to sing, this is the best way to kick things into gear and immediately start sounding better. Good luck!
If you enjoyed working on your voice with Lisa this week, you’re in luck! As a Singeo Member, you have access to practice guides in different keys, the ability to transpose or repeat certain sections, get personalized reviews of your progress, and so much more.
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