Vocal Warmup Exercises

Warming up the voice properly is one of the most important things you can do to maintain a healthy and beautiful voice.  By warming up your vocal muscles before singing, you will sing with more beauty, control, and most importantly, with the support needed to sing without wearing out and damaging the vocal chords.  On the contrary, singing without warming up is a lot like running a 50-yard dash without warming up your leg muscles.  Strenuous use of muscles without properly preparing can cause permanent injury!

I list here a few of my favorite vocal warmup links, along with a short explanation of what vocal exercises are in each.  Remember, most vocal exercises may seem bizarre and even embarrassing to do, but they are guaranteed to improve your voice!

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Singing from the diaphragm

Learning to sing "from the diaphragm" is important to good tone.  This video gives us an exercise to both sing with more abdominal support and reduce tension in the throat at the same time.

Approach to high notes

A good technique to help connect the two distinct registers of our voice, the "chest voice" and the "head voice" so high notes are more free and natural.

How does a "Pro" warmup?

I am always fascinated by pro singers and what they do to warm up.  In this video, Danielle de Niese, a prominent soprano specializing in Baroque repertoire, shows us her technique. 

The Lip Roll

Lip rolls help reduce throat tension, warms up and strengthens the upper register and reduces a vocal fatigue.  They also are a great way to explore your upper register without fear of injury. They may seem weird, but they work!

Another link to lip roll exercises.

Tips on relaxing the neck, shoulders and throat.

This is a great video with tips on relaxing the muscles, including neck, shoulders and abdominal muscles, involved in supporting the voice.

Scales using "M" and "N"

Doing scales beginning your vowel sounds with an "M" or "N" trains your voice to sing with more nasal resonance.