Vocal Development Exercises

Rebecca Pereira
1. Energizing, motivating, and focusing
1234
Jogging in place (attach a story to it)
Stretching
2. Posturing and aligning
Rag dollcome up slowly feeling your spine align
Body check feet grounded/properly spaced, knees unlocked,
straight torso, shoulders wide apart and relaxed, hands to their
sides
Turn head side to side to feel centered
Pull string from top of head to feel all this come together
3. Inhaling, exhaling and supporting
While in proper singing position, students put their hands around
their rib cages and practice taking deep breaths and feeling their
rib cages expand with each inhalation
Rhythmic exercises on ch and sh (etc) to engage breath
Breathe in for 4 beats, breathe out for 4/8/12 (etc)
d-s patterns on do staccato to engage breath support
4. Breathing in context (long phrases, catch breaths, staggered
breaths, breathing in varying tempi, supporting last note of a phrase)
Lip trills (s f m r d) only breathe with they absolutely have to
Legato arpeggios (two or three in a row)
5. Opening the vocal tract
Big sighs on AH and OH
Stretch tongue out (cover with hand!)
6. Register Consistency
Starting from very low and stretching to the top on a sigh, then from
the top down (on oo)
Warm ups that go through both lower and upper passaggi
7. Extending the upper and lower range
Va Me Da Me Ni Po Too (d-r) good for extending upper range
Scales on solfege (so to low so) good for lower extension

8. Gradual pacing of crescendi and diminuendi

Students hold a pitch and grow in sound throughout desired amount
of beats. Then diminuendo in the same number of beats.
I love to sing! crescendo and diminuendo throughout each phrase
9. Creating unified vowels (solfege could be used)
[i e a o u] up a 5 note pattern with no consonants in between so that
students can connect and modify to match each other
ma me meet mo moo adding a voiced consonant will help to help
unify pitch and then vowel when they open up into the vowel
10. Modifying vowels in register extremes
Warm ups where students begin with close vowels and modify to an
open vowel (oo to oh; ee to eh; etc)
Nee-Yah-Nee (d s d)
11. Singing in legato and articulated styles
Have students sing one straight legato line on a neutral vowel, then
completely the same pattern marcato, finally combine both
together
Have students pull a string from one side to another as they sing a
staccato scale so they have a sense of legato phrasing with small
accents
12. Using face, body and voice expressively
Tell a story with a lot of expression, have students imitate your facial
expressions. All along with hand gestures and intentional
voice/speech inflections.
Have students sing a phrase from their music and have them sing it
with different emotions/stories/dynamics
Dalcroze! Have students move to the music giving their own
interpretation, then discuss with the class the different reactions
and perceptions.
13. Developing efficient formation and rhythmic placement of
consonants
Spoken words in rhythm. For example, Adoramus; if I wanted the
final ss to be together on the down beat of the next measure, I
would have them articulate the rhythm (ta ti tiki), add the words,
have them sing that small section, and finally put it into context.
Have them clap the rhythms as they sing the line so they see exactly

where to place consonants

14. Developing dynamic resonance (space with forward placement)
Resonance knob; after demonstrating the difference between a
resonant sound and a breathy sound, have students start on a
pitch, build a chord between voice parts, finally have students
increase/decrease resonance as the knob turns
Hum and chew through range; change to oo and go sporadically
through range
15. Singing phrases with forward motion and repose, shape, syllabic
and word stress
I love to sing, I sigh for spring; students will work on phrasing
according to the word they choose to stress each time
Have students use their hands to show forward motion, stress, and
shape of a phrase you choose from their music. Pick another
contrasting phrase from either the same or a different piece and
have them contour that as well. Discuss the difference.