Warm-Ups

1. Relaxation: Stand with arms above head and reach up high to pick imaginary apples,
alternating right hand and left hand. Bend to touch floor with fingertips. Rise SLOWLY with
hands at side and tilt head gently to each side, trying to touch your ear to your shoulder (don’t
raise your shoulder; lower your ear). Touch your chin to your chest. Support your neck and tilt
your head back. Roll shoulders, shake out hands and feet. Yawn and sigh to further relax.

2. Posture: Stand straight with hands at side. Lift shoulders to ears simultaneously and call
that 12 o’clock; drop shoulders toward floor and call that 6 o’clock; jut shoulders forward anc
call that 9 o’clock; pull shoulders back (not trying to touch shoulder blades) and call that 3
o’clock. Now rotate through these hours of the clock at random, stopping at 3 o’clock and
telling singers to settle their shoulders down to 4:30. That is the standing position for singing.

3. Breathing: Exhale, relax your stomach muscles (let it all hang out) and gently breathe in.
Ideally, the breath will go deep into your lungs, and as your diaphragm descends, it will push
your stomach and other organs out of the way, causing your belly to expand. If not, place your
hands on your hips and slide up to your rib cage (thumb forward) to feel expansion as you
breathe. If that doesn’t work, bend at the waist and let arms and head dangle as you breathe.
The air has no place to go but deep toward the diaphragm. Rise SLOWLY and try to recreate
the relaxed sensation of breathing. Your chest should remain high, rib cage expanded, as you
exhale. Don’t let the rib cage collapse, and watch out for heaving shoulders; a sign of clavicular
breathing. This is the breath one takes to get into a tight pair of jeans: NOT good for singing.

4. Hum – sigh. Pant like a big dog. Pant like a little dog. Hiss like a snake. Hiss on pulses.
Concentrate on breath. Change to short pulses on f, k, p, t, s, sh and other consonant sounds.

5. Beginning on G, sing pitches (sol, fa, mi, re, do____) and vowels (aw, ee, eh, oh, oo) using l,
m, n, v, z.; rise chromatically no higher than Eb at first.

6. Use “ee and oo” (closed vowels) to work on forward ring (resonance in the ‘mask’).

7. Use “ah, aw, eh, oh” to work on open tone (gently lowered larynx and raised soft palate)

8. Expand the range once the voice is warmed up. Make sure that boys USE their head voices
(Mickey Mouse voice). Everyone can sing at least C5.

Resources:
Daily Workout for a Beautiful Voice (video & pamphlet) – Charlotte Adams (Santa Barbara
Music Publishers)
Voice Building for Choirs – Wilhelm Ehmann & Frauke Haasemann (Hinshaw Music)

Lou De La Rosa, Director of Choral & Vocal Studies - West Valley College, Saratoga
lou.delarosa@westvalley.edu