SINGING AND VOICE:

VOCAL SKILLS AUDIT/

DEVELOPING AND LEADING
A VOCAL WARM UP
Lily Ertle WEEK 1 WEEK 2
 VOCAL SKILLS AUDIT: WHAT I HAVE
LEARNT OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF
WEEKS?
 EFFECTIVE AND GENTLE VOCAL
WARM UPS
For the beginning induction week, in singing and voice classes, I have been
introduced to a new variation of warm ups and tasks to gently exercise the
larynx and stretch the vocal muscles, to become more flexible and prevent
damage to the voice. An example of one of these practices that I have
learnt is "The Siren", this is the most effective and kind warm up, that is not
only the least straining and damaging to the Larynx, but is also well known to
help singers increase the variety in their vocal range. The Siren is a 'Source'
warm up, meaning that it is best for loosening up the larynx and muscles in
the throat that induce sound. The warm up is produced by a singer
breathing in deeply and then exhaling on a 'ing' sound on any chosen key.
The singer then 'climbs' their comfortable vocal range whilst continuing the
'ing' sound and stretching their larynx to reach a more varied vocal scale.
 A SINGERS POSTURE
This week I have also acquired the knowledge of how a singer
should correctly stand to reach the best of their overall vocal
ability. It is important for a singer to stand in a relaxed and casual
position, with their hands by their sides, to prevent fidgeting and
distraction, and feet parallel. They must also have an open and
broad body posture, so that no tension is built up in the chest
area and the singer can reach a more varied scale when
singing and feel comfortable enough to 'belt'. The head must be
kept still and held high, not only so that the sound can be
projected but also as a confidence booster.
 THE LARYNX
Finally, I have learnt about the vital importance of the larynx when singing, and it's
different features and functions for it to work properly. As shown above in the images of
the model of a larynx that I built.
The purpose of...
Thyroid: The thyroid cartilage, which forms the Adam's apple, is the largest and
uppermost of nine cartilages within the larynx. It houses the vocal folds, also known as
the vocal cords.
Cricoid: The function of the cricoid cartilage is to provide attachments for the
cricothyroid muscle, posterior cricoarytenoid muscle and lateral cricoarytenoid muscle
muscles, cartilages, and ligaments involved in opening and closing the airway and in
speech production.
Epiglottis: The epiglottis is a flexible flap at the superior end of the larynx in the throat. It
acts as a switch between the larynx and the oesophagus to permit air to enter the
airway to the lungs and food to pass into the gastrointestinal tract.
Arytenoid: The main function of the cricoid, thyroid, and arytenoid cartilages is to keep
the airway through the larynx open allowing air to pass over the vocal cords.
 WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO FIND
MORE ABOUT
I would like to find out more about breath control
and how it can be improved and strengthened, as I
feel this would be very beneficial to my struggles
and weaknesses. I will find this out by asking Katy
next lesson, rather than research, as I believe that
she is more of a reliable resource to receive
accurate information from, as she has personal
experience with this and singing and vocal work.
 SOMETHING I HAVE FOUND
CHALLENGING AND HOW I WILL
IMPROVE
This week I struggled slightly on breath control when singing
and performing warms ups, such as the 'Siren' and finding
the breath to hold the 'F' sound when exhaling on the 'F
scale', and pushing the sound fiercely out of my lips I found
took up a lot of breath and stomach strength. I will improve
on this by practicing at home the 'Siren' warm up, as it is well
known for dramatically improving a singers breath control
and expanding their lung capacity.
 GROUP WORK
I felt confident performing as a group, as I found it a great opportunity to get
a sense of the variation of different singing abilities and everyone's unique
vocal strengths and weaknesses. I also found the overall experience a good
chance to work together and perform as newly acquainted ensemble
members sharing similar passions and ambitions.
Critically speaking, I felt that my group's final performance was most
effective when Emily and I sang 'Oh when the saints' in duet, overlapping
Soniya, Ella and Rosie, who were singing in unison 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot',
I perceived that this had the successful impact of creating a discreet and in
tune harmony, whilst also portraying the groups different vocal skills. However
our group could have improved on timing, as I feel that at moments we
began to slip out of sync as the performance went on.
 DEVELOPING AND LEADING A
VOCAL WARM UP:
For the second week in singing and voice classes we began to plan our assessed vocal warm
ups in our assigned partners. These warm ups had to consist of at least two exercises to loosen
up each section of the body that is forced to work during singing.
For example:
FILTER: Mouth and head
SOURCE: Larynx
POWER: Lungs and diaphragm
My partner, Sophie, and I did this by researching the most effective and least vocally straining
or challenging warm ups to use in our session. For instance, we decided to use the 'siren' as a
source warm up, as it is the most forgiving and effectual warm up for the larynx, without
causing any damage and also helping the singer to improve their vocal range and scale.
Finally to wrap up our warm up, we were asked to add two extra exercises to improve diction
and we decided to chose warm ups that would actively work the tongue muscles to refine
the pronunciation and ending of words. For our diction exercises we chose to do tongue
twisters, such as 'Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers', and overemphasised of the
vowels 'A, E, I, O, U', this helps with diction as it forces the tongue to stretch out and exercise
the muscles helping with the pronunciation of words and also with increasing the variety in a
singers vocal range.
 OUR RESEARCH REFERENCES
https://takelessons.com/blog/diction-exercises-z02 - 6 helpful diction
exercises for singers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sing/learning/warmingup.shtml - Learn to sing:
Warming up
http://www.become-a-singing-master.com/vocal-warm-up-exercise.html - A
vocal warm up exercise that works like magic
https://www.wikihow.com/Warm-up-Your-Voice - How to warm up your
voice
 OUR FINAL PLAN
POWER: Breathing exercises and running in
a circle.
SOURCE: Sirening and tongue twisters.
FILTER: Massage faces and tongue washes.
WARM UPS TO IMPROVE DICTION: Over pronounced
vowels (A, E, I, O, U) and tongue stretches.
 EVALUATION OF WHAT I HAVE
LEARNT SO FAR
Over the past couple of weeks I have learnt many things about my voice and how it
is best to warm up the whole of the upper body, rather than just focusing on the
larynx and the throat muscles as these are not the only functions used in singing, the
abdomen and diaphragm also need to be stretched for effective breath control
and this can be done using power warm ups such as deep, controlled breathing
and exercise like running quickly on the spot to help oxygen go to the body and fill
up the lungs whilst increasing lung capacity.
I've also learnt what is meant by the term diction and articulation and how it is
extremely important when performing as the audience must be able to perfectly
understand every word that you are singing, so that a clear and obvious story can
be told.
Diction: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing.
Articulation: the formation of clear and distinct sounds in speech.