Singing is a great way to relieve stress and express yourself, but if you want to sing well, you need to warm up your voice before singing. This is a simple way to do it that will help you avoid damaging your vocal cords.
Why do you have to warm up your voice
Singing is one of the most popular forms of exercise, but if you’re not careful, you may damage your vocal cords. The voice box and its muscles are like a muscle. If they are not used, they become weak and lose their tone.
If your voice is hoarse or painful, it could be because you have overworked it. If you have a sore throat or a dry cough, your vocal cords could be infected.
You should warm up before singing to avoid injury to your vocal cords and other parts of the body that may be affected by singing. This will also help you produce better-quality sound from your voice.
Warming up before singing can improve your overall voice health because it will strengthen the muscles that help to create sound from the air passing through the larynx into the lungs. It also helps prevent throat infections and improves breath control when singing for long periods of time.
What is vocal warm up?
Vocal warm-up exercises are a set of exercises that you do to prepare your voice before singing. Warm-up exercises prepare your voice for the rigors of singing and make it easier to sing in a high or low register. It’s also a good idea to perform some vocal warm-ups before practicing your songs in front of an audience.
How to warm up your voice
There are several ways to warm up your voice:
• Sing out loud (or practice in front of a mirror) for 5 minutes or so. This is the simplest way, and it’s probably the best if you don’t have much experience singing. You can sing anything that comes into mind – from nursery rhymes and popular songs to church hymns. Your goal is simply to sing more easily, so don’t worry about how well you sound – just keep singing.
• Sing with friends or family members, especially those who have no musical background (aunts, uncles, cousins). This works because they will be able to tell if you sound off-key or out of tune. However, avoid using this method if you want someone else’s opinion because they may not give honest feedback. Instead, invite them over and ask them to sit in on your practice session so they can tell you what they hear when you sing (or use an earphone if one is available).
• Perform a few vocal warm-ups exercises. These are exercises that prepare your voice for singing. Warm-up exercises make it easier to sing in a high or low register and make it easier to sing in a fast or slow tempo. They can be done before or after singing, and they’re the best way to prepare your voice for singing in front of an audience. The following are some of the most useful vocal warm-up exercises:
• Start with a few deep breaths . This helps to prepare your diaphragm for singing. It also helps to prepare your lungs for singing. Deep breaths also help you relax and calm yourself before singing.
• Sing a few notes of your favorite song. Sing a little louder than you would normally sing, and repeat as many times as you need to in order to reach the desired pitch and volume level. You should be able to reach the desired pitch level with a few repetitions, but if not, keep trying until you do.
• Repeat the last two exercises, but this time, sing in a higher or lower register. You can use your voice as you normally would (in a normal singing voice), or you can sing in a falsetto (high voice) or alto (medium voice) or even a tenor (low voice).
• Try to sing at least one note per breath. This is also called breath support. Breathing while singing helps to keep your pitch level consistent and helps to avoid singing out of tune.
• Try to sing in a fast tempo (like a song that’s performed at a fast tempo).
• Try to sing in a slow tempo (like a song that’s performed at a slow tempo).
• Sing the song you are practicing in front of an audience. You will be able to see if you sound off-key or out of tune, and you will be able to hear if your voice is resonating.
Obviously you don’t have to do all of this every time, this is just a list where you can pick some exercises for warming up: it’s called warm-up, not burning-up after all.
Other interesting external resources
- Simple exercises for warming up your voice (Youtube video);
- 9 vocal warm up exercises for singers (written blog post)
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