Post your warm up

[BLACKWINGEDBEING]

I really don't have one, well kinda. I just lightly sing a couple songs and work on warming up that way, slowly in my car on the way to practice or a gig. I've always done it this way but recently I've started singing more so I need a decent warm up. I found this one on the web and while it got rave reviews, what's with the motorboat thing? Does this work. It looks like it doesn't do anything. I defer to the croud.

[YOUTUBE]Y-J_fHrql2k[/YOUTUBE]

[light_without_heat]

I usually just do some easy triads, light humming, etc... to warm up. Do one pattern and then just modulate to get higher and higher, keeping it real easy at first and then towards the end getting up towards the upper side of my range.

 

Couldn't watch the video but by "motorboat thing" I assume you mean lip trills and yes they are effective in my opinion. It gets the blood moving in your lips and helps with annunciation.

 

I like to do a few stretches as well to warm up. These can include tongue stretches, scrunching up your face and then stretching all your facial muscles as much as possible (without straining anything, of course). I do neck rolls, shoulder rolls, and stretch out my ribs and sides as much as possible. Basically to sing properly for a long period of time, I feel I need to be completely loose from head to toe.

 

Good question, by the way and I am so glad there is now a vocal forum!! Yes!!

 

-light

[ido1957]

http://www.singingvoicelessons.com/courses.html

 

I bought this CD Collection mainly to do warm ups but there's lots of other decent stuff on the CD's. Best money I ever spent.

 

The warm up regime consists of things like:

- motorboat

- ma-may-me-mo-moo

- a-e-i-o-u

 

all exercises take you through a range of keys/notes and back down again.

 

There about 12 or 13 exercises for male only which is within a reasonable range for me. (The old version was generic and I couldn't hit a lot of the notes.

 

Sometimes I get lazy if I'm just practicing in my basement and I just sing songs to warm up.

 

If I'm gigging I always warm up in the (late) afternoon. I find it makes a HUGE difference in my overall performance.

[BLACKWINGEDBEING]

I usually just do some easy triads, light humming, etc... to warm up. Do one pattern and then just modulate to get higher and higher, keeping it real easy at first and then towards the end getting up towards the upper side of my range. Couldn't watch the video but by "motorboat thing" I assume you mean lip trills and yes they are effective in my opinion. It gets the blood moving in your lips and helps with annunciation. Cool.makes sense thanks!! I like to do a few stretches as well to warm up. These can include tongue stretches, scrunching up your face and then stretching all your facial muscles as much as possible (without straining anything, of course). I do neck rolls, shoulder rolls, and stretch out my ribs and sides as much as possible. Basically to sing properly for a long period of time, I feel I need to be completely loose from head to toe. Good question, by the way and I am so glad there is now a vocal forum!! Yes!! -light

 

I never thought about stretching ribs and sides. Tips!!

[BLACKWINGEDBEING]

http://www.singingvoicelessons.com/courses.html I bought this CD Collection mainly to do warm ups but there's lots of other decent stuff on the CD's. Best money I ever spent. The warm up regime consists of things like: - motorboat - ma-may-me-mo-moo - a-e-i-o-u all exercises take you through a range of keys/notes and back down again. There about 12 or 13 exercises for male only which is within a reasonable range for me. (The old version was generic and I couldn't hit a lot of the notes. Sometimes I get lazy if I'm just practicing in my basement and I just sing songs to warm up. If I'm gigging I always warm up in the (late) afternoon. I find it makes a HUGE difference in my overall performance.

 

Sounds good for 50-60 bucks. That's a lot of info!

[RupertB]

[Bajazz]

I use a mix of songs, vocal training tracks etc...

These days I have a intuitive feel for what I need to do before I go on the stage. Sometimes I need to find my low notes, other times I must grab the falsetto and other times I feel I'm ready to go, but I sing a few tunes anyway to get it flowing. I need to be very relaxed before I go on, as I sing a mix of very low and high material, lyrical and high energy, I can't rely on the adrenaline rush.

 

You are talking about the lip rolls. As with toungue trills it makes you focus on making an even loose trill. It also ensures an even air pressure. This in turn takes the mind of the tension when reaching up in your register. It's a great range widener, just be not afraid to use volume and support. I recommend that you check out Seth Riggs, Brett Manning or other SLS instruction on proper way to do these excercises.

[micwalt]

I sing along with Whitesnake's "Whitesnake" CD on the way to the gig.

Usually pretty warmed up after that.

Oh, and then I have a Maker's Mark and water on the rocks.

[DjangoStiltskin]

Four pints of cider.

[sydfan]

A shot of Jameson usually loosens everything up just right.

[bdemon]

Tackling the vocals as a guitarist, I tend to sing sequences to get my ear and voice together. Pick a key and maybe go 1-2-3, 2-3-4, or 1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5, etc. Good ear training for the longer intervals, such as 4ths and 5ths.

[Branwyn]

Very much what light_without_heat said. I was classically trained so that's how I warm up. I start with the body stretches, the facial stretches/scrunches, neck rolls, shoulder wobbles, shaking out my limbs.

 

I start out with "sirens"...start in the middle of my range and go "OOOOOWAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOO" all the way up and back down again, just like a police siren, crescendoing to the middle and decrescendoing back down. Repeat modulate up and back down. This is usually accompanied by a full body movement...start with your shoulders kinda flopped over forward and pull your arms up and fly em over your head and back down again at the end, if that makes any sense.

 

Insert lip trills here, and maybe a few other places, making sure to start out with big lungs full of air and expelling it as slowly and controlled as I can. This not only warms up the lips and mouth but helps w/breath control.

 

Then I usually start in the middle of my range and sing a few major, minor, and chromatic scales, first modulating up, then back down.

 

Then I start on the maaa-meeey-meee-moh-moooo things, starting in the center of my range and modulating all way up to the very top and then all the way back down to the very bottom. Repeat this exercise with a few more hard consonants in the alphabet...ba-beh-bee-bo-boo, ka-keh-kee-ko, etc.

 

Then staccato exercises to exercise the diaphragm and breath. Same phrase as above, only not sung, just spoken with alot of short punchy breath from the diaphragm going thru the consonants...BA! BEH! BE! BOH! BOO! KA! KEH! KE! KO! KOO!

 

Then a few more sirens, lip trills, and scales to get me back into the "singing" groove. I'll usually sing a bit of an aria to myself (insert good warmup song for you here) then an folky tune, since Irish folky stuff is what I do now.

 

That's about it. It's long but it works! Maybe I'll record it at some point for reference if anyone is that interested.

[bassred]

:cool:My range is similar to Van Zant from SKynyrd and Delbert McClinton, so I'll pop in one of those, or some allman brothers and sing along, just make sure not to tackle those parts that are at the top of your range while you are cold. I sing along to the jukebox or my mp3 player after sound check, try not to talk too much between sets, but being the frontman means being the mouthpeice too...