Most singers know they should warm up before singing — but what exactly should a warm up contain?
I’ve written before about why warm ups matter— see The singers who didn’t like warm ups (and what became of them) — but it’s worth looking more closely at what actually makes a warm up effective.
If you Google “choir warm ups” you will come across loads and loads of vocalises: singing exercises using vowel sounds and nonsense syllables.
If you’re lucky, there might be a brief mention of stretching and breathing, but this is usually skipped over quickly in order to get to the vocalise bit.
You might attend a singing workshop which resembles more of a yoga class. There is lots of stretching and yawning and breathing and focusing, and it seems to take ages to getting around to doing any singing.
A good warm up lies somewhere between these two extremes. There are many things that need to be “warmed up” before we start singing together.
Here is a list of what I think the important elements of a warm up are.
Coming back into the body
Many singers will have been at work all day, often stuck at a desk. Certain tensions will have crept into the body, particular muscle groups will be tight, and good posture will have gone out the window. We need to bring people back into their bodies (rather than their heads), release tension, correct bad posture and become relaxed, grounded, physical beings again.
Finding the breath
Most of the time in our daily lives, our breath is very shallow. It’s only when we realise we are tense or stressed that we might let out a big sigh. It’s time to reconnect with our breath and tap into long, deep breathing. Also to realise that we can fill our lungs quicker than we think.
Crossing the threshold
Singers can arrive at choir full of the cares of the world and with their mind elsewhere. We need to help them move into a safe, more creative space where they can let everyday thoughts and worries go.
Inviting play
People will have spent the week being a grown up as they go to work and bring up families. It’s easy to forget that we’re all fun-loving, playful beings. The more we reconnect with play, fun and silliness, the looser our bodies become, the freer our minds become, and the more receptive we are to learning new things and being creative. We can be serious about our singing and the songs we’re learning while maintaining a fun approach and a sense of perspective
Waking the imagination
Using visual imagery can help people become more engaged with both physical and vocal activity. It also helps people focus more on the task at hand.
Learning to listen again
We are a predominantly a visual society. We don’t often sit down and just listen. But listening is one of the most important aspects of singing. We need to tap back in to our fine listening skills and take some time to focus on the sounds we and others are making.
From silence to sound
Of course, at some point, we need to begin to sing. But we’ll be moving from silence to sound, from making no noise at all to fully engaging our vocal apparatus. We need to be gentle, using a series of sighs and hums to start with.
Becoming a choir
A choir is a team. Harmonies are made by more than one voice at a time. We’ll need to move our focus from ourselves (especially when we’re stretching and honing in on where tensions might lie in our own body) to the whole group. It’s be working as a group that harmonies become tight and voices blend well.
Eyes as well as ears
Our eyes need to become as tuned as our ears. We can watch other singers take a breath to help us keep in time with each other. We watch the conductor eagerly to follow every direction.
Bringing it all together
The best warm ups combine all of these elements as much as possible at each and every stage. If we separate them too much, singers will compartmentalise.
For example, if we spend a long time doing just physical activities and then move on to singing as a separate activity, singers can easily allow tension back into their bodies and forget about posture.
It’s not “now we’re doing a physical warm up, now we’re singing.” It should be “now we’re singing and I’m using my body, imagination, listening skills, group awareness” and so on.
So every warm up should ask the same question: am I preparing just the voice — or the whole choir?
Further reading
You might find these other posts useful:
Are warm ups necessary for singers?
Preparing to sing: what should a warm up consist of?
How to warm up your voice on the bus (or any other public space)
How to adapt singing warm ups if you have limited mobility
Why are we stretching when we’ve come to sing?
Why a warm up shouldn’t be just vocal exercises
Chris Rowbury
Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox!
Click to subscribe by email.
… found this helpful?
I provide this content free of charge, because I like to be helpful. If you have found it useful, you may like to ...
... to say thank you.