Warm Ups - where do they really start?

Thinking about warm ups conjures for many of us images of singers tucked away in their home studio or rumpus room filling their Saturday morning or Friday afternoon with the dulcet tones of scales and arpeggios. Granted, that is fairly close to what might be happening, at least for those dedicated vocalists who are seeking their ‘best voice’. But is there more to the humble warm up?

Whilst those images of the vocalist warbling away may be true in part, I believe the warm up routine should be so much more. Rather than merely a selection of scales and arpeggios, warm ups are a reflective and reflexive process which references not only our vocal goals and learning to date, but also acknowledges where we are at in our lives. Warm ups need to be about personal awareness and understanding, going well beyond a quick couple of scales to get the voice going.

Some of our warm up begins the moment we get out of bed and possibly even the night before. Let me explain.

What we did yesterday and yesterday evening will have an impact on the voice we take into the studio today. Ask yourself the question: Did I hydrate efficiently? Did I overwork the voice? Did I do some physical exercise? Did I sleep well? How was I feeling? Was I stressed? Did I sleep in aircon? The list of physical, environmental and even psychological factors which impact the voice are potentially endless.

Sometimes students come into the studio after a week of solid practice and dedicated effort and focus, only to find that the voice is frustratingly under par and less than their expectation. After a little delving I will find a late night or an argument with their partner or parent has occurred. Maybe they went to a concert, and sang along because they couldn’t help it (🤩) or watched the footy and screamed at the top of their lungs when their team scored.

Recognising that we are ‘vocal beings’ is a first step in understanding our voice and what it needs. We are our voice and our voice is us - the two cannot be separated like an instrument and its player. We live, communicate, interact, eat, sleep and breath with the same instrument we sing with. It stands to reason therefore that as we begin the warm up we need to consider where the voice has been and what it has been doing. That is the voice we take with us into the studio today.

Now this is not to say that those scales and arpeggios aren’t helpful - of course they are. But sometimes we need other things to precede those ‘bread and butter’ fundamentals of a good warm up with something more. For example, simple stretching helps to prepare the body for better posture, especially if yesterday we spent hours at the computer and we woke up with a stiff neck. Working on some SOVT’s at the outset may ‘place’ and clarify a tired voice in a better frame that if we leap straight into arpeggios or a blues scale. Steam is great for a tired croaky voice, especially when its been out late at your favourite performers concert in the cold night air.

The message here is that nothing can benefit your voice more than having a good understanding and appreciation of what your ‘vocal world’ is. Think about the week gone by and then ask yourself what kind of week has my voice had - the answer might be surprising. This is where reflection and a reflexive approach to practice and performance makes the difference.

Our existence is amazingly variable from day to day. Most of us live in a complex world. This naturally influences the state of our voice. Whilst we seek to limit the negative impacts with good foundations of practice, understanding those influential variables will go a long way toward choosing the right preparation in advance of those scales and arpeggios.

Stay tuned for further thoughts about vocal preparation…