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Vocal 'rescue' exercises for singers
Every singer has their preferred method of warming up. These are some of the exercises that my teacher, Philip Doghan, taught me, and which I teach my own pupils.
They’re great exercises to help warm the voice up gently, and will help put it back into place if it is tired, strained or over-used.
Different exercises will work best for different people, and you may need to adjust the range for your own voice. The ones below are set at a pitch for soprano or tenor – if you are a mezzo or a bass, try transposing them down a major third.
Taking the air
Taking the air (taking a breath) should be very relaxed. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart. When you take your air, the back expands first – this will become your point of reference. The rib cage comes up and stays slightly locked in place. The glottis is the small hole between the vocalis muscle and the transverse and oblique artytenoid muscles – i.e. a hole in the middle of the larynx which needs to be open for the air to flow properly and to keep the larynx relaxed.
For good singing, the larynx must be lowered, not raised, and the supraglottic areas kept open to ensure the air can flow easily. A low larynx is in a relaxed position.
1. ‘Adoremisi’
(Starting on C and going up in semitones to no higher than E)
‘Adoremisi’ is a sort of vocalised sigh, where the ‘a’ is barely voiced. It should be more an exhalation of air that launches into ‘dor’, which is a long column.
This exercise is designed as a gentle massaging exercise for the vocal folds. It should be as quiet and as free as possible, with the vocal folds vibrating gently together and swinging, rather than being held.
The exercise brings the head voice down as far as possible – chest voice is not used, to take all pressure off the larynx and free the tiny overtones that give the voice its resonance.
2. Sü
Bring the lips to a rounded position with a relaxed jaw. ‘Cry’ the exercise and suck the air in gradually. Let it blossom, then lighten the sound (i.e. don’t push it) as you descend through the arpeggio.
3. Mm (relaxed and smiling)
(Ascend and descend as is comfortable – not too high)
A very gentle hum on a descending and ascending scale of a 5th. Give this one a half smile so that you can feel your cheeks rise and the sound fly to the small resonances in the nose.
4. A-E-I-O-U
(Start on an A. Ascend and descend as is comfortable, but never above a D.)
Slide the vowels into one another on a single note, blossoming on the first ‘A’ and coming away from it again before running the other vowels together quite quickly.
The breath comes first in this exercise, so that the first ‘A’ is not pushed but comes from nothing, on top of the air. Come away from the first ‘A’ but follow the sound through and don’t let it collapse during this first note.
5. A – E – I – O – U
(Slowly. Descend in semitones)
This exercise introduces the ‘quick attack’. The vowels should be bright and Italianate - @ [ɛ] [i] [o] [u]; the sound is produced by attacking each note and immediately coming away from it. The ribs should stay up and in position throughout this exercise.
6. A – A – A – A
(Ascending in semitones)
This develops the last exercise to practise the quick attack, this time on a descending arpeggio + 3rd on an open Italianate @. The sound should be very small, bright and high placed – almost babyish in colour. This helps to find the core of the sound.
The ribs remain up and slightly locked; the glottis is open. As you descend, it should get smaller to make the abdominal muscles come into play rather than supporting with the larynx.
7. A – E – I – O – U: the bouncy exercise
(Begin on C and ascend in semitones)
Lift the last note in preparation for the next set of notes on a different vowel. Between each set there’s a light relaxation where the ribs stay up, the glottis remains open and the body is prepared for the next set of notes. Don’t go ‘splat’ in this exercise between each set as there’s no time to prepare once again.
As you come down into the middle of the voice, lighten it to feel the muscles in the side of your body kick in. Let go of the air between each set of notes. As the exercise gets higher, the vowel modifies through ‘o’ and ‘oo’.
8. Blü
(As for exercise 2, beginning on an A and rising in semitones – no higher than a D)
Lighten and lift the first note before almost coming away from it, before singing the second note.
Doesn’t use much sound – this exercises the middle registers of the voice where it’s more difficult to move with much agility. If you use too much sound, it becomes stuck in the throat. Instead, lighten the exercise on the way down, pulling overtones from above down through the middle of the voice.
Repeat the exercise to ‘Ree’ and feel the length of this brighter vowel [i] – as a long column at the back of the throat.
9. Fuor (minor 6th)
(Rising in semitones)
Ascend to a minor 6th to the vowel ‘o’ – this vowel is longer and darker than @. Imagine the back wall as a long column inside the larynx. At the top of the exercise, the vowel modifies to ‘oh’ with a half smile.
10. Ah (low notes)
(Rising in semitones – no higher than F)
This exercise is designed to help balance the voice by practising the bottom, spoken, chest area. The point isn’t to make a nice noise – the more snarly and ‘fishwife-y’ the better. Grow through the first note and then lighten and come away from it before going to the second note. Don’t try to take the hard, chest quality upwards to the second note as this puts pressure on the larynx.
11. A (8ve, 8+3, 8+5th)
(Up in semitones)
This exercise builds on the previous one to create an evenness in the voice throughout the whole range. Keep the exercise still without changing the position of the tongue or face too much – the back wall will change inside your mouth and it is this that helps to ‘speak’ the high notes.
Use chest voice for the long ‘A’ at the beginning, growing through the sound and then lightening it before launching into the rapid scale patterns. These should be light and small.
Once you reach an F, do not use chest voice on the first vowel. The whole thing should be high placed and in head voice – the top of the voice automatically has a huge energy which can be brought down through the middle voice.
Don’t worry about the sound being ‘thin’ – it must be narrow and small to have the flexibility to cover this big range.
12. A – arpeggio 8ve + 5th, legato then staccato
(Ascend in semitones, as far as is comfortable)
Take your air and let your ribs expand to start this exercise. Throughout the exercise the ribs should be slightly locked – this provides the mechanism to let the abdominal muscles function correctly. Keep the ribs up and use the tongue to ‘speak’ each individual note.
From an F onwards, use only the head voice. When approaching a top C, be careful not to let the sound get too wide – it should feel narrow, as if the sound is coming from a point beyond the back of your head. This means it’s removed from the effort and is created by the muscles of your body – not by tension in the larynx.
Repeat the exercise in staccato.
