It may seem counterintuitive–vocal warm-up exercises will prevent overuse injury? Yes. Your vocal folds are controlled by tiny muscles, and when they’re warmed-up they are more flexible, easier to use, and less susceptible to injury.

Before starting your vocal warm-up exercises, do some whole-body stretching and relaxation. Start with the “rag doll” exercise. From a standing position, bend forward at your hips, allowing your head and arms to dangle freely. Shake them a bit then, just let them dangle for another minute or so.

Follow that with a stretching exercise for proper posture alignment. Stand with your feet flat on the floor, about hip-width apart, and your arms at your sides. Bring your arms rapidly upward and across your body in a circular motion until they are over your head. Rising onto your tiptoes, take in a good, deep breath as you move your arms up.

As you slowly exhale, bring your arms back down to your sides and come back down to flat feet. Try to keep your chest up and shoulders back, as they were at the top of the stretch, after bringing your arms down. You are now ready to begin your vocal warm-up exercises.

The first vocal warm-up exercise uses a technique that goes by many names: buzz, bubble lips, lip roll, or lip trill. Exhale through puckered lips to create a vibration, sounding a bit like a motorboat or a “raspberry”.

You will do the buzz slide between three tones: the base tone, up a fourth, and back to the base (do-fa-do): in the key of C major, it would be C,F,C. Repeat, moving up a half step each time (C#, F#, C#, then D,G,D, then Eb, Ab, Eb, etc.). You can also do this on the syllable “ee” or “oo”, but the buzz forces you to use good breath support.

The second vocal warm-up exercise is the fifth-slide. Start on the fifth tone with the syllable “wee” and slide down to the base (so-do): in C major again, it would be G, C. Repeat on the same tones with “zoo”, then move up a half-step and repeat, “wee” and “zoo” on Ab and Db. Continue moving up by half-steps.
The third vocal warm-up exercise is the five-tone descending scale. Starting on the fifth tone, descend stepwise to the base: so, fa, mi, re, do. First do the syllable “na”, then “nay”, “noh”, and “noo”. Move up a half-step and repeat the scale on each syllable.

The fourth vocal warm-up exercise is a descending 8-tone scale (do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do) on the syllable “noo”. Again, move up a half-step with each repeat. You can also try other vowel sounds, such as “nah”, “nay”, “nee”, or “noh”, or use “m” instead of “n” as the initial consonant. Try to feel your mask, or upper resonance, as you do this.

Follow that with a descending arpeggio: do, so, mi, do, on the syllable “nah”. Repeat on “nay”, “nee”, “noh”, and “noo”, then move up by half steps and repeat on each syllable again.

The final vocal warm-up exercise is the octave slide. Use the buzz and start on the base note; slide up an octave and back down to the base: do, do, do. Repeat on “oo”. Move up a half-step, do the buzz, and then “oo”. Continue moving up by half-steps.

That may sound a bit odd, but it’s true. Air is what fuels the singing process, and how that air moves through your body is one of the main determinants of the quality of the result. You need to be able to control the rate of air passage out of the body, and you want to be able to hold notes as long as necessary without becoming breathless.

Breath Control Vocal Voice Training -Taking Control of Your Breathing

When you begin vocal voice training, the first step is learning how to control the release of air from the lungs. What makes breathing for singing so different from breathing for talking is that you need to manage the air release depending on the words and notes you are using.

In other words, when you breathe normally, you have no specific pattern or need for air at a specific moment. You just breathe. When you sing, the air you exhale must be controlled so you don’t run out of air too soon in the middle of word sets. The only way to ensure that you can match the exhalation process to the singing is to learn control.

Below are a couple of beginning breath control vocal voice training exercises that focus on the abdomen muscles, which control how fast air is expelled during the exhalation process.

Breath Control Vocal Voice Training – Exercise 1

Stand using good posture
Place your feet approximately shoulder width apart
Extend both arms out until they are perpendicular to your body
Turn the palms down
Breathe in for 3 to 4 seconds
Hold your breath for 3 to 4 seconds
Breathe out for 3 to 4 seconds

Breath Control Vocal Voice Training – Exercise 2

Stand using good posture
Place your feet approximately shoulder width apart
Breathe in deeply
Exhale as long as possible while making a hissing sound

These two simple breath control vocal voice training exercises teach you to control the release of air. In the first exercise, you can begin increasing the amount of time you spend inhaling and exhaling air. This will increase lung capacity and teach you to control the time it takes to release air.

In exercise two, you are learning to release air steadily. You don’t want your breath coming out in short bursts or gasps, as that is completely contrary to the act of singing, which requires a steady stream of connected sounds.

Breath Control Vocal Voice Training -Training Your Breath

Most vocal voice training begins with breathing training first. There’s a good reason for this: songs have specific notes that require paced, timed breathing.

For example, long notes require extended steady exhalation without interruption. The range of pitches that you must glide through when singing also requires breathing control.

You should do your breath control vocal voice training exercises regularly until the techniques become almost like second nature. When singing, you won’t even have to think about your breathing pace or holding notes, because those things will come naturally.

There are a number of available breathing lessons that will expand your capacity during vocal voice training. While you are working on your breathing control, you also want to concentrate on avoiding tension. In other words, try not to exhale air to the point where tension is created in the vocal cords because you are trying to force air out that doesn’t exist.

If you’re rehearsing a piece that calls for the extremes of your range, you will choose vocal exercises geared toward that. If the material has a lot of fast runs or trills, you will do flexibility exercises. For a piece with many sustained notes, you would want to work on breath support and control. This article will suggest vocal exercises for a variety of purposes.

Vocal Exercises for Low Range

If you’re an alto or bass, these vocal exercises are for you. They may also be beneficial if you’re a soprano or tenor singing a part that’s lower than your usual range.

Descending octave slides. Do this vocal exercise by starting on a comfortable pitch in the middle of your range. Using the buzz (also called bubble lips or lip roll), slide down the scale one octave from your starting pitch, moving down by half steps. You can also do this on various vowel sounds or syllables, such as “oo”, “ah”, “vee”, “voh”.

Fifth slide. Do this vocal exercise by Using the buzz or the syllable “vaw”, start on a comfortable pitch and go down a fifth (so-do), moving down by half-steps. Then add a third tone, back up to the starting pitch (so-do-so). Again, move down by half-steps. Finally, reverse it (do-so-do).

Vocal Exercises for High Range

These vocal exercises are especially helpful for sopranos and tenors, but altos and basses can also use these exercises if they need to work on their high range.

Up and down arpeggios. This vocal exercise can be done in a simple broken chord up and down: do-mi-so-do-so-mi-do. Move upward by half-steps with each succeeding repeat, using the buzz or your favorite vowel sound or syllable.

Upward arpeggio and downward octave with turn. This is a slightly more complex variation of the previous vocal exercise. Sing the upward arpeggio (do-mi-so-do), then do a turn (ti-do-re), then the 8-tone descending octave scale from do to do. Use vowel sounds; do a few on “ee”, a few on “oo”, and a few on “ah”. Start each new arpeggio a half-step higher than the last one, as shown in the pattern below.

ee—————————————–
oo—————————————– etc.

Upward arpeggio with repeated high note. This vocal exercise is another variation of the arpeggio, this is especially helpful with keeping a light tone on the high notes. Using the syllable “ha”, sing the upward arpeggio (do-mi-so-do) and then repeat the high do, staccato, five or six times. See the pattern below.

Vocal Exercises for Flexibility

Ascending triplet scale. This vocal exercise is complicated to explain, but easy if you read the notes below. Using the solfege syllables (do, re, mi, etc.), sing an eighth-note triplet upward starting on each syllable. When you get to the top of the scale, reverse and sing each triplet downward. Sing the exercise as rapidly as you can.

Ascending and descending thirds. This vocal exercise is easier to sing than to explain. Starting on the base note, go up a third, down a whole step, up another third, etc. until you reach the fifth tone, then reverse and go back down a third, up a half step, down a third, up a whole step, etc. Again, sing it as fast as you can.

Rapid repeated up and down five note scale. This one is simple—just go up and down a five tone scale (do-re-mi-fa-so-fa-mi-re-do) and repeat.

Vocal Exercises for Breath Support and Control

Buzz-slides. The buzz is one of the best vocal exercises for breath support. Start on a mid-range tone and slide down a fifth—so-do. Repeat several times, moving down by half-steps. Then buzz the descending triad—so-mi-do–sliding between tones. Again repeat several times, moving down by half-steps. Finally, buzz a five-tone descending scale—so-fa-mi-re-do.

Messa di voce. For this vocal exercise, sing a comfortable mid-range pitch on “ah”. Sustaining the note, begin very softly and get gradually louder, then softer again.

Good singing is much more than just belting out notes. You must control the notes so they express a warm, pleasing quality. It’s difficult to develop this skill without the guidance of professional vocal training teachers because these singing qualities are only created through correct vocal placement.

Vibrato Means Vibrancy so Learn Vibrato with Vocal Training Lessons

Most vocal training lessons teach how to manage vibrato. Vibrato refers to the note fluctuations that add vibrancy to the sound. Anyone can sing a flat, off-key tune, but developing vibrato requires an understanding of how to bring out natural voice quality without any trembling sound.

Vocal training teachers are often of the opinion that this is a rather elusive, yet very real, concept. The warmth in the voice is achieved through controlled breathing to create a regular pitch change. It’s not a tremor, but rather a nuance in pitch that almost pulsates. Vibrato is usually found in older voices, but not always.

The sense of emotion comes from the variation in the pitch when vibrato is present. Of course, you will not always want vibrato, and this is fine. Because it is controlled by breathing, vibrato can be expressed or not and this will be taught in most vocal training courses. When managed correctly, it can add an interesting quality to any song.

Learn Chest Voice and Head Voice with Vocal Training Lessons

When you take vocal training lessons, you will also learn about vocal registers, also referred to as ”chest voice” and “head voice”. Register recognizes that a particular section of the vocal folds will create a vocal quality. This is another somewhat elusive concept, but one that is used frequently by singers.

The two main types of registers are the chest voice and the head voice—but don’t get confused by the term “chest voice” when you first come across it in your vocal training classes. It really means a tone quality or timbre that resonates in the throat or sternum. Produced by vocal cords that tend to be thicker and vibrate slower, the chest voice has a heavier sound.

The head voice, on the other hand, is a tone quality with a lighter timbre that seems to emanate more from the head. There is no feeling in the chest when this sound is made. Produced by thinner vocal cords that vibrate rapidly, a head voice is clear and carries a greater distance than a chest voice.

The even voice refers to a balance of the chest voice and the head voice. It is important to blend registers so that the voice does not strain trying to hold in one register place. With vocal training lessons, you can learn to smoothly transition between registers with a break.

Learn Smooth Transition with Vocal Training Lessons

Teaching the smooth transition of sounds is one of the goals of vocal training lessons. Concepts like vibrato, chest voice, and head voice are not easy to master alone. There are different exercises you can do to improve your ability to manage voice pulsations and to blend registers.

The best singers do not have sudden, jarring shifts in their sounds, but they do project emotion, mainly by controlling their timbre and voice registries. These types of qualities are what infuse a voice with fullness, warmth, and personality. Learn all this by enrolling in vocal training classes near you or you can try free vocal training lessons online.