CJ Replay: What’s in a Warm-up?

(An excerpt from the Choral Journal article, “When Oren Brown and Richard Westenberg Speak . . . I Listen!” by Brown Bradley)

 

Question 4: What exercises should a vocal warm-up include?

 

RW: For myself, a vocal warm-up period should first warm-up the brain, the ear; with amateur choirs, I use physical warm-ups such as stretching or some physical contact between persons such as massaging the shoulders. When amateur choirs that I have conducted have been performing, say, Bach cantatas or Passions, I frequently use chorales as warm-ups. I have them sing without text on certain vowels. This way they concentrate not only on notes but also on the alignment of the vowels, intonations, etc.

 

OB: I think that is great. I constantly find that I have to refer to the basics, to wake up their minds for a particular function, to remind them of such fundamentals as breathing and posture. This particularly applies if the choir is singing or rehearsing in a sitting position: they should sit toward the edge of their chairs and have a flat surface to sit on. In this position they are bound to hold their bodies more erect with the rib cage a bit more expanded. This helps to keep breathing in the lower part of the lungs rather than to raise shoulders and breathe high, which causes neck and head tension. I also believe a warm-up should start on the easy side rather than forte. As the blood gets circulating, and as the voice warms up, we find that a fuller sound results. I feel that it is desirable to think a pitch in the upper part of the voice and then use a descending pattern. The human voice is a wind instrument and one can raise pitch by increasing pressure. This defeats the purpose of getting an automatic adjustment of those muscles for the upper range. I like the principle: as you go higher, go lighter and looser. Allow the adjustment to take place.

 

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