Vocal warm up's are extremely important especially before a gig. Think of an athlete, they would never go and run a race without warming up first so you need to do the same with your voice. From warming up you will have much more control over your voice and diaphragm. Vocal warm up's help to ensure the long life of a healthy singing voice. It is also quite important to remember that warming up vocals before a gig is not the same as doing vocal exercises to help with vocal training - vocal training exercises are there to work on specific parts of the voice, whereas warm up's are self explanatory, they warm up your voice before a gig/performance.
Examples of warm-up's:
- Humming - This will start getting your voice warmed up without tiring it out.
- Brrrr up and down the first 5 notes of a scale. You produce this sound by closing your mouth and putting your fingers on your cheeks so the inside of your cheeks are touching your teeth, and hum the sound brrr, try to make an even and constant sound when doing it - This warm up also helps warm up your voice but also helps to relax your throat and mouth, it also helps with placement.
- Staccato Ha's (short) "ha-ha-ha" on 1,3,5 of a scale. - This helps to exercise your diaphragm's flexibility.
- Siren noises. Make siren noises starting low going up really high and then back down again - This will help to start exercising your range.
- Major arpeggios. Use open vowel sound (ah, ay or o). Start off low and go up half a step each time and go as high as you can but don't strain.
Try and remember to make sure your body is nice and relaxed before singing so you may want to do some actual physical exercises too.
