One of the most forgotten and least talked about aspects of singing tends to be the warm-up. Volumes have been written on how to bounce, enounce, and pronounce while singing. But how do you prepare to do that? How do you really get your body, your heart, and your mind ready to sing?

At a recent chorus rehearsal, when it was announced that it was time to warm up, one of the members said, "Warm-ups are for sissies!" I was at first dumfounded, then upset at the remark, especially when the surrounding chorus members laughed at the utterance. Then, I decided that getting mad over it was not the solution. The solution is this article.

Begin the warm-up.
The way to flexibility, confidence, and assurance in singing is to be properly warmed up. If you are properly warmed up, the more you will sing and the better you will sound. The less you will have to consciously think about the voice. You will sound more natural and there will be less stress. There will be more space in your mind left for the important things, such as feeling the words and music. When you are through singing, you will feel "high," not "hoarse."

The process of warming up begins long before you utter a note. If you are scheduled to sing on a given evening, begin getting your mind warmed up during the afternoon. Go over the pieces you are to perform in your head. Visualize the stage, the audience, the performers. Get enthused about singing tonight! Make a promise to yourself to do your best.

Stretch the vocal muscles.
About two hours before the rehearsal or performance, start getting your body warmed up. Your vocal chords are a set of muscles. Very small muscles, in fact. They are about as big around as your pinky. Being muscle, it stands to reason that they must be stretched gently before putting them into violent motion.

Runners would not dream of running a 100-yard dash without stretching or warming up their legs. They prepare properly to avoid running a poor race. Yet there are those who may think nothing of standing on the risers, singing for three hours, and then wonder why their voice is not responding, and why they may feel hoarse after they’re through!

The best way to start warming up your vocal chords is to gently stretch them. For vocal chords, this means humming softly to yourself. Forget volume, forget pitch. Start by humming at your speaking voice pitch, softly sustaining the sound for as long as you can. Do this about three times. By proper breathing, you also begin to coordinate the breathing movements with your voice production, imprinting it on your brain so it becomes second nature, in preparation for the evening’s performance when you will have other, more important things on your mind than how to breathe.

Stay in "Neutral."
You may have noticed that I said at your speaking pitch. This means that every person is different, and every person will have to warm up differently. If you are a bass with a low speaking voice, you cannot possibly warm up in the same way as a tenor with a high voice. This is so, because the normal resonant frequency of the vocal chords for the bass are different than for the tenor. So, what is your "neutral position" is yours alone. That’s where you must start.

Stay in your range.
As the next step, from your speaking pitch, go up and back down the scale for two whole notes (1-2-3-2-1). Then take a breath, pitch it up a half tone, and do it again. Keep doing it until you can go no higher. When you cannot physically go any higher, pitch it down one half tone, and go down the scale to a little below where you started. Keep it soft, keep it constant. keep a rhythm. This also develops the mind imprinting of breathing/vocal chord muscle coordination. The whole procedure should take about three minutes.

Now, vocalize.
Once you have done the humming, it is time to do a little vocalizing. Take the same 1-2-3-2-1 pattern, only now do it by singing a vowel. I prefer the "oh" sound. It’s mid-way in placement, and gives me the greatest latitude to compensate for the condition my voice may be on a given day. To make sure I have the proper "oh," I start the exercise by singing "bwoh" instead of just the pure "oh" sound. This forces me to breathe properly and get the breath started slightly before the sound. Sing the vowel in 1-2-3-2-1 note pattern the same way you did the humming, only don’t force the voice to go any higher than it naturally can, and then come back down the scale. Go to a 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 pattern, and do it again. Continue this until you have a string of about 10 to 12 notes being sung up and down the scale. This exercise should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

By now, you will notice that your breathing is becoming "connected" to the vocal chords, and some raspiness caused by mucous has or is being cleared away. The mind and body are coordinating the singing with less conscious effort on your part. Your throat may also start to feel "warm" (get it?).

Watch your breathing.
The next step is to exercise the breathing muscles a little more. They are larger muscles and need more stretching. This is done by the following exercise: you are going to use the 1-3-5-3-1 pattern, three times in succession, on one breath, using the vowel sound "oh," then "eh," then "be." This is progressively forward in placement, and requires progressively stronger breath support. Again, start with "bwoh" to assure good original placement, and go up and down the scale with the pattern as far as comfortable one time. Place utmost attention to pitch. Until you become proficient with the exercise, it may help you to vocalize the sounds as "ho," "heh," and "hee." The added "h" forces you to contract the diaphragm if you are not already doing so. This exercise should tales about three minutes.

Warmed up yet?
Other exercises can be added if desired. I use a very rapid 1-2-1-2-1... pattern up and down the scale for short-interval flexibility. I also add some jumps (octave jump, then down the scale, or a 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 pattern) for long-interval flexion. Also good is a medium interval pattern sung full voice on "oh," then at the lowest possible volume on "oo." I spend about ten minutes on these.

Now, cool down.
By the time you have finished this series, anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes have gone by, and you need to close the series by "cooling down" the muscles. Do this by repeating the same humming exercises you did to warm up. Only now, notice the difference in the effort required (it will be much less), the quality of the sound (much smoother, less raspy), and effortlessly coordinated between mind and body.

You’re through.
Now you shut up. Yes, that’s right. You shut up for about 10 to 15 minutes to let it all sink in, and let the muscles settle. By shutting up, I mean NO talking at all for this time. You can spend the time getting your heart and soul ready to sing. They need to get warmed up, too!
If you have a 30- to 45-minute drive to rehearsals, you can do all this in the car, but it helps to be in proper singing position to do it at its best. Either way, you will find that this series of exercises will give you a "high" for singing, and you should not be hoarse or tired after three hours on the risers. Believe me, this is not for sissies!

This article appeared in the Masters of Harmony monthly publication The Masters Voice and was written by Rene Torres, a professional opera singer and long time member of MOH. (from Dave Gryvnak)