how do you warm up your voice?

[joeinthebox1980]

singers... how do you warm up your voice? if at all?


i realized that i don't really warm up my voice... i mean, my songs don't require much vocal gymnastics or a lot of yelling/screaming... but nevertheless, i should probably try warming up the voice a bit before i tackle songs with gusto.


also... how do you take care of the voice? just coat it with water or alcohol? ;)

i like to drink a lot of tea while i'm practicing/singing... it really soothes the throat/vocal chords and helps keep my voice lasting longer.

[JDogg]

Yeah drinking hot things always helps.

I don't really warm up my voice before a gig, except maybe at the soundcheck or to get some harmonies sorted.

Its probably a good idea but it never comes to mind with the pre-gig adrenaline.

[Hasting]

sing with a cd on the way to the gig:D

[The Ugly Dude]

Ok dude, I know where you're coming from.
There are a few good tricks:
1. Have you ever taken singing lessons. If you haven't you should. Then you can learn a few tricks, about breathing and positioning your body so you don't have to use your throat so much. i.e. it becomes easier to sing. What you will also learn is what type of voice you are (bariton, tenor, etc.) so you will be better familiar with your capabilities, your limits, you know how high you can go and where you should let falsetto (I don't know the word for this, the high voice?) take over.

2. To warm up it's a good thing to drink something hot. It eases your throat a little and warms it up. You can massage your neck and face. There are huge muscles on your neck and face that in theory you shouldn't be using while singing and massaging them helps you relax so you can sing better.

3. Go and hum something, like aaaaaaaaa, and go as low as you can and breathe deeply and don't push the air out. So when you are doing this your voice should be real low and narrow, you're not actually singing a note you're just going aaahhhhh. As low as your voice can take you. Actually below your vocal range. Alright!! This exercies relaxes your vocal chord.

4. Don't go singing heavy stuff unprepared. Do some yayaing and some exercises, scales etc. before going on stage or to practice. Also at practice don't push yourself too hard. Cause if you're practicing many times a week that's a bit of stress on your voice. So just take it easy.

And that's about all I have to say. My advice is to really take some singing lessons with an experienced singer. They will tell you things that really make you wonder. Mine at least did.

Hope that helps.

[Ice age coming]

avoid food that makes your throat slimy.. like cheese and stuff hehe...

I usually drink some soda water with a twist of lime, it clears my throat!

[jamie.pope]

....man.....wish i could sing:(

[doingtheunstuck]

i would either just drink some tea or down a couple shots of vodka before going out for a screaming gig.

both of them warm your throat up pretty well:D

[guidedbyechos]

also try anything to loosen you up

[rocknroll321]

Originally posted by jamie.pope
....man.....wish i could sing:(

It's all about practice and finding what suits voice. Dont think like that Jamie, I used to think I sucked until I actually just started learning to sing to get good so that feeling of something being out of reach was gone.

[elmoismyhero]

try singing along to queen's bohemian rhapsody or ...
i dont really know the name of the song or artist, but i think its by sublime and he says 'always gotta steal my kisses from you'.

[JaguarSG]

... when it's cold outside, a cigarette always warms my voice up.


Hee.

Start on the lowest note you can generate. Continue up the major scale and glide into falsetto as you go up to the top. Then go back down. When you return to the orginal note. Go a half step or whole step up and repeat ad infinitum.

[Skuzze]

*ahem* grrrrrrawh~! Okay, im good.


Seriously though, i run through some scale that i use before lessons.

[gary]

Breathing techniques. As well as getting the notes and pitches, you need to work on breathing properly. Singing from the diaphragm (below the stomach) isn't a natural thing to do, but when you can allows more power, range and sustain, and won't hurt like singing from the throat does.

Most important to remember while singing is relax and be yourself. Here in the UK you'd be amazed how many British singers sound like they want to come from California :D

[jacobhimself]

i just kinda scream really loud... scare the **** out of my vocal chords... seems to work....

[GDan]

If you just sing your voice warms up naturally as you go along, this takes a while though.

Drinking something hot is supposed to be bad becuase it relaxes your vocal chords too much and you want them to be ready for singing, I dont think is damaging though.

Humming is good. Get the vibration from the hum travelling around as much as possible, its kinda hard to describe.

[nickname]

Sing along to something (I like Portishead), don't talk alot.

[Beaudie1]

ok, this little trick works every time. use your thumb, index and middles fingers to grasp your "adam's apple" on your neck. now come down about an inch between your collar bone and your"adam's apple." ***GENTLY*** push your esophagus from side to side. i cannot over emphasize gently. you can damage yourself if you start doing this rough or fast. slowly go from side to side and you may feel the need to cough at first because it may cause a tickle in the very bottom of your throat. do this for about ten minutes and it will totally loosen your voice box. i usually do it for a couple of minutes and then hit some notes and then do it some more. this really works like a charm. a professional voice coach taught me this technique.

[King Buzzo]

Originally posted by jamie.pope
....man.....wish i could sing:(

me too:mad:

[patlang12]

I know a lot of warm up techniques but they are hard to write down. Going on an ahhh and an ohhhh and an ooooo as high and low as you can is good. Try going at the top of your range or higher in falsetto for about 10 seconds. Do any pattern it doesn't matter. That can help

[The User]

2 absinthe and a cigarette and tehn i thrash my voice out to a nirvana type song.
After that, my voice settles into a nice mellow little thing for my backing vocals to shine through on.

[flipperbaby]

since now i havent been to big on "warming up"....ide just go into the soundcheck and make sure people heard me:p ...but after one practise where i was at a constant scream/sing and the next mornign i had no voice cause i liek shredded my throat due to my type of buzz-saw voice. so now i warm up with some tea and then take it slowely and leave that one song that has more agressive yelping for last on the set

[Rayguitargod]

Smoke and entire pack of cigarettes and drink 4 red bulls in 5 minutes then your ready. Oh well thats what I do to warm up for guitar anyways :)

[UnisonBoy]

Originally posted by jamie.pope
....man.....wish i could sing:(

You probably can, just gotta find your voice. Look at people like Jarvis ****er from Pulp. You could never imagine him singing a Manic Street Preachers song but his vocals work for Pulp :D

I only started singing in my band after we got rid of our singer (he did the dirty with drummers girlfriend incase you're wondering why) and gradually as time goes on - you get more confident and your voice grows stronger, you learn techniques as you go along as well.

During practice - i usually go through 2 litres of water in a few hours. Without it i'd struggle to keep my voice in shape during the remainder of the rehearsal.

[RandyRhoads]

Avoid foods that are cold, dairy, and sugar, of so I've been told.

[joeinthebox1980]

i heard about the dairy thing. no milk before singing!

[Rock A My Soul]

Originally posted by UnisonBoy
You probably can, just gotta find your voice. Look at people like Jarvis ****er from Pulp. You could never imagine him singing a Manic Street Preachers song but his vocals work for Pulp :D

Another great example is Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes. In any other band, his whiny voice would be terrible. But it fits the Violent Femmes perfectly. Or Josh Caterer from the Smoking Popes: they would be an average power-pop band without his lounge-singer-style vocals, which make them very cool. It might just be that you haven't found your proper style.

I personally find that it takes an incredible amount of practice and warming up to sing in tune. I recently formed a one-man band so I obviously have to do all the singing myself and I was sort of putting it off until this week; I started recording my CD and have to do some vocal tracks this week. It started out very, very badly, with me not even able to hit the right notes, but with a lot of practice I'm getting there.

[kingtrebor01]

For those who said they can't.....everyone can. Find your voice. Sometimes, (in my case) its not easy...i'm still searching.

On warming up: It's gotta be different for each person and their musical style. There was a time when i was really hung up on "warming up" my voice and whatnot, and i've found that, for me, it's all BS. I'm not a great singer, probably not even a good one, but all the professional advice i found and followed on warming did very little for me. Nowadays i sing along with cds in the car on the way to the gig (someone else mentioned that...cool) or to practice, just to get "into the groove," move the voice around a little bit...seems to work ok