An Effective Choral Warm-Up

CHORAL WARM-UP 2015

Dr. Don Campbell

1. Physical Preparation
2. Stretches
3. Slap face
4. Stomp feet
5. Mental Preparation
6. Applaud for various lengths of time and cut-off together
7. Have them mirror my hands
8. Clap on a number

III. Breathing Preparation

1. Posture—UP, BACK, DOWN (into the slot), SLAP THIGHS
2. Show methods of finding correct low-breath techniques
3. You can’t compress your air into your lungs. You equalize inside and outside pressure.
4. Raise arms—keep shoulders back
5. Hands on abdominal wall
6. Blow all your air out. Keep your posture. Close your glottis.
7. Open glottis and let air fall in and the abdominal wall “fall” out.
8. Breathe so you sense the same “drop in” feel.
9. Other ways
10. Fingers behind back
11. Bend over
12. Engaging the Core
13. Panting
14. SSS, SSS, SSS, SSS, Sah
15. Singing Preparation I – Straw Technique
16. Explanation
17. Gentle way to bring the voice online at any time during the day
18. Phonate into the straw like a hum EXCEPT do not let the air go through the nose.
19. Do straw glides
20. Engage core
21. Allow the folds to feel thinner as you go up and don’t make them heavy and you descend.
22. Pulsing “circular” movement
23. Application to singing
24. Straw 1  2  3  4  5  4  3  2  1
25. Sing  1  2  3  4  5  4  3  2  1

[i]______[a]_______    Keep the tongue forward and out of throat.

1. Repeat a & b higher  (Posture, Engage core)
2. Straw 1  3  5  8  5  3  1
3. Sing  1  3  5  8  5  3  1

[i]____[a]_____

1. Repeat d & e higher (Posture, Engage core)
2. Sing “Heart of My Heart” showing good posture, good breathing, and forward, non-pressed singing.

Alternate Warm-up

1. Singing Preparation II
2. Lip Buzz
3. Glissandi
4. 1 3 5 3 1
5. 1 3 5 8 5 3 1A. 5————-5 4 3 2 1
6. Hung           ah——–    (also other vowels)
7. Reinforce the need for relaxation in the digastric and mylohyoid muscle
8. Place thumb under the jaw at the muscles to check relaxation
9. 8      5      3     1

Fa,   yo,   fa,   yo

1. 1         3      5       8       5       3      1

Yah,  yah,  yah,  yah,  yah,  yah,  yah

1. Support techniques with it
2. Pick up floor
3. Point down with fingers
4. The “y” sound and the requisite sub-glottic pressure will help get

the voices into the head register.

1. 1             2              3             4             5              4             3             2             1

ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah, ming-ah,

1. Then do in 2 parts with second part starting on 3
2. Then do in 3 parts with second part starting on 3 and third part on 5

-DRC