Vocal Exercises

Scales

Arpeggios

Instructions for Vocal Warmup & Exercises

Do these exercises in an upright position with unencumbered breathing.

There are two types of exercises:
Scales encompass the first five notes of a major scale.
Arpeggios are one-octave arpeggios

The exercises are designated in this way:

• Soprano - highest in pitch
  
• Alto - next
  
• Tenor - next
  
• Baritone - next
  
• Bass - lowest in pitch
  

After determining which exercise feels most appropriate for your voice, sing the sound "bub" (with big, puffing "tuba" cheeks), on the lowest notes of the exercise - especially as a warmup.

After warming up, sing scales using the sound "yew" (lips forward, as if drinking from a straw); after that, "wee"

Next, begin singing arpeggios using "yew" and "wee."

Remember to remain very still, neutral, and relaxed throughout the face, jaw, throat, and shoulders. The object in the beginning is to remove all extraneous effort and isolate the minimal amount of actual physical effort that is required to change notes.

Do not force any notes that are outside of your range, just allow air to pass through the vocal cords on the notes that you don't feel you are able to sing comfortably.

To achieve the best results:

• In these, the earliest stages of your vocal studies, try to maintain complete mindfulness and concentration while doing these exercises. Try to minimize any outside distractions.
• Awareness of the specific areas that are challenging is the key - the differences are subtle in many cases.
  
• Work interactively with the sound files - stopping, starting, "rewinding," skipping around, etc.
• Remember that the vocal cords are muscles and that a lot of the strength of the voice in the passaggio ("transition" or "bridge" areas - between the chest and head resonances) comes from deliberate exercises that work those areas of the vocal cords in a way that haven't been exercised before.  Regular exercise in a mindful way will serve to strengthen those areas of the cords and increase your vocal range, endurance, and improve your tone.