Vocal Exercises

1.  Learning to sustain sound...

You can do this exercise standing, sitting or lying down.  Whichever is easier for you to begin... As you get better at the exercise, try to work through all three positions, rather than getting stuck in one way of performing the exercise.  You need to be flexible to be a singer... and stiffness or rigidity always shows in the voice and performance.  Therefore... try different things and avoid being inhibited.  Keep the body open, in the centre of gravity and relax the muscles that aren't necessary for your voice production or breathing exercises.  Any other usage of muscles or tension will drain away your energy, disturb your focus and generally make singing harder than it should be.

The Exercise:

(a) Begin by selecting a note that is around the middle of your range (not too high and not too low).  

(b) Take a deep natural abdominal breath and

(c) begin singing an 'ooh' sound for as long as you can... timing yourself...

(d) How long did you hold the note for?  Write down your result.

(e) Rest for a moment until you feel ready to try another sound.

(f) Now repeat the process, using other sounds, such as 'eeh' as in s-e-e, 'ih' as in h-i-s, 'oh' as in h-o-t, 'ah' as in f-a-ther, 'air' as in share, or even 'a' as in f-a-vourite or tod-a-y 

extra TIPS

Keep a chart of your progress and work on this weekly to improve your time.  

You can also perform the exercise, standing, sitting or lying down.

Beginners:  Aim to reach around 18 to 20 seconds per sound

Intermediate:  Aim to reach around 20 to 25 seconds per sound

Advanced:  Aim to reach over 25 seconds per sound

 

SAMPLE OF CHART FOR VOCAL SUSTAIN EXERCISES:

 

Date   Sitting        Standing       Lying dwn             Ah      Oh     Ooh     Air      Ih     Eeh

21/03       X                                                             23       24       21       24       21       25

25/03                      X                                             25       25       24       26       24       30

 

2.  Connecting the sound...

For this exercise, begin by standing comfortably.

(a) Without tilting the head down or up, make a smooth sliding sound from your lowest note to your highest note

(b) Now repeat the exercise and this time slide smoothly all the way up and back down to where you started from... 

You need to do this without breaking the flow of air or changing the quality of the sound. 

extra TIPS

This sound should resemble a 'siren' and the idea is to keep the quality of the sound from changing, by making all of the parts of the voice into one smooth instrument.

You can start by doing this on a lip bubble (vibration of lips like a motor sound) or by using a tongue roll ( rolled rrr). 

Then move on to open sounds like 'ah' or 'ooh'.

Make sure you relax your muscles around your neck, face and shoulders particularly

Do not push too hard.  You'll have more success if you just let the voice glide with less effort, keeping a balanced flow of air and releasing pressure in the throat as you go up the scale.

Don't sing each note individually... slide THROUGH the notes like a massive portamento.

 

3.  Exploring vibration and resonance...

Low notes:

(a) Start by taking a breath and humming a note, which is towards the lower part of your voice. 

(b) Now, place your hand upon your chest to feel the 'chest resonance'. 

Imagine that you are going to buzz your body all of the way down to your toes...  Work on increasing the amount of buzz that you are experiencing (vibrations), by relaxing more muscles and letting the breath just pass through the vocal cords like a big, long sighing feeling.

You may feel like a monk chanting in a monastery... this is good :)

(c) Sound the note for as long as you can...

(d) then take a deeper natural abdominal breath and start again...  'mmm' ...

(e) now this time, let the buzzing vibration that you feel in your chest area, spread out to fill your whole body.  Imagine it and see what happens.  

(f) repeat steps (a) to (e) until you are easily creating the sound and experiencing the vibrations without tension or tight throat/neck.  If you can't relax, then let your head and body flop around like a rag doll... or do the whole thing whilst lying on the floor.

(g) When you are really buzzing, drop your mouth open slightly and make a sound like 'mmmeh' or 'mmmor'. 

Open up from the 'mmm' to the vowel (ah, eh, oh etc) and let it resonate. 

Just relax your muscles and keep the sensation of buzzing vibes going.  

This exercise should actually feel quite relaxing... almost like doing a meditation.

 

Middle notes:

(a) Find a note in the middle of your voice that is comfortable. 

(b) Now sound that note on 'NNN' (rather than mmm)... so your tongue is touching your front teeth, without pushing too hard against them. Just let it sit there unimpeded.  

(c) See how much you can 'buzz' your head, neck, and even your shoulders and tongue. 

If you can feel your sinuses buzzing... then you've got it right. 

Place your hand on your chest, and you will still feel a small amount of the chest resonance. 

(d) NOW... once you have sounded the note on NNN and are really buzzing in the head, neck and shoulders... open up to sing a long 'nnnaaaay' right to the end of your breath.

Be sure to keep as much resonance going as you can and don't change the buzzing areas.  Simply, drop the tongue back to its normal resting position whilst you also drop your jaw from the hinges.   

Try this on other vowels sounds... and see if you can make them really resonant and vibrant.

 

High notes:

(a) Using a note that you can comfortably sing towards the top of your range... take a deep natural abdominal breath and sound the note on a long 'ng' sound.  (Like the end on sing or sung... but just using the *ng*). 

When you make this sound correctly... your mouth will be slightly open... but your tongue will be closing the gap between the back of your tongue and soft palate. 

**Now, the vibrations that you will feel are likely to be much milder... and higher up in your head. 

***You may feel as if there is a little bit of pressure upwards... trying to lift the top off your head...

****The vibrations will be much faster and will be focused from your ears up. 

(b) When you feel like you've got the vibrations going...

**drop your tongue down like a heavy weight  and at the same time, lift your soft palate area up and away from the tongue also, to open up the gap and let the sound come pouring through. 

*** relax your neck and shoulder muscles, letting the breath power carry the sound... keep your breath flowing through consistently like a big sigh

**** you can think of aiming your sound at something in the room, if it helps you to keep the sound flowing out evenly

Start by using 'nnggah' and 'nnggor' and then try some other sounds, once you get into the swing of things.

Have fun!

 

Copyright 2007 Sheena B. Mackie.  All rights reserved.  Members may print a copy for personal use.  Studios, Teachers and other Organisations, please contact Sheena by email for permission to make multiple copies:  CONTACT for Multiple Copy Permission:  mackiemarketing@ihug.com.au  Attention: Sheena