Vocalists are both athletes and artists. Just as exercises and physical stretches strengthen the athletes, the vocalists also have an exercise routine to tune their vocal strength. The stronger they are as athletes, the freer they are as artists. Professional vocal performers religiously stick to warm-up exercises before singing and cool-down exercises after singing. While the former makes your vocal muscles stretch and prepare for precision, the latter relaxes your muscles, bringing back the usual sound.
In this blog, we’ll look at some of the best exercises to warm up and cool down your vocal cords.
Vocal Warm-up Exercises
Doing a warmup for 15–20 minutes is advisable before the singing session starts. Vocal warm-up exercises usually begin with warming up your body, releasing the tension, and then working through the different parts of your voice. Remember to pay equal attention to your chest and head voice.
Start your routine by aligning your spine through a roll-down and release exercise. Then, move on to releasing the jaw and tongue tension. Following this, warm up the breath by taking low breaths and moving the air with a “sh” sound. By doing this, you’re moving the air with your lower central abs while keeping your chest wall and ribcage was tall.
For the next exercise, start with a semi-occluded sound (something buzzy, a lip trill, an NG, or a staw), then move to open vowels. After finishing add these exercises warm up your middle voice and head voice. Finally, bring the voice back down and balance the instrument.
Vocal Cool Down Exercises
Cool-downs are the opposite of warm-ups. During warm-up and performance, the antagonists vocal muscle groups loosen and stretch for vocal activity.
Cool-down exercises allow your vocal muscles to gradually return to their resting state, release the in-built tension in the vocal muscles, and help to prevent post-performance injuries and muscle soreness. They should be done for about five minutes to maintain vocal flexibility and longevity.
If you use a chest-dominant sound, you should warm down using your head voice; if you use a head-dominant sound, warm down using your chest voice. After warming down, bring your voice down to your speaking range. Lastly, take a low breath and yawn, relaxing your larynx. This sequence will help you increase your vocal stamina and ensure you don’t strain your vocal cords.
The vocal performers should not overlook vocal warm-up and cool-down exercises. Having a proper vocal exercise routine matters as much as a practice session. Are you looking for singing lessons to master the techniques of vocal warm-up and cool-down exercises? Then look no further than Denny Greenberg Studio in New York City and online! Our professionals will guide and help you every step of the way so that you can eventually become a pro singer yourself. Contact us today to get started on your journey!