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Vocal Training and Exercises

Practicing how to sing takes patience, discipline. My students often ask me about vocal training and exercises. Below are common strategies I have found effective with my students.

Tips for vocal training for kids and adults

  1. Drink 64 ounces of water a day. The most important thing we can consume to improve vocal health is water. Staying hydrated helps your body produce thin, watery mucus. Your vocal cords vibrate more than 100 times a second when you speak, and they need that mucus to help them stay lubricated. We recommend drinking 64 ounces of water each day.
  2.  Warm up voice for at least 15-20 min doing lip trips, breathing exercises and light humming as you build to other vocal exercises
  3. Try to avoid clearing your throat. When you clear your throat, it’s like slamming your vocal cords together. Doing it too much can injure them and make you hoarse. Try a sip of water or swallow to quench the urge to clear.
  4. Keep your throat and neck muscles relaxed even when singing high notes and low notes. Some singers tilt their heads up when singing high notes and down when singing low notes
  5. Make sure to have good posture when singing. Have your feet hips width apart, knees slightly bent and having one foot slightly forward with shoulders down and open chest.
  6. Cool down your voice after singing.
  7. Getting some cardio exercise actually helps air flow, breath, and stamina to sing
  8. Allow time to rest your voice. If you feel any strain, pain, or tension, stop, take a break and make sure you are singing correctly. Consult with a voice teacher or doctor.

Vocal Warm Up Exercises for Children vs. Adults

The main difference is that you have to be more imaginative and creative with kid vocal exercises. Children learn best when there is a story or narrative line attached to the exercise so it doesn’t feel like work, but rather FUN and play. So instead of doing a natural 5 note scale up and down on AH, I will have them sing it on a fun little riddle ie. ‘Mamma made me Mash My M&Ms.’

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How to Warm Up Your Voice

Warming up the voice is essential to how you produce and deliver a song. Proper vocal training requires warming up your voice for at least 15-20 min day for beginners. For those who are at intermediate to advanced levels, there may be additional exercises require a longer warm up anywhere from 20-60 minutes. Regardless of level, vocal exercises should include:

  • Warm up and relaxation of the body with a loosened jaw
  • Breathing exercises
  • Stretching yourvocal range
  • Dictation and articulation exercises