Warming up

To warm up, or not to warm up? That is the question.

I do love a warm up. I can get my voice limbered up to do things that it just wouldn’t do unless I’ve gone through at least 10 minutes of exercises and tricks.

Imagine you’re an athlete - maybe about to run in the 100m final. You definitely wouldn’t run that race unless you’d warmed up your body up first right?

Okay okay, so I don’t always do it, but always regret not doing it. So my new years resolution (school year), is to always do a warm up - even a short one.

Here are some of the tips from me.

1. Massage your jaw

   We can carry a bit of tension in our jaw and tongue so I like to give my jaw a good old massage with my eyes closed. Call it a little spa treat to start the session. I really try to loosen my tongue too..just be aware of it.

2. Quietly hum

   While massaging my jaw, I will start to hum quietly, or even better, vocalize on an ‘ng’. I’m keeping my eyes closed here so my senses can concentrate on a quiet little tune. I really imagine placing the sound in and around my mask (see picture below) - especially my nose.

3. Tongue roll

   Now stick your tongue out and start using your breath to keep your tongue rolling. Once you get into the rhyhtm of it, add in some gentle scales or a simple tune, placing the sound in your nose again. If your tongue stops rolling…you’ve lost your breath. Re-set, and start your engine up again.

Give 10 minutes of a little bit of this and that and you should be golden.

Don’t knacker yourself out - this should be nice and gentle - but you do want to engage your voice to get it ready to sing whatever you’re about to crack on with.

That’s it. Short but sweet to get those muscles ready for you.

Any questions, please just drop me a line. I may start a video soon..dare I!

Chloe X