Attention Singers

Champagne Breakfast

Any singers in the group?
Question for those.....
What do you do to train or warm up your voice? What excercises etc?
I'm looking for some new methods. The tough part is i live in a nyc apartment so practicing or doing vocal training is very difficult. Not to mention a little embarrassing when the neighbors hear it!

zircona1

I usually go through the scales to make sure I sound OK, if I make mistakes or hit wrong notes I'll do them again. There are also a few songs that I practice singing a capella - Springsteen's Hungry Heart and Badlands, Billy Joel's Uptown Girl (it's a good song to sing!), after warming up for awhile I sometimes try U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday or Pride, to see if I can hit those higher notes.

I also make sure I have room temperature water handy.

There's a book called "The Rock and Rock Singer's Survival Manual" that's pretty helpful, lots of tips on how to develop your voice and keep it in good shape.

xtremehardy388

As funny as it sounds, a buddy of mine would go in a field and scream until his voice was hoarse. Another lead singer smoked a pack before a show. I, however, simply go out and think about stuff that brings emotion. That does it for me. In order to keep my voice good, I get a bottle of red wine (keep it at room temp) and add two tablespoons of salt. It's gross but it helps me. I've also tried honey and salt water (not together) and they seem to work.

jcmark611

The best thing is tea with honey. Then again, I'm more of a singer than a screamer so, I don't really wory.

xtremehardy388

jcmark611 wrote:

The best thing is tea with honey. Then again, I'm more of a singer than a screamer so, I don't really wory.

Clear difference between singers and screamers. I also wonder what Cedrice (Mars Volta) would be considered

mfc2006

i usually just play some quiet songs to loosen my voice up. whenever my set opens up w/ a fast one..it's usually a rough night for me vocally. so i start small and let it build a bit. after 3-4 songs, i'm good to go.

also---drink water---not beer.

Anon

Drink lots of water, room temperature. Lay off the booze, coke, milk drinks and fruit juices :(. First i always loosen my muscles by pretending i'm a cow chewing gum, be prepared to look like an artard, but it's important to do that first. Then i just start off humming in an easy range and just stick to my simple scales. Don't try and sing too high too early. After humming for a while, do some lip rolls on your harder scales. Take your time while you are going through these motions, the longer you warm up, your voice begins to sound better, effortless and you can feel yourself singing more freely.

Try not to do the *ahem* thing too much and really forget about clearing your throat. Also really important, don't forget to warm down. Try and think of it like we're playing sport, when we finish we usually warm down afterwards. Same deal with our voices. If we don't cool down after a session, the vocal tension will stay and the vocal cords remain tensed and this can cause you problems later on.

Ps. Don't worry about the neighbors, i'm sure extremehardy and Given to Carve will come along and give you some words of wisdom about that in a while

xtremehardy388

Pj_Gurl wrote:

Ps. Don't worry about the neighbors, i'm sure extremehardy and Given to Carve will come along and give you some words of wisdom about that in a while

Don't get me started on that, now...drives me insane!


When cooling down your voice, you can do that during the show. For your closing song, sing something softer. Of course this won't always work but it's something we (the band I'm in) do during some shows.

Austicman

Bitter lemon works for me. Clears the pipes really well. Try to pick a song you know that you sing really well and belt it out. For me it's Small Town.

oil alternative

I used to find that about 20 Rum and cokes and a Gram of columbia's finest would help me no end apart from the gagging with every cigarette, nowdays i practice whenever, where ever and never warm up, maybe i should!

Snake

xtremehardy388 wrote:

As funny as it sounds, a buddy of mine would go in a field and scream until his voice was hoarse.

I actually understand that, I dont do screamo or anything, but when I scream like that it really warms my voice up, and helps it have that rough painful sound to it.