30 Vocal Exercises

Let
Relax

your

jaw

your

relax

and

abdominal

open

your

muscles

mouth
on

just
the

little
rests.

Don't fly into the higher or lower pitch, but keep a centered focus.
Every entrance should be clean, without grabbing your vocal cords.
Thinkofblowingbreaththroughthenose.

Don'temphasiseontheM.
Relaxyourjawandlips.
Giveintensitytothevowel.

Breatheingentlythroughthenose,asifyouraresmellingaflower.
Thejawisrelaxed.
Singthisexercisealsoone,i,uando.
Avoidglottalstops.Ifnecessarysingon'ng'atthebeginningofthephrase.
AGlottalStopisessentiallytheattackyouputontothestartofanotebyclosingoffthebackofyour
throatfirst.Itistheeasiestwaytomakeyourvoicesoundlargerthanitreallyisandyoucanchange
thequalityofthenoteaswell.
PopsingersoftenfallintothehabitofoverusingGlottalStopsanditcanendupsoundingawful.
Similarly,singerswithsoftandairyvoicestendtounderutilizethistechnique

Many vocal exercises are in C. If necessary transpose them.

The

vowels

should

sound

SosingtheaofAfro,theeofMay,theiofsea,theoofsoandtheuofmoo

open.

Startoncandtransposeeveryturnaminorsecondhigher.Withoutforcing.
Singthisexercisealsoonriver,rover,runner,reasonandraven.
Singthelastsyllableandbesurenottoswallowit.
Listencarefullyforthetipofthetonguerollingbriefly
atthebeginningoftheexercise.
Donotsinganaccentonthehighestnote.

Alsoone,i,o,u.
Breatheinquietlythroughthenoseandkeeptheentrancesoft.
Breatheinthroughthemouthwhileyourmouthisanticipatingthevowelthatiscoming.

Your
The

Feel
Feel

tip

also

jaw
of

the

the

that

tongue

difference

the

tongue

is
stays
between

lays

Moveyourlipsabitasifyouarecleaningyourglasses.

at

down

the
e

again

relaxed.
lower
and

in

teeth.

the

a.

a.

Beawareofthedifferenceintheabdominalmuscles
betweentherisingandthedescendingtriplets.
Youwillhavetosupportmorewhenrising!

Onlymovethetipofyourtongue,notyourjaw.
Startslowlyandtakeabreathwherenecessary.
Whenyoucanachieveanicelegatointhetriplets,speedup.
Ifeverythinggoeswell,youwillneedonlyonebreathtosingthephrase.
Youaretraininginthisexercisetriplets,legato,economicbreathandrelaxationofthejaw.
Exercise9suitsbeginners,and10isfortheadvancedsingers.
Alsotheadvancedstartslowly.

Important:breatheinslowly,sippingtheairthroughtheteeth.
Singthetripletsasequalaspossible.
Donotmakeanyaccents.

Breatheinveryslowly,sippingtheairthroughtheteeth.
Fillyourlungscompletely.Ifyouaredoingitright,
youwillgetafullfeelingunderyourarmpitsandnotunderyourshoulders.
Countinyournativetongueinonebreathuntilten.
Singfastandlegato.
Counttherepetitionsonyourfingers.
Trytorepeattentimes.

Singtheseexercisestransposingeverytimeasemitonehigher.
Practicealsoonno,nu,ni,ne.
Alsoonla,le,li,lo,lu.
Feelthedifferenceswithyourtonguebetweenthenandthel.
Takethelwithitslowpressureasanexampleforthen.

Keepthetipofthetongueinitsplaceandonlymovethecenterofyourtongueinthej.
Yourjawstayscalmandrelaxed.
Tryalsoabreaththroughthemouth,asinahurryorinfright.
Whilebreathingin,themouthisalreadyintheaposition(nottoofaropen).
Feelhowyourflanks(sides)expand.Donotallowthemtocollapse,butholdthemout.
Singalsoonnay,nay,si,si,ornu,nu.
Feelthatthetipofthetongueisreallyworkingwiththesenewconsonants.

Singthisexerciseasrelaxedasifyouwerespeaking.
Singclearandsottovoce,sothevoicewillnotfixate.
Singalsoonnini,nanaandnono.
Thenishouldnotsoundnasal.Letthetipofthetonguework,makingthe'n'in'ni'.
Thetongueshouldbeflatandrelaxed(alsoontheback),asifyouweredrinking.
Theopeningbetweentheteethdoesnotchangewhilesingingthescales.

SingaslegatoasinGregorianchant.
Makeclearthevowels.
Donotmakethemandntoonasal.

Imitatethesoundofatoycarorasnortinghorse.Orsay:Bwrr,howcold!
Producethis'r'withyourlipsnotwithyourthroat.

Lettheo'sanda'sescapequickly.
Keepthelipsalwaysrelaxed.

Thisexerciseisaperfectwarmingup.
Afterthis,fastwordswillcomeeasier.

Breathethroughthenose.
Maketheobehindyourlips,asinyawningwithyourmouthclosed.
Don'tpushonthemwithyourbreath,butletithumgently.
Don'tstarttherunswithah.
Createyourownonesyllablewordsthatstartwitham.
Singtheexercisealsoonnginsteadofthemwhilekeepingyourmouthslightlyopened.
Anticipateonthevowel.Thinkoftheoobeforeyousing'moon'.

Letthevsoundfine.
Besuretokeepyourupperteethlooselyonyourlowerlip.
SingalsoontheGermanwords:'Wasser','Wohin','Wieso'.
Pronouncethe'W'asa'V'

Practicealsoon:veal,veil,vase,vow,vote.
Donothurry,butletthez'sandv'shumnicely.
Usetherestinthesecondbartorelaxyourbody,sothattheaircanflowin.

Takethevowelofthefirstsyllabledowntothelowerc.
Singthisexercisealsoon:
Jsus,Judas(Zjud),
Joliesjumelles(=jollytwince),
Gibier,gigot(=venison,legoflamb),
Gilet,jupon,
GentilleJeanette
JournalGnois(=fromGeneva),
Java,Japon.
LookforexamplesintheFrenchvocalliterature

Blowout.
Waituntillyoureallyneedair,takeafastsipofairandcall/singtwobars.
Relaxineveryfermataforthenextbreath.

Breathequietlythroughthenose
Singalsoone,i,u,ando.

ThesearethenamesofRussiancomposers.
Thepronunciationandtheaccentareasfollows:
BaraDJIEN,MUsorgski,TsjaiKOFski,PraKOfjef,SjastaKOwietsj.
Donotsingtooheavyonthelasttone,butslidetowardsit.
Animportantrule:
ifyouhavebeensinginghigh,donotstopallofasudden,
butsearchforyourlowestnoteswithanexerciseasthisone.
Maybeyouwillhavetostartalittlehigher.
Bepatient;ifonthelowestnotesthetextfailstocome,singthemfirstonngorya.

SingthesixbarsfirstinCandtransposeeachtimeasemitonehigheruntillAflat.
ThendescendtoCagain.
Beawarewhatyourtongueisdoing:duringtheeslightlyvaultedandintheimorebulging.
Letthismovementbesupple.
Thetipofyourtonguestaysatyoulowerteeth.

Singaslegatoaspossible.
Donotputtoomuchweightonthelowcandletyourlarynxslidedownsmoothly,notwithaplop.
Feelhowthetongueisworkingwiththeiandrestswiththea.(italianianda)
Afterthisexerciseitisgoodtodoanexerciseonng.

Relaxaftereachrun,butstandupstraightandontwofeet.

StartsinginginCandrepeatthesentenceasemitonehigher.
GoonuptoAflatandbacktoC.
Singthesetriadsalsowith:ae,aiandao.
Singinasmoothtempoandaccelerate.
Usethebasicvowelaasthestartposition.
Beawaretosingasoftentrance.
DonotopenthemouthtoowidewiththeO.

Takecaretoarticulatewell!
Keepyourheadquiet,donotnod.
Singintune:descendingrunsinclinetofinishflat.