Warm-up exercises

In this section, you'll find all our exercises that get the voice working. Any of these will work in your warm-ups plan to gently begin singing before you launch into your repertoire.

These exercises encourage good listening and blending skills.

We do it all the time and we don't even need to think about it, but breathing for singing is different. We want to access a relaxed, deep inhalation and a slow, controlled exhalation. The exercises in this section will help your choir to access that singer's breath without promoting stiffness and tension.

This is an area that choir leaders often neglect. Singers are the only musicians who have to incorporate words with their music, and the text of any song or piece is critical to communicating its meaning.

Incorporating diction exercises into your warm-ups is a great way to promote clear text in your repertoire.

This is a HUGE issue for most choir leaders, particularly those leading unauditioned community choirs. When we're leading untrained singers, we can't just say 'you're flat' and expect anything to improve. Our singers don't know what to change. So exercises that address good pitch, and the causes of poor pitch, are a great help. 

Many singers struggle to access a resonant tone. Warm-ups from this section can help to decrease breathiness and focus the tone. The effect on the choir's sound can be dramatic!

If you've ever been frustrated when your choir rushes or drags the tempo of a piece, add some of these exercises to your warm-ups. Singers often find it difficult to keep the pulse of the music in their heads, particularly with sub-divided beats. These exercises encourage a stable rhythm and a quick response to tempo changes.

It's so easy to neglect this area of work in our rehearsals. Remember that people arrive with their heads full of everything that's going on in their lives. We can have much more productive rehearsals if we give everyone an opportunity to shake off the day and get into the mood for singing.

Never underestimate the importance of teambuilding in your choir! A choir is just a bunch of individual singers unless they work together as a team. Exercises that encourage listening and response are invaluable in building towards a fantastic performance.

It's a great idea to add a gentle cool down at the end of your rehearsals. 'Cooldowns' bring the voice back to speaking level and help the vocal apparatus to relax after a strenuous singing session.