When I sing vocal "warmups" in a choral situation (I think the term is a
misnomer), whether it's in the context of a choir or a show chorus, I like
there to always be a purpose or goal for the activity. When there's no goal or
purpose that I can discern, I get bored and irritated. What I dislike are
choral vocalizing exercises that seem to be the equivalent of a physical
"warmup" exercise, such as jumping jacks, movement for the sake of movement and
nobody cares much how you sound when you do it.
I like choral "warmups" to be a group vocalise, with a goal or purpose similar
to that of the vocalise done at the beginging of the voice lesson. If the
person leading the "warmup" communicates the purpose or goal to the group,
nobody's bored no matter how simple the exercise is, because the singers
concentrate on what they're trying to accomplish, and are pleased when they
hear how much better they sound as a group, rather than singing repetitive
exercises by rote until they're sick of it.
I know this can be done successfully in a group that has singers with a wide
variety of singing expertise, because both my community choir director and my
church choir director use this approach with similar groups on a regular
basis.(Virtually anybody who wants to is allowed to sing in both groups.)
For example, my community choir director will have everyone sing a 5 note
descending scale a few times, moving up a half-step each time. Then he'll have
each voice section do the same in turn. As he works with a section, he'll
listen to how they sound and then give the section something to think about for
the next scale, then he'll give feedback, repeat a time or two, and then move
on to the next voice section.
For example, he may ask sopranos to work on singing easy, in-tune high notes.
If we're not having much success, he'll have us make a falling sigh sound,
starting on a high note, then ask us to sing our scale with the same feeling.
Sometimes he'll ask one of the more experienced singers to demonstrate the
sound he wants, like the high sighing sound, and then ask the group to imitate
the sound.
For altos, he'll work on getting a rich, supported tone, often by
demonstration, asking for something like an "earth mother" tone. Or listening
to each other to resolve pitch issues. For tenors, since he's a tenor, he'll
often demonstrate the sound he wants from the section (and the one he doesn't
want). For the low voices, he'll get them to sing a supported tone by asking
them to sing with energy (demonstrating the low-palate, unsupported tone, and
then the higher palate, supported tone).
If we're doing a fast-note scale (ascending and descending five-tone scales),
he'll ask us to make each note distinct, and with each voice section, we'll
repeat until we have the clarity he's asking for.
If we're doing a five-note descending scale with a different vowel on each note
(a e i o u), he'll ask for the resonance of (for example) the "i" vowel to be
the same as the others, and demonstsrate if necessary. Or he'll ask us to
listen to each other and make sure we're singing the same vowel.
And sometimes we'll do an a capella harmonization exercise. Each section gets
a note, we all sing the chord and get it sounding good by concentrating on
listening to each other, then move up or down in half steps. Or he'll change
some sections' notes individually to change the chord. We'll do these
exercises in relation to the repertoire we're preparing.
This sounds elaborate, but it really isn't. We seldom spend more than 5 minutes
on this before moving into work on repertoire, but we are NEVER bored, and as a
group we always sound better after the warmup than before, which is what I
think the goal of a vocal warmup should be. I've been spoiled so by this
approach that I've gotten to the point where I can't abide the "vocal
calisthenics" type of warmup when I encounter them in other situations. When
I'm in that situation, I'll try to stand or sit as far back in the group as I
can, and sing as little of the "warmup" as I can get away with (though my mouth
may be open at the correct times), and I will take every opportunity during the
"warm-up" to make the sounds that I know will help me sing well during the
upcoming rehearsal.
Peggy
---
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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