Warming Up: Why, When, and How

Why

Warming up your voice is essential to delivering a great performance in front of the mic. Chances are when you wake up in the morning your voice isn't quite at 100%. A brief vocal warm up can help loosen up the cords and get yourself ready for the auditions and jobs ahead of you by going through your range and "activating" or "waking up" the different parts of your voice. Warming up can also help minimize the occurrence of mistakes, mouth noise, and voice cracks.

When

One of the most obvious times to warm up is in the morning before you set about your workload for the day. Most people need a short bit of time for their voice to be at its full potential after they wake up in the morning. Incorporating a vocal warm up into your morning routine is a great way to create a habit and start every day with your voice at its best.

Another good time to warm up is directly before any live sessions. Live-Directed sessions can come with an added bit of pressure as you will have one or more people "looking over your shoulder" as you work and you want to minimize mistakes to make the best impression. Going through a quick warm up routine before live sessions is a great way to prepare and ensure the session runs smoothly and you leave the clients impressed.

How

You don't need a very lengthy warm up routine in order to get your voice where it needs to be. Likely 10-20 minutes is enough to shake out the cobwebs and wake up your range. Create a routine for yourself that includes exercises that address the main issues you struggle with and stick to performing it on a daily basis. See which exercises feel good for you and which don't and create your own customized routine.