My Top Five

Here are my top five warm-ups for choir that I've had the most success with. The students just love these!

1. Do-Re-Do Scale: Have students sing up and down the scale, in any key, using solfege syllables. Here is an example: Do, Do-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Do, and so on until reaching the octave. Then sing back down: Do, Do-Ti-Do, Do-Ti-La-Ti-Do, and so on until reaching the bottom. Variations: Divide the choir into two groups and have one start at the bottom and the other at the top; Quicken the tempo and challenge students to sing up in one breath, and down in one breath; Have students close their eyes while singing to practice active listening and blending of pitch.

2. Count Down From Eight: This is a stretching exercise which students love! Start with the right hand and shake it while counting down from eight. Then repeat with the left hand, right foot, and left foot. Then start again, this time counting down from seven, and so on until reaching one. But there is a catch! The beginning dynamic must be pp and the ending dynamic must be ff. This means every time you reach a new number the volume must increase. Therefore the number four should be mf. Let your students know that while ff needs to be the loudest one can sing, they need to take care not to yell as it is not good for the voice.

3. Mommy Made Me Mash My M&M's: This silly phrase is sung using arpeggios from any key.
You can then modulate up or down.

4. Alphabet Exercise: This is a great exercise to loosen up the jaw, face, and lips. Speak only the consonants from the alphabet, starting with the letter B. In 4/4 time, use the rhythm triplet-triplet-triplet-4. For example: buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh. Then Cuh for the letter C and so on. As students become more familiar with this, increase the tempo.

5. Lip Buzzes: Have students buzz their lips along with five-note arpeggios in any key. You can buzz the whole arpeggio from 1-5 and back down again, or just buzz from 5-1, then modulate up or down. Be sure to let your students know that this takes not only a ton of air, but that it must be released in a steady stream, similar to squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Young singers commonly do not utilize the air they breathe in.