Vocal Warmup for SPCOM 380W Performances

1.  Stand with feet apart, under their respective shoulders.  Raise right arm straight over head, reach over toward ceiling to your left, keeping line of shoulders straight over feet.  Object is to stretch muscles of the right abdomen.  Repeat for the left side.

2.  Standing up straight, with feet planted firmly under shoulders, reach toward the ceiling with right arm, then left arm.  Raise both arms extended, raise first one, then the other, to your highest reach.  Finally, raise both arms toward ceiling as far as you can.  Object is to stretch diaphragm underneath rib cage as you raise your arms.

3.  From the extended position at end of 2., let your head & arms relax and fall.  Bend your knees slightly as you follow your head and arms down, bending from the waist to let the arms and neck swing free.  Flop the arms and hear around, remain bent over until the arms and neck are as loose and relaxed as possible.  Object is to reduce tension in neck and shoulders, and thus avoid unnecessary tension in vocal mechanism.

4.  From bending position at end of 3., slowly curl upwards on a slow count to ten, letting the arms and head fall loose, keeping

knees bent to avoid back injury, letting chin fall on the chest as you straighten up.  Continue the movement by slowly straightening the head, then let it fall backwards easily.  Let the skeleton do the work; keep the muscles relaxed.

5.  From end of three, standing straight through back with head dropping backwards, slowly roll the head clockwise a few times, then reverse and roll it around counter- clockwise.  Object, again, is to remove tension from the neck.

REPEAT 1. THROUGH 5. AT LEAST ONCE

6.  Standing upright, shoulders and neck still relaxed, slowly take several deep breaths.  The stomach should visibly push out, and the shoulders should remain almost completely still and relaxed.  Offer the additional breathing exercises to those who are unable to breath without moving shoulders up & down.  Object is to consciously establish the habit of breathing from the diaphragm & abdomen.  (Remember the rib cage is not flexible, and tight shoulders lead to problems in the throat)

7.  Taking the same easy, deep breaths from the diaphragm, begin to warm up the vocal folds.  Beginning with an easy pitch in your upper range, let a "sighing" sound slide down to your lowest pitch and finish in a sigh.  Repeat several times, gradually stretching your highest and lowest notes to your comfortable limits.  Object is to warm up the tiny musculature that controls the vocal folds, ending in a sigh as a tension release.

8.  Repeat with an "ah" sound, ending each replication in a sigh to prevent tension buildup.  Roll the neck and shoulders if necessary to keep tension from gradually creeping into the shoulders.  Object same as above.

9.  Focus the voice by making a "K" sound, then vocalize "Ka-ah-ah" through your range as in 7. & 8.

10. Work through several articulation exercises like the following, trying to maintain the resonant focus you experienced making the "Kah" sound above.

Concentrate on wrapping consonants around a relaxed and focused vowel sound.

Use the sequence "ah", "ae" (as in May) "ee", "oh", "oo"

    mah, nah, lah, thah, vah, zah

    mae, nae, lae, thae, vae, zae

    mee, nee, lee, thee, vee, zee

    moh, noh, loh, thoh, voh, zoh

    moo, noo, loo, thoo, voo, zoo

Then begin to work on the articulators in earnest, using any of the numerous exercises available; possibly one of these.

       What a to do, to die today 

         At a minute or two to two,

       A thing distinctly hard to say,

         But a harder still to do.

       For they'll beat a tattoo

         At a quarter to two,

       With a rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat

         tat-tat-tat, too.

       And the dragon will come

         When he hears the drum,

       At a minute or two to two, today,

         At a minute or two to two.

                buh-duh, buh-duh, buh-duh, (repeat several times rapidly)

     THEN buh-duh-guh, buh-duh-guh, (repeat several times rapidly)

                THEN buh-duh-guh-duh, buh-duh-guh-duh, (faster & faster)

The Three Stooges Song

B A, Bay                           C A, Say

B E, Bee                           C E, See

B I, Bicky By                      C I, Sicky Sy

B O, Bo                            C O, So

Bicky By Bo Be Bo Bay              Sicky Sy So See So Say

Bicky By Bo Boo                    Sicky Sy So Soo

(Repeat with other consonants)

Her majesty considers the arrangements to be tentative,

Until we ship a proper diplomatic representative.

We don't forsee that you will be the least bit argumentative,

So please ignore the man-of-war we brought as a preventative.

Her letters do contain a few proposals to your emperor,

Which if, of course, he won't endorse, will put her in a temper,or

More happily, should he agree, will serve to keep her placid, or

At least 'till I am followed by a permanent ambassador.

To sit in solemn silence on a dull dark dock

in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock

Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock

from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block,

from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block.

Red Leather, Yellow Leather (repeat several times rapidly)

Thirty-three three-toed tree toads (repeat)

Rubber baby buggy bumpers (repeat)

Amidst the mists and fiercest frosts

With barest wrists and stoutest boasts

He thrusts his fists against the posts

And still insists he sees the ghost.

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue.

But if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as life the town crier spoke my lines.

Nor do not saw  the air to much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;

For in the very torrent, tempest, and (as I may say) whirlwind of your passion,

You must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.

O, it offends me to the soul to hear a rubustious, periwig-pated fellow  tear a passion to tatters,

To very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings who (for the most part)

Are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise.

I would have such a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant. 

It out-herods Herod.  Pray you avoid it.