Favorite Vocal Warm-Ups (courtesy of Jerry Elsbernd, Elsbernd Voice Studio, Shorewood, MN):

1. BIDDY BIDDY BEE:

As you introduce the exercise, just do one line at a time, substituting vowels (as in lines 2 & 3), as you see fit to practice sustaining the ascending closed (ee), moderately open (ay or eh), and open (ah) vowels.

As the students become more accomplished, add repeats, progressing from closed to open vowels (all to be done on one breath). You may even add the challenge of adding more repeats - some may be able to accomplish six (or more) lines without taking a breath as their confidence increases and their breath management skills allow a free, constant, uninterrupted flow of air with clear and articulate diction):

BENEFITS of this exercise include:

• helps avoid building pressure during pitch ascent - each upward motion comes back down • HALF-VOICED consonants - provide a registration (resonance/vibration) “balancing” benefit because the vocal folds vibrate during the initial consonants but do not normally focus the airflow through the nose as some voiced consonants (n, m, ng) can do, so it can help avoid nasality in the vowels that follow. • VERSATILITY: • crescendo to top, decrescendo back down - an intro to mess di voce work < > • change “bee” to bay or bah or boh, depending on what vowel needs work or lends itself to the register through which you are vocalizing the student • add more for extending breath - biddy biddy bee, then bay then bah on • when done efficiently, this exercise can help ensure the students are using minimal body tension, that they are letting the “busy” work of the b and d feed the energy that is needed for the diction, that the breath line and low abdominal follow-through occurs naturally as in speech…or it can be used as a teaching opportunity to address any excessive tensions or lack of energy that need your guidance in developing their most natural breath management 2. CLEAN VOWEL ONSETS* (progressing to messa di voce work if you like)

GOAL: to get full and efficient vocal fold closure, timing the start of the exhalation with the closure of the vocal folds so that there is no perceived difference in timing (working toward the sound that they are “simultaneous.”) **

*A Note on terminology: I don’t care for the terms of ATTACK and CUT OFF - I use the term “onset” for the beginning of the sound, and “release” for the end.

* Thee term “simultaneous” here is a bit of a “useful lie,” in that the airflow will slightly precede (and assist) the closure of the folds and their entrainment on the airstream via the Bernoulli effect, but for the sake of this exercise, we want that moment to be very close to simultaneous so there is no pop or leakage (H) as a result of either the closure or the airflowF coming too soon or too late.

MEASUREMENT (how do we know the timing is “off?”): If the breath is early, we will often hear an air leakage or an “Hhh” sound prior to the vowel. If the glottis is closed prior to the start of the airflow, we will hear a glottal “pop” or “attack.”

VISUAL AID: I will often have my student hold their dominant hand in front of themselves with their index and middle fingers separated as in a “peace” sign, then watch as we start the exercise to ensure that the fingers (representing the glottis) touch at the same time that the air/ sound begin. You and they will often notice a timing issue is visible in the timing of the finger closure…that some will have them closed and “pop” them open after the air starts or they are late in closing them after the air starts to flow.

In warmups/exercising the voice, I use onsets on the following vowels, first individually, then in progression: i - e - a - o - u

For my overly airy/breathy singers, I sometimes precede the first couple of notes with an initial voiced consonant (like n, m, v, voiced th) that helps them get a clean and clear tone, moving back toward a balanced onset (dropping the initial consonant by the 3rd or 4th repeat) without allowing the breathiness back in.

For my glottal attackers, I will sometimes use the H (Yes, the very thing we are trying to avoid for the breathy singers!) to get them a sense of the airflow first, then work back toward a clean timing of the sound and the airflow. I will progress through levels of an audible initial H like so:

Note how the timing of the initiation of the airflow and the closure of the vocal folds becomes closer together as the H becomes less audible…be careful not to let this go all the way to breathy. PROGRESSION TO messa di voce: For more advanced students (or to get them started early!), you can then proceed to introducing the following exercises:

Start with clean onsets in a vowel progression from closed to open and back to closed

Crescendo and decrescendo, starting softly on a closed vowel, crescendo to forte as the vowels become more open, then decrescendo back to the close (now lip rounded) vowel:

Work these throughout the range, knowing that you’ll have to guide the student to address issues of registration, pressure, tensions, etc. as you progress throughout the range and through passaggio events.

Eventually, then, work for the true messa di voce on single vowels:

As Nikki always says, “Happy Singing!”