24. Step Four: Exercises

BENEFITS
• balance vocal cords
• prepare the voice to sing powerfully
• Develop more connected tone
• expand range
• increase vocal power
• connectedness and coordination through daily vocal warmups.

Are you present enough to sing without micromanaging your voice?

Purpose: To warm up the voice for optimal vocal performance

Have you ever practiced vocal exercises successfully, and then sang a song, only to find yourself having a set of “new” vocal issues? Are you concerned about becoming a mechanical singer, but you can’t kick your old bad habits?

There are many excellent exercises that warm up the voice, but doing the actual physical exercise doesn’t guarantee singing success unless you are doing the exercise with the right kind of mental clarity, ease and freedom. Hopefully, you have learned this from the Connecting, Objective and Resonating steps. If you want to get the most out of this program, you will spend more time on the first three parts of C.O.R.E. I urge you to develop a positive, trusting relationship with your voice and earn an “8” score in all of your CREATIVE INTENTION work before advancing. This will help you to prepare your nervous system to gain the proper physical muscle memory much more efficiently.

Check yourself and see if you still have any limiting beliefs left. Here are some examples.

Limiting Thought: “My range is too small”
Result: voice straining when it’s high

Limiting Thought: “my voice is not powerful”
Result: pushing voice and “over-singing”

Limiting Thought: “I want to control my mix”
Result: being mechanical while singing

I invite you to take in a silent, loving breath, sing with ease and once you get the technical parts down (use a mirror for correct placement), do your warmups with more of a story-telling attitude, and record your sessions to avoid too much analyzing of yourself.

Remember to:
• connect to your breath
• sit or stand upright to allow for unconstricted airflow
• keep the neck, jaw and tongue as relaxed as possible to achieve the desired effect.

Note:
If your larynx is untrained, it will likely rise as you sing higher, but these exercises will help it to stabilize, so don’t over-obsess about the larynx! Remember, this is a warm-up program. That means, these exercises are created to help you gain vocal freedom, the first step on the pathway to training your voice and taking it to new levels. If the voice is not free, it doesn’t matter how many vocal drills you do, you will find yourself repeating the same mistakes. I urge you to learn how to cooperate with your voice before you show it what to do.