Singing at Home

Renaissance Choir soprano, Susan Yarnall-Monks, has provided a daily exercise routine to keep the voice in top condition during the coronavirus lockdown.

Tallis: "If ye love me" - a virtual performance by The Renaissance Choir - July 2020
#99: How to reduce aerosol distribution
#98: Dynamics
#97: Vowels with “a”
#96: “Bibbedy bobbedy boo”
#95: Major/minor triads
#94: Oo oh aw vowels
#93: Ee Eh Ah vowels to clear the tubes
#92: Release of the breath
#91: Brain dance
#90: Connection with the words
#89: Resonant space
#88: tongue freedom
#87: Embodied voice
#86: Enunciation of “fish and chips”
#85: Inspired by a heron
#84: Inspired by butterflies
#83: Inspired by swans
#82: Emerging new life
#81: Fascial squashes to get muscles working
#80: “It’s a grand night for singing”
#79: “Tonight” from West Side Story
#78: “I could have danced all night”
#77: June is bustin’ out all over
#76: Bali Hai
#75: The hills are alive
#74: Flowing river
#73: Water droplets
#72: Fingal's Cave
#71 Calm seas - maintaining a specific tone
#70: Stormy waves: windy howl followed by “shhh” breathing out.
#69: Bubbles - getting an awareness of pharyngeal space and how flexible it can be with vowels.
#68: Practice “water” = “ooater”. Recommend Guggenheim museum video of Bring me little water Silvy.
#67: “Chelsea flowers” - random flowers in your imagination.
#66: Imagine you are a tall tree: a string pulling us up, elongating the spine.
#65: Imagery of flowing grasses: breathe out gently, make sounds change as you move lips and mouth.
#64: Sing with your mouth closed; buzzing bees, humming. Good way to feel pitch and tonality.
#63: Think of how smelling a flower focuses the sound when you start to sing.
#62: Calm water lilies inspired by Monet, and a “singing waterfall”. Sing internally.
#61: Practice Mozart’s “Tu virginum corona” from his “Exsultate Jubilate”.
#60: Energy needed when you make a “leap”of e.g. a fourth - grow through the previous note.
#59: End of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate Alleluia - a happy piece covering many vowels.
#58. Energy levels. Be aware of them before you sing.
#57: Flexibility. Breaking up the scale into 5-note patterns. Ah Ee Oo.
#55: Peal of bells exercise, where you change the vowel sound at the bottom.
#54 Descending scales. Start at the top in the E maj scale.
#103: Release, resonance and flow
#102: Balance connected to the voice
#101: Trampoline exercise.
#100: Importance of the freedom in the spine.