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.

#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.
#56: Bibbedy Bobbedy Boo sound exercises.
#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.
#53 Mixing sounds - negotiating the “passagio”. Colours change as you move up and down.
#52 Carrying on with a sound-painting theme. Think about how we use voice with different timbres.
#51: this time it’s all about inspiration by painting and art. Sound painting, for instance going…
#50 Working on the “flow”- important because of the breath - connect notes - psychologist Mihaly…
#49 Click track play - vary your vocal sounds to a metronome.
#48 You are telling a story when you are singing. You might need to “act out” if your mind is…
#47 Experiment with orchestral-type colours in your voice. Sing Amazing Grace and make the tone a…
#46 Rhythm - sometimes difficult! Try “pitter-patter” exercise - different emphases on quaver…
#45 Improvisation inspired by friend Eric. Take a word you like such as “benedictus” and play with…
#44 Many exercises brought together - breathing out and hip rotation, sniff hum, cresc…
#43 Are your ears equally balanced?
#42 Sniff hums (part 2) - reminds us of resonance - “hang it in the beak”. Messa di voce
#41 Sniff hums / bunny rabbit noises (part 1) and Bel Canto - gives you resonance and power…
#40 Chromatic scales for warmups - try a minor key, or even give it a “blues” feel
#39 Red lorry, yellow lorry in 3 note scale - animate the face - “ecstatic nun” look
#38 A picture can give me an idea for a song. Hip rotation - combating a stiff lower body - release…
#37 “Fling” good after Stainer “fling wide the gates” - “fl” limits the air + “l” strengthens the…
#36 Flow ball for a steady output of air. Release in lower abdominals should be a reflex action…
#35 zzz and jjj balance the air above and below the vocal folds, feel a release in lower…
#34 World Voice Day on 16 April: blowing raspberries with upper lip only! oooh also releases jaw…
#33 “Colouring” the voice - think about the colours you can use and try to “change the colour” of …
#32 Easter egg: chicken laying song. Always breathe out first!
#31 Hot cross buns exercise for Good Friday. The Diving Board - idea from singer Thomas Hedley…
#30 Motorbike sounds - tongue rolling or lip rolling (push up your heels with your hands) - good…
#29 Peal of bells exercise (over different vowels). JK Rowling does breathing exercises to combat…
#28 Singing bowl - reminder of how we make resonance in big spaces. “Miaow”