Warmup
Vocal Warmup Sequence
Total time: ~18 minutes Complete each step in order — the progression matters.
1. Breathing
Duration: 2 min
- Inhale slowly for 4 counts, expanding your belly (not your chest)
- Hold for 2 counts
- Exhale slowly for 8 counts on a hiss — "ssss"
- Repeat 4–5 times
This activates breath support and shifts your body from talking mode into singing mode.
2. Lip Trills
Duration: 3 min
- Buzz your lips together while phonating — like a motorboat sound
- Start in your comfortable mid-range, glide slowly down then up
- Keep it easy — no pushing at the top or bottom
- If your lips won't trill, lightly hold the corners of your mouth with your fingers
The gentlest possible way to get the folds vibrating. Low pressure, self-regulating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwNPp-RS4IY
3. Humming
Duration: 3 min
- "Mmmmm" with lips closed, teeth slightly apart inside
- You should feel buzzing in your lips and face, not pressure in your throat
- Glide through your range slowly — sirens, not scales yet
4. "Ng" Slides
Duration: 2 min
- Tongue up touching the soft palate — like the end of the word "sing"
- Hold that position and phonate
- Slide up and down your range slowly
Narrows the throat slightly, encouraging clean cord closure without effort.
5. Vowel Sirens
Duration: 3 min
- "Ooooo" — glide from low to high and back, slowly
- Then "Eeee" — same motion
- Don't force through your passaggio — let it flip if it wants to
6. Five-Tone Scales
Duration: 3 min
Pattern: Do – Re – Mi – Fa – Sol – Fa – Mi – Re – Do
- Sing on "mah" or "may"
- Start a few steps below comfortable, move up by half steps
- Stop before it gets effortful — you're warming up, not auditioning
7. Octave Jumps
Duration: 2 min
- On "mah": jump from Do up to the octave and back down
- One jump at a time, ascending by half steps
- Arrive at the top note with an open throat — no gripping
- Let your voice do what it wants on the top note
After step 3 or 4 you'll probably feel ready to sing. Do all steps anyway — the later ones wake up your passaggio and upper register, which is exactly where subharmonics like to hide.