Let’s Talk Vocal Warm-ups

I love singing a cappella music and have been an active barbershop harmony singer since 1985. After my service in the U.S. Army as a Military Musician, I joined a small chorus in Santa Cruz, California. I just wanted to sing, but like many small choruses around America, they struggled to find qualified musicians who could lead the group and provide the necessary education. At the time, I did not feel qualified as a singing coach, but musically, I certainly had the chops. I agreed to serve while taking voice lessons, and my 30+ year career in vocal development began.

My favorite part of singing is vocalizing. I became somewhat of an expert at vocal warm-ups for choruses and quartets, and I even got pretty good at vocal repair for those who overdid the singing and strained their voices. Little did I know just how valuable these experiences would be for my eventual foray into voice acting. Now in my late 50s, I work daily to keep my voice fine-tuned for reading.

Over the next few months, as opportunities arise, I’ll share some warm-up and vocalizing tips with you, my fellow voice actor. But before you start worrying about me trying to convince you to sing, allow me to put your mind at ease. I won’t encourage you to take up singing, although singing does wonderful things for the speaking voice! The truth is, the most therapeutic approach is the other way around. I advise all my singing students to take up professional speaking to fine-tune the best richness from their personal instrument.

In today’s article, I want to focus on air. Breath support is everything in speaking and singing; if you cannot provide a good column of air across your vocal folds, then you won’t be good at either. Before diving into today’s exercise, allow me to recommend a book to help reinforce my lessons.

The best book for developing your speaking (and singing) voice is “Singing and Communication in English: A Singer’s Guide to English Diction” by Kathryn LaBouff. Here is a link to purchase the Kindle edition of the book on Amazon: amzn.to/4dTI7fA. Yes, I make a few coins if you buy the book from the included link.

I love this book because it not only gives great examples of how to pronounce all the vowels and consonants in the English language, but she also does so from the perspective of airflow. There are other books I’ll recommend from time to time, but Kathryn’s book is the most important in a voice actor’s development.

Without going into the mechanics of air flowing across the vocal folds this time, let me teach you the bubble exercise.

The bubble exercise involves blowing air through your mouth so that your lips create a constant stream of bubbles. Some might call this buzzing, but I caution against using this word as it usually results in the speaker tightening their lips to achieve more of a “BUZZZ” sound, instead of the very loose “BUBBLE” sound. This exercise is about the dynamics of airflow and the importance of relaxation. You cannot bubble unless your lips are relaxed, yet you cannot be too relaxed, as the lips must still have some structure in order to function.

Try this exercise: Take two pieces of paper and hold them together by pinching the middle of one of the short sides, with one piece of paper in each hand. Bring the two pieces of paper together so they are flat against one another, with your fingers creating a bow in the short side of the two pieces of paper, creating a space you can blow air into. Now blow air between the two sheets of paper.

Notice how the pieces of paper vibrate—or as I would call it, bubble! Without going into the technical explanation of what is happening, just know that the way the air is blowing between the two sheets of paper is exactly how the air blows across your vocal folds and how the Bubble Exercise works with air going across your lips.

In the beginning, you may need to help your lips relax to achieve the desired effect. You might need to use your index finger to push on the corners of your mouth to help your lips purse as you blow air through a slightly closed mouth.

The goal is to bubble without needing to use your finger and keep the bubble going for about 10 to 20 seconds. The longer you can keep the bubble going, the better your breath support.

We’ll stop here for today. Practice and share your thoughts on my X (formerly Twitter) account @Bejarana.

Happy Vocalizing!