6.6 Warm-ups and warm-up as a tune-up  (Page 4/4)

The exercises in figures 2 work particularly well with ensembles that have breathiness, often a characteristic of young girls' voices. The exercises in figures 4 and 5 can help transfer the focus of the brighter vowels into those that are most likely to be breathy, the deep vowels.

Often young choirs can gain a forward focus and even eliminate some of the breathiness but not gain the depth needed to provide a full singing tone. Several exercises will help achieve more depth in the tone.

When singing the exercise in figure 5, be sure that the students drop the jaw sharply on each new syllable. Have the students place their index fingers just in front of the top of the ear lobe and drop the jaw. (Always tell the choir to "drop the jaw," never to "open the mouth." There are many ways to open the mouth but only one way to drop the jaw.) They will find another "hole in the head" at the hinge of the jaw bone. When the tip of the index finger can fit into the depression, the jaw is down and the throat open. Be sure that this happens on each repetition of yah and remains that way on the melisma. The tendency will be to bring the jaw up during the five note descending passage. Also emphasize that the tongue must be flat in the bottom of the mouth, with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the lower front teeth.

Another similar exercise that is good is given in figure 6. Be sure that the students keep the jaw down after the first note. Even have them hold the jaw down with their hand, if necessary, as they sing the yah. The accent on the second note is a diaphragmatic accent with a sharp "h" preceding the vowel sound.

The exercise in figure 7 is helpful in developing a warm, lyric tone. Often preceding the first vowel sound with "n" provides a good beginning for the tone. One may use a single vowel sound or changing syllables as noted in figure 7.

It is necessary to reiterate that the jaw should be lowered and relaxed. Inexperienced singers are reluctant to actually drop the jaw as far as it must be dropped to obtain a good tone. Too often the jaw is dropped only slightly and is very tight. This tension contributes to poor intonation, poor tone, and poor diction.

It is also true that the jaw can be dropped too far, again creating tension. This is less likely to occur, however.

The exercise in figure 8 helps singers discover an openness and consistency throughout an octave. The jaw should be down and relaxed. Note the accent on the top tone, which will help that tone be full and keep a steady rhythm in the passage.

The lips should protrude slightly from the teeth when singing. All of the exercises should be moved to different pitch levels, and the last one should be used to the upper and lower limits of the ranges.

The following exercises (fig. 11) can be used to train the singers to match vowel sounds and listen carefully in order to sing in tune. They also help a choir achieve a balance and blend at various dynamic levels. When these are used, ask the singers to sing them at all volumes (not necessarily all during the same rehearsal period).

Some directors like to have a progression of chords available that the choir can sing anywhere to do some preliminary testing of voices in a new concert hall or to bring the singers attention back to a unified vowel and tone. The progressions given in figure 10 have been used with success.