The Fundamentals
VOCAL NERDS
EXERCISE 8!
EXERCISE 9!
Voiced Fricative Sirens!
We know it sounds like we’re having you on, but these are
killer ways to create semi-occluded airflow. Siren from the
bottom of your range to the top and down again for a few
minutes. Experiment with ‘VV’, ‘ZZ’, ‘TH’ (as in ‘the’) and a
French ‘J’ (as in ‘Joue’, ‘Je’ or the English ‘seizure’).
The Straw !
To test the effect of this exercise count out loud 1 to 10
before and after, you will be amazed at how much better it
feels and sounds.!
Take a thin cocktail straw (not a drinking one... it’s too wide)
and vocalise through it at a normal singing volume. Start off
by sirening from the bottom to the top of your range and
then back down. Move on to ‘hills’, or accents, taking
higher each time. Finish by singing a melody through the
straw and then you’re done! !
The great thing about the straw is that it’s very quiet and
you can get away with doing it on the bus or walking down
the street without a threat of a clip round the ear or dirty
look! !
!
!
VOICED FRICATIVES
Next step!
So we’re at the point where the vocal cords
are hopefully fairly well supplied with the red
stuff (oxygenated blood), and now we need to
delve deeper into open and resonant vowel
sounds to fully engage the voice and continue
to improve coordination between the vocal
registers.