One of the most important things you need to do when practicing singing is to warm up properly. Warming up is not quite the same as vocal exercises, although a good warm up routine will go from physical warm-ups to vocal exercises without feeling like the warm-up stops and the Read more…
I have recently rediscovered the childhood magic of the drinking straw. I don’t know what it is about this small, plastic thing that creates such joy, but I love ’em. Why have I rediscovered straws? Well, I have been looking for some new ideas for technical exercises, and I have Read more…
It’s amazing how often I come across comments like this, which I recently read on a forum: Singing doesn’t count, as it doesn’t … require the same kind of practice as instruments do. There’s a bit of a myth that exists that singing, especially at a beginner level, doesn’t need Read more…
Sirening is a versatile exercise for warming up, tackling self-consciousness and diagnosing vocal faults.
Following on from the post last week about how breathing works, here’s a quick guide to how the voice works. There are four parts to the voice the air pressure system, the vibratory system, the resonating system, and the modifying system. Each of these works to create the sounds we Read more…
It’s school holidays from this week, up in slightly sunny Scotland, and it won’t be long before the schools are off in England too. That means lots of music teachers are on holiday too. Some teachers take the whole summer off and most of us will take a couple of Read more…
As someone who was diagnosed with asthma around the age of 7, it’s been my life longer than singing has. My symptoms are generally mild, and I’ve never been hospitalised, but my diagnosis does still affect my day to day functioning. A few years ago, I went to my routine Read more…