Remember when you first wake up in the morning your voice is NOT warmed-up.  Just like any other type of athlete, singing is a sport (it happens to be a musical one).  It takes the proper muscle support to make it happen correctly.  If you were a runner you would not roll out of bed and hit the track, you would stretch and slowly work your body into a real run.

That goes for singing as well.  So give your chords a break.  In the morning start slow your voice is vulnerable.

Seven tips for your early morning singing warm up:

1. Don’t do that morning grovel speak.- When you first wake up your voice is probably low and a bit grindy.  Fight the tendency to have a long discussion like that.  Instead speak gently over your gruff sound with a lighter tone until the rest of your sound files in.

2. -Do some gentle yawn sighs (like descending and ascending siren sounds).  Use different consonant vowel combinations such as Ma, We, Woo. Brr, and Hmms.  Don’t go too high or too low, start with minimal volume and minimal range as you wake your body up.

3. Gentle humming- Do 5 note descending exercises  to start , (like on Voice Lessons To GO v.1) then go up five notes down five notes.  Then sing an octave stretch Do Mi So Do So Mi Do.  Keep it gentle, no big sounds, nothing pushed.

4. Sing in the shower!- The shower is of course a great place to start your “pre-warm-up”.  The accoustics in there are fabulous which helps you to relax and sound better which then makes you sing better.  Also the steam opens up your resonators and gets everything working spaciously.

6. Do some sort of physical exercise. – Waking up your body is key.  A good stretch and work out before a sing is a fabulous way to alert all your muscles in participating in their support of the voice.  Plus it gets your breath support active which is imperative.

7. Do a real vocal warm up- my series of Voice Lessons To GO is great for this.- Once pre- warmed, you can do your warm up.  It is so great to get this done in the morning because you end up setting your voice in a fabulous place for speaking the rest of the day.  Also, you will be ready at any moment the chance to sing may present itself without having to run into a corner for a half an hour to get your sound going.

I realize that you will not be able to fit this all in every morning, but it is a good goal to set for yourself.  Pull from the list and do what you can.  Maybe doing the yawn sighs when getting ready and then humming in your car on the way to work.  Any amount vocal warm up will help you to set your voice on the right path for speaking and keep it there.  Remember healthy speaking leads to healthy singing.

Sing well!

written by Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons To Go (singing lessons on CD) and author of Vocalize!

Want a professional opinion of how you sound?  Sign up for myVocal Assessment. Then send me a link or mp3 of you singing (audio/or audio visual) with your questions and I will get back to you with my feedback right away.

Friend me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/voicelessonstogo

Follow me on twitter:http://www.twitter.com/singingvltg