Our class will be generating discussion on topics stemming from ChoralNet forum postings over the coming weeks. This post will get us started with a look at the morning singing voice and what we as choral directors can do differently during early morning rehearsals:
Imagine that your choir rehearsals, which previously took place during lunch hour, have been rescheduled and will now take place at 8 a.m., before the start of morning classes. Knowing that morning can be a challenging time for vocal production, what techniques can you employ during warm-ups and rehearsal to prevent vocal damage?
Based on Choral Net Forum post, “Singing in the morning”.
Please feel free to share your thoughts, comments and ideas below.
I would suggest that my choristers start bringing hot beverages to rehearsal, especially tea with honey, because I personally find that drinking tea warms up my vocal folds and makes singing a lot easier in the morning. In terms of singing, I would start by warming up my choristers by getting them to rub their cheeks, jaw and throat muscles to help them relax even more, followed by singing exercises in ranges that were not too high so the singers (especially sopranos and tenors) would not be straining their folds. I also did a bit of research on this topic and an online post suggested to sing on the way to practice (like a favourite song or something that you are working on) to further warm up the voice before practice
ReplyDeleteReading the forum discussion on this was interesting since I would have thought there were benefits to singing in the morning, like rested/relaxed vocal chords. I thought maybe that rehearsing later in the day would be less desirable because more warm-up time might be required to get the vocal chords out of "talking" mode and into "singing" mode. Also, as a bass, I can hit lower notes much more easily in the morning than later in the day. Anyway, it was eye-opening for me to read about why some vocal directors might want to avoid morning rehearsals.
ReplyDeleteI was also wondering about the effects that diet has on vocal production. I remember reading somewhere that dairy is "mucus-forming." Since a lot of people eat dairy at breakfast, I wonder if avoiding it in the morning might help with some of the congestion issues that people in the forum wrote about.
Singing in the morning is not a fun or easy thing to do!! It's a difficult task to get people excited about singing this early, however, the younger the children, the less of an issue that seems to be. I would suggest some physical warm ups at the beginning ie. stretches and jumping jacks. Water is a must!
ReplyDeleteA very slow warm up would be best, I think. Try to stay in the most comfortable register for each section for quite a while before hitting the highs and the lows. Also any vocal warm ups that are fun for the group would be pretty important!
I think that implementing a good, solid, all-emcompassing warm-up process into a morning rehearsal is one of the most important things a director can do. Especially in the mornings, making sure the bodies and voices of the singers are ready to begin rehearsal without fear of damage or strain is paramount. I would start the rehearsal with some energizing physical warm-ups to wake up the body and definitely some deep breathing exercises. To begin vocalizing, I think sirens and sighs are a good way to bridge the gap from speaking mode to singing mode. Sighs in the range of a perfect fifth and that gradually transition into note-based exercises, in my own experience, usually get me where I need to be in order to begin singing in the morning. Morning rehearsals may not be a choir director's first choice, but as long as there is a good warm-up aspect to the rehearsal, there doesn't need to be any more concern for vocal strain than there would be at a rehearsal any other time of the day.
ReplyDeleteSo many great ideas to think about. Thanks for sharing!
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