How to Warm Up Your Voice: Shower Time
Apr 09, 2020
Fitting in a voice warm up every day can seem incredibly time consuming, but it can be as easy as 10 minutes in the shower. Try it each time you shower for a week (if only for the free entertainment), and I promise you won't go back to your old silent showers anytime soon!
1. Release
You're already in the shower, so luckily you are already in prime release mode. However, take a minute to check in to every part of your body, starting at your toes and working up to the top of your head. Is there any tension you can let go of to allow yourself to become more grounded?
2. Breath
Tune into your breathing, making sure you aren't forcing anything to happen. Once you feel your breath is calm, try counting to 10 using only one breath. Then gradually increase the amount by groups of 5, going from 10 to 15 to eventually 30! See how far you can go, and over time you'll find your ability increasing.
3. Voice
If you don't already sing in the shower, I can tell you that you are doing something wrong! Give your voice an easy start on a humming, be it a song you already know or something you make up. See if you can experiment with higher or lower notes
than you are used to, stopping if anything feels pushed. Transition the traditional hum into making sound on an 'N' or and 'NG,' as in 'sing.'
4. Resonance
Using a similar counting exercise as before, try counting to 10, imaging the sound coming out only from your chest. Then try counting to 10, imaging the sound coming out only from your mouth, and lastly coming out only from behind your eyes. Finally, try counting to 10 imagining the sound coming from the whole of your body.
5. Articulation
Wake up your muscles with a nice bout of gurning, or making strange faces. Dudley Knight of Knight-Thompson Speechwork describes gurning as "a wonderful exercise program for your face," and you'll be surprised at the positions you can get yourself into! Once those muscles have been properly stretched, finish it all off with some good old-fashioned tongue twisters.
Peggy Babcock (10 times fast) Seth at Sainsbury's sells thick socks. You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York
Happy warming up!
