6.6 Warm-ups and warm-up as a tune-up

Warm-ups

Some choral directors use vocal warm-ups at the beginning of a rehearsal because they believe the warm-ups will make the student's voice ready for intensive rehearsal. Some of these directors use the same warm-up exercises in every rehearsal and strive to obtain maximum results with their use.

Other choral directors use warm-up exercises only because they think they are supposed to use them. They do not have a planned use for them but use them because they do not know what else to do to start the rehearsal.

The use of vocal exercises only to free the singer's voices and ready them for rehearsal is an inefficient use of rehearsal time. While it is true that these two factors are important, it is equally as true that much more can be gained through the use of this time. Try to incorporate some rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic elements from the music that is being rehearsed into some of the opening exercises. This does not mean that this must be done with each exercise or all of the time, but that one exercise can be slanted to a particular rehearsal problem. This can be done with just a little planning and the use of a chalkboard.

One example of this is a passage that this author used as an exercise to develop cleanly articulated runs for several weeks before the music from which it was taken was even distributed. It was apparent that it (and one other similar passage) would cause rehearsal problems because both were to be sung at a moderately fast tempo, and by the basses, often the least flexible section of the choir.

The passage given in figure 1 was placed on the chalkboard twice and sung by all voices on several vowels and syllables. It was even sung once or twice on the text "dispersit." This was done at various moments in several rehearsals to change from one style to another style of repertoire or as a beginning exercise. After the second time it was not necessary to write it for the students. When it was finally introduced later as part of a work, it had already been learned and needed no further attention. When this is done, no mention will need to be made of its existence in any piece. The students will be aware of it when it occurs in a selection, or it can be mentioned when the piece is introduced.

This use of actual music in exercises can be done with many pieces of music and in a variety of ways. It can save valuable rehearsal time and make learning easier and more enjoyable for both the choir and the director. The example shown above is a bit extreme in range and one may desire a less extreme exercise.

Several general exercises are listed below that can be used to open a rehearsal or can also be used any time during the rehearsal. Each of them is discussed briefly. Although the exercises are notated in one key, they can be transposed to any key and moved by half or whole steps through various parts of the student's range.