Adjust your posture
· Feet flat and even
· If seated, back is off the chair
· Spine straight, supported slightly by the core muscles
· Tuck chin (parallel to the floor), relax shoulders down the back
· Breath in and out belly -> chest x 10 (at least 5 seconds for each inhale/exhale)
Head up/downs (3 each):
Exhaling, drop head, elongating the back of the spine, inhale center the head
Exhaling, lift chin, open the top of the chest, inhale center the head, again
Turn the head at the neck by following the eyes in either direction (3 each):
Exhaling, turn to one side, inhale return to center
Repeat on the opposite side
Drop ear to shoulder on both sides (3 x each):
Exhaling, drop head’s entire weight to one side, stretching side neck and shoulder
Inhaling, return head to upright center posture
Head circles 5 seconds in both directions x3 (total 6 times)
Shoulder circles
Back x5
Forward x5
Inhale to lift and squeeze shoulders, slowly exhale and release the shoulders down
Facial muscles warm-ups (for 5 seconds x 3 each)
Make face as small as possible (squish)
Make face as big as possible (expand)
Squish face to either side, releasing the jaw muscles
Circle the facial muscles in either direction to massage them internally
Most annoying sound in the world
Up (head voice) -> down (chest voice) and down (chest voice)-> up (head voice) x 5 each way, conscious of transitions and even volume throughout. Here’s an example sound to emulate.
Ear training
Use a tuning app on your phone or computer, finding a comfortable starting note (low or high in your natural range) to hear and then match consecutive whole notes in an octave to what you hear by singing them as an “Aah” sound for at least 2 seconds each or until the app indicates that you’ve hit the correct note.
Use InsTuner (iPhone) or Tuner Pitched (Android) app to practice ear-training. It creates a tone and registers external sounds (i.e. your voice); use these apps to match notes you hear. This should get easier with practice
