1. The Purpose Driven Warm-Ups
Common Mistakes We Make
Jo-Michael Scheibe, DMA
Professor and Chair
Department of Choral and Sacred Music
USC Thornton School of Music
scheibe@thornton.usc.edu

2. The Purpose of Warm-ups
o Routine vs.
Imaginative
o Mental set vs.
here we go
again
o Time to bring
focus vs.
boredom

3. The Intent of Warm-Ups: Effective and Affective Types
o More than one purpose to each warm-up
o Must be a tie between the warm-up and
the music making
o Proactive learning- the “why” of the
rehearsal
o Set up expectations in the warm-ups
o Use it to help put the pieces of the puzzle
together
o Remember, the voice is halfway between
the head and the heart

4. PRO ARTE
Posture
Respiration
Onset
Articulation
Resonance
Technique
Efficiency
Based on the work of Don Brinegar

5. Physical (Relaxation)
o Laughter
o Body awareness
o Posture -
Alexander
Technique
o “I’ve got a nose
like a ping-pong
ball” William Tell
Overture
o Back rubs
stretches
o Ugandan
handclaps
o “Simon Says” -
mirror images

6. Mental (Focus Activity)
o 123456787654321 - take away
numbers
o Add gestures (claps, taps, snaps,
stomps, whistles)
o 1-121-12321-1234321 etc. - take
away number
o Dr. Seuss

7. Bob Chilcott Exercise

8. Breath Management
1. Seated hang
over the chair
(grab ankles
and breathe)
2. Pushups against
the wall
3. Sitting against
the wall
(breath)
4. Pencil in hand –
[su] (5-4-3-2-1)
5. Circular hand
movements while
singing
6. Lip trills (br)
7. [v, θ, z]
8. Onset
9. Chest
compression
10.Use [n, ŋ] rather
than [m] if
intonation or
resonance is a
problem

9. Breath Management (cont.)
11.[ni - nɛ - nɑ - nɔ - nu] or [vi - vɛ - vɑ
- vɔ - vu] with hands
12.G (use K placement)
13.Shadow Vowels
o Light becomes [lɑ:itə]
o Sleep becomes [slipə]

10. Vocalization
1. Zing Zing Zah
(frisbee and
hand clap)
2. Descending first
3. Using no more
than a fifth to
begin- octave
at most - high
notes flip over
from waist
4. Drop on top notes
5. High notes - tilt
head back
slightly
6. Hand in front of
mouth to engage
even breath flow
7. Finger at back of
note for soprano
high notes

11. Tuning
1. When Jesus Wept - Billings
2. Compose your own tuning
exercises based on your
literature
3. Hold chorale and then move
1/2 step in x # of beats (Shaw)
4. Use solfege
5. Avoid use of piano

12. Tuning (…con’t)
6. Tune according to the
harmonic series
a. Unisons and octaves
b. Fifths
c. Thirds
d. Color notes (2nds, 7ths, 9ths)

13. Chilcott Tuning Example

14. Shaw Exercises

15. Shaw Exercises (cont.)

16. Shaw Exercises (cont.)

17. Final Thoughts
o Use music from the
rehearsal
o Different learning
styles
o Voice and choral
warm-ups
difference
o And remember,
don’t make warm-
ups boring and put
your singers on
autopilot