Pressed for time but still want to sound your best? In this mini-episode, vocal coach Amber Mogg Cathey shares a quick and effective 5-minute warm-up with two core exercises every singer needs. Plus, get a bonus belting exercise from her Erase Your Break course to boost vocal power without strain.
This episode breaks down semi-occluded vocal tract exercises and resonance techniques that help singers perform at their best—whether they’re heading to rehearsal, a gig, or simply staying vocally healthy day to day. A free sing-along warm-up track is linked in the show notes so you’ll never have an excuse to skip warming up again!
00:00 Introduction to Vocal Warmups
01:20 What You Need in a Vocal Warmup
01:40 Semioccluded Vocal Tract Exercise (SOVT)
02:58 Vocal Resonance and Range Expansion Exercise
04:55 Body Awareness and Additional Warm-Up Exercises
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🎁 Free 5 Minute Vocal Warm-Up + Bonus Belt Exercise
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Hello friends, last week's episode was an extra long one and this week's episode is going to be extra short and sweet And what I really want to focus on is a free resource I have for you all that's down in the show notes. You just have to click the link. You get immediate access to it. It is a five minute sing along vocal warmup. And the reason I put this together is I hear from singers
all the time. Singers I work with in my one-on-one coaching, singers that I work with in the vocal pro membership, singers I work with in the Erase Your Break course, and just loads of singers that reach out to me on socials or DM me. And a lot of times what I hear is, I know I need to warm up my voice, I know it will make a difference, but I don't feel like I have any time. I've got to drive to the gig, then I've got to set up, and then I've got to sing.
And or if I have five minutes, I don't know what I can do that's gonna be the most effective to really make a difference for me. And I thought, okay, I've got you. So I wanna talk a little bit about what this vocal warmup entails, why it's effective for you. And then I'm gonna jump off and let you click that link and sing it. So the big things that I wanna focus on when I'm warming up my voice, especially when I need quality, not quantity, I don't have a ton of time.
One, I want to set up my vocal folds as effectively as possible. So I've got good vocal fold connection. I've got ease. I've got resonance locked in. I've got my breath connected. I've got all of those core foundational things that I need to sing my very best. And a great way to do that is to use some kind of semi-occluded vocal tract exercise. All semi-occluded means is a partially closed
Vocal tract, the end of your vocal tract is your mouth. A partially closed mouth exercise. So that is things like a lip trill. I really love a raspberry. It's like a lip trill, but with your tongue out. Singing through a straw into water. That is another great one. Singing through a smaller straw into the air if that feels good for you. Things like a blowfish. A buzzy hum on an HN, an HM, an NG.
a nice buzzy V, I love that for resonance. Choose your SOVT, your semi-occluded vocal tract sound, and then I like to take it on sliding intervals. And the reason I love me a sliding interval is because sliding intervals take control, you've got two set pitches and they take flexibility, the slide in between. And that is the foundation of everything we do in singing. We need flexibility and we need control. So the first exercise that you can just click play and sing along with,
is an SOVT sound of your choice on sliding fifth intervals all the way up and down your range. Work it where it feels good for you. And then the second core thing that I want is I want to lock into the sound and the feel that I want.
for my upcoming performance, whatever that is, for my upcoming rehearsal. And that is resonance. I love a good resonance exercise. And ideally, a resonance exercise that's also gonna work on kind of expanded range so that I feel really ready to go from my top note to my bottom note and everything in between. So the next exercise spreads out over an octave, locking into a consonant vowel combination that helps you get the resonant quality and sound you're looking for. Things like, my, my,
You're going to use whatever vowel consonant combo gives you the sound and the feel that you're going for, for your style of music, for the particular performance, for the particular task that you have to do as a singer. Those are your core two vocal exercises. If you take the time, five minutes.
to sing along with this track so you can do it in your car on the way to a gig. You can do it in the bathroom after setup. You can do it where it works for you. You are getting your vocal folds set up efficiently with your SOVT. We're hopefully releasing some tension. You also can choose an SOVT that gives you extra benefit. So things like a straw into water is going to help massage the vocal folds. So if they're extra tired, tight, a little swollen,
That is one that I highly recommend. If you're somebody who deals with a decent amount of tension in the tongue or the jaw, things like a raspberry, a tongue trill, those could be really great for you. Choose the sound that gives you the biggest bang for your buck, sets up your vocal folds efficiently, locks in that breath management that we want, and then spread out your range and lock into the sound and feel that you want with a resonance exercise.
Now, if you have more time and especially if you've got a short gig, let's say you're gonna sing three songs. In a perfect world, I would love for you to do more than five minutes of warmup if you are gonna only sing three songs. I would jump into then let's stretch the upper end, let's stretch the bottom end, and most importantly, let's connect it all together again with that resonance exercise, locking in the mix, the feel, the sound that you want for whatever you're doing. But especially one if just time is short.
and you need something that's gonna really set you up for more success, certainly then more success by leaps and bounds than if you do nothing at all. or if you've got a long gig, if you're getting ready to sing two, three hours, I don't want you to do more than a five minute warmup because that is just gonna add to that already quite great vocal workload. Another thing to keep in mind when you're warming up is don't forget your body. Your body is your instrument. So if you're tight,
in your jaw, your neck, your shoulders, your back, whatever it is, take a few minutes to just stretch everything out. That's gonna make you feel so much better too. The other thing I'm including in this new free resource is one of my favorite belting exercises. It's directly from my Erase Your Break course. And so you get a two in one sing along audio track. You get the five minute vocal warmup and you get this bonus belt exercise. And all I wanna say about it is that it's tying into sounds you already know how to make. I feel like belt is such a natural.
sound that all of us use in our lives and then we connect it to singing and we way overthink it, way overwork it. So that is down for you in the show notes. Check it out, reach out, let me know how it goes and I will be back next week with a full-length episode. Happy singing everybody.
