ASMPH Vox Choir Vocal Workshop

1. Introductions
2. Anatomy of singing + Warm-up massage
a. Singing as a function of air
i. Air comes from our lungs
ii. Diaphragm acts as a piston, pushing air out and sustaining it
b. Muscles and passages facilitating air flow need to be relaxed and open, while muscles
controlling air pressure and volume need to work
c. Warm-up massages:
i. Facial muscles
ii. Tongue
iii. Jaw
iv. Swallowing muscles
v. Larynx
vi. Neck
d. Posture instructions:
i. Neck at a neutral position
ii. Back straight
iii. Chest up
iv. Pelvis tucked in
v. (When standing) Knees unlocked

3. Warming up the body and voice

a. Stretching, loosening up
b. Lip trills, sighs, sirens
c. Vocalizations
i. Humming – 5-3-1
1. Emphasis on resonance and space
2. Apple-sized space inside the mouth
3. Watch out for: Raised eyebrows
4. Exercise: Glide from one note to the next. Recreate the seamlessness without
the gliding.
5. Application: Coming from the humming space in order to achieve a focused
sound
ii. Small vowels (u/i) – 1-2-3-4-3-2-1
1. Analogy: Blowing into a straw (Very focused tone)
2. Watch out for: Overly airy tones
iii. Quick notes (Mimomimomim) – 1-2-3-2-1
1. Watch out for: Pitch of the 3rds and 2nds
2. Focused tone
3. Hear the third even before singing
4. Exercise: Press the tonic, ask them to sing the 3rd
iv. Staccatto (Ki-ka) – 5-4-3-2-1
1. Emphasis on use of the diaphragm and on support
v. Mixing and leaps (Loo, Li, La, Ya) – 5-8-5-3-1
1. Transferring from chest tone to head tone and the in-between
2. Good intonation on intervals
3. Watch out for: Tense necks as pitch goes up
 4. Option: Sing and correct one by one
5. Smooth transfer from one tone to the next
vi. Octaves (Amore) – 1-8-5-3-1
1. Maintaining the melodic line
2. Proper tuning of the arpeggio
3. Transfer from chest to head tone
4. Watch out for: Scoops, pitch of the 3rds

4. Training the ear, training the voice

a. In singing, you are the instrument. You need to know what note to sing and how to sing it!
b. In choir singing, emphasis is on blending—your voice in relation to the group.
i. Resonance vs. Volume
ii. Unified vowels
c. Exercises:
i. Pitch-matching
ii. Melodic memory
d. Harmonization
i. Easy
1. Hum a major chord
2. Middle goes down half step (Minor chord)
3. Top voice goes down half step (Diminished chord)
4. Bottom voice goes down half step (Major chord)
5. Top voice goes up half step (Augmented chord)
ii. Medium
1. Group hums one note
2. Top voice goes up a half step
3. Top voice goes up another half step
4. Bottom voice goes down a half step

5. Material: Church songs