the ten-minute warmup
lip trills, sirens, and waking the instrument.
wake the instrument
the voice is tissue and air, and it needs to be warmed the way a dancer stretches — gently, thoroughly, before a single phrase. ten minutes of the right drills is worth an hour of cold singing.
the ten-minute warmup: 0–2 lip trills, sirens up and down 2–4 hummed fifth slides (ng) 4–6 open vowels on a five-note scale 6–8 octave sirens, light and easy 8–10 a single phrase from your rep, slowly
the rule
never push a note you couldn't hum. if the top is tight, go back down and warm it again. warmup is not about impressing anyone — it is about arriving at your first phrase already ready.