How to Warmup Your Voice for Performance to Sing High Notes with Ease

The goal of vocal warmups is to open and free the singing voice so you have more tone, more resonance and more precision in execution and opens up those high notes! There are many warmups on the market but most of them only focus on vocal notes and singing with as much range as possible. This can result in “overwarming up” and kind of wearing out your voice before singing. These kinds of warmups also completely skip over some of the most important parts of warming up – which are:

• opening the voice
• stretching the tongue, jaw and neck muscles
• eliminating tension in the voice and surrounding muscles
• dropping the laryngeal muscles
• opening the back of the throat
• lifting the soft palate to provide room for the high notes
• warming up your body and breathing

Over a decade ago I designed a warmup series to do all of the above. They have transformed singers voices around the world.

“I have most all of the best vocal practice programs out there. Cari’s “Singer’s Gift” is my go-to program every day – particularly before concerts. No other program gets my voice into its best shape so fast. In about 40 minutes, I have great power, dexterity, tone, and dynamic. I’ve used it hundreds of times, and I still love it!” Thank you, Cari! ~ Alyse Black

“I have been religiously using Cari Cole Singers Gift Vocal Warmups for the last few years, and they have made a huge difference in my vocal power and range. If you want to make a change in how you use your voice they come highly recommended!” ~ Kelly Brightwell

Get your own download of these exercises here.

Energy and hydration are required for healthy singing and great performances. Both will make a huge difference in your voice and help you sing high notes with more ease and confidence. Try it for your next performance—you won’t believe the difference! Here are some helpful ways to supercharge your energy:

• Vitamin B12:
• Vitamin C:
• get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is where your body recharges and heals up anything needing fixing. Without adequate sleep, your body starts running out of energy quickly making singing more difficult!
• Bee pollen: The bioactive compounds in Bee Pollen are antisoxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammaory, anti-fungal, anti-carciogenic, immune and cell renewal enhancing. Renowned for athletic performance – as high as 50-50% higher strength + performance in athletes. Great for singers! 1 tsp a day. Get organic bee pollen.
• And nothing is better than hydration for energy. Dehydration will cause a lack of energy.

My Hydration Plan -> It’s so much more than just water! Most vocal problems stem from dehydration. One of the ENT’s I work with in NY once told me that if his patients drank more water he would lose 3/4 of them. Read that again. Hoarseness, loss of high notes, and losing your voice are a few of the many signs of dehydration. Staying hydrated makes the difference in being able to have a strong and smooth voice in performance. Being hydrated gives you high notes, smoothness between your notes, flexibility, endurance and reduces strain. Part I of my plan focuses mostly on water, steam and fresh juices. Part II of my plan focuses on other sources of hydration including steam and foods with a high water content. Here is my Ultimate Hydration Plan, Part I that I use for myself and my singers: Daily Goal: Half of your body weight in water. For example, if you weigh 120 lbs, half of your weight is 60 oz. (7.5 8 oz glasses of water a day) Morning:

• 💧1-12 oz glass of water with a 1/4 squeeze of lemon
• 💧1-12 oz water before lunch

Lunch: 💧1-12 oz green juice, vegetable salad Afternoon

• 💧1-12 oz glass of water w/4 cubes of melon.
• 💧1-4 oz glass of water with electrolytes
• 💧1-12 oz glass of water or vegetable/beef broth

= 64 to 75 oz of hydration per day My Ultimate Hydration Plan, Part II: There are many ways to hydrate – scroll through to see how I keep myself and my clients hydrated. The impact on the voice is quite dramatic resulting in a freer sound, better tone and a fuller range.  Hydration for the voice is not just water. It consists of moisture (humidity), and consuming foods with a high water content. We use steam, inhaling the steam from a cup of herbal tea, or just plain water. You can throw in a cup of broth to add to the hydration or any foods with a high water content. In addition, raw foods have a high water content and a higher nutrient level giving you additional energy for performance. The more raw food you consume the less water you have to drink. Try adding a green juice and a vegetable salad to your diet each day! 💧Raw foods have high water content. The more you consume, the less water you have to drink. Try adding green juice & vegetable salads to your diet!

• Vegetable salads + raw vegetables: Cucumber, celery, romaine lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes, avocados, bok choy etc.
• Fruits: melons, apples, pears, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, mangos, papaya are among my favorites.

💧Broths are a great way to increase hydration! Beef & Vegetable broth based soups are a popular way to stay nutritious as well as hydrated. See my full hydration plan Part I and Part II on Instagram: Hydration Plan, Part I: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfl2XzklGBr/ Hydration Plan, Part II: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmM07AuOOH/ To experience the ultimate in vocal warmups, I have formulated a highly effective special set of warmup exercises that open and free the voice using all of the methods above (and more) — in just 20 minutes a day!! Get your own download of these exercises here.