What vocal warm-ups do you perform and when do you warm-up (10-15-30 minutes before or maybe you run through a warm-up every day)?
-Phil in California
Do I do vocal warm-ups? When? How long? Why types? Daily Routine? Etc.
I do try to sing some every day, even if it is just 30 minutes of easy scales or simple passages. I tend to vocalize a little in the morning of, just to get the voice moving. My voice does not take look to get “warmed up,” as long as I have enough rest, am not dehydrated, or have a cold or anything like that. I actually do a little work making sure that my middle voice and top are connected in legato usually working down from the top with head voice, mixed to the full voice. (I can get really technical if you would like with a follow-up question, but for sake of this discussion, I will keep it simple) I also do a series of fioratura or coloratura (or for those of you, non-musician types, fast little notes!) If my voice is moving and the top is mixing into a healthy middle I feel good. I also do some language work to get my articulators going. It is the text that separates us from an instrumentalist, so getting the language going is very important. A singer (and I have seen) can get too warmed up before a performance. I try to keep my warm-ups short, so that I sound fresh, not tired when I hit the stage.
What is your voice type? I know you are a tenor but what type? What is the real difference between light lyric/Lyric/spinto/dramatic? – Jenel in Illinois
1. I am a tenor, (thus "Ask the tenor") but you already knew that. I am a light lyric tenor. This can, and as you will see with my answer to the second part of your question, become a very large answer and one of varying opinions and debate! I am light lyric in America, Lyric in Germany, and somewhere between Leggero and Lyrico in Italy. I am a bit of a "tweener," as I split categories in Italy, and don't sing all of the Lyric rep in Germany (though I may add a La bohème or La Traviata down the road), but I am not a Spieltenor, or what some might call a character tenor. I sing, the more Lyrischer roles of Tamino and Belmonte rather than Monastatos and Pedrillo, the Spieltenor roles in Mozart's Magic Flute and Abduction for example.
2. “What is the difference?” you ask. Again, a very confusing subject where the answer really depends on the country you are in. I actually prefer grouping composers, time periods and regions of the world when I talk about the repertoire that I sing. I tend to sing Italian Opera to the beginning of the bel canto. (Handel through Rossini and Donizetti) There is the catch though. I sing mostly lead roles in opera buffa, or comic opera. For example, I sing the tenor roles in Donizetti’s Elixir of Love or Rossini’s Barber of Seville, but not the lead tenor roles in Lucia (Donizetti) or William Tell (Rossini), for instance.
I also sing German repertoire from the baroque to romantic composers Schubert and Schumann. I sing German Opera/Operetta, but not lead roles in Wagner, Richard Strauss, or Beethoven operas, that require bigger voices.
Confused yet? So what gives? The Fach (fancy German name for voice group) you are in and your repertoire choice has mostly to do with the color of the voice, the weight of the voice, the flexibility of the voice, and the thickness and colors of the orchestration. It actually has little to do with things like how loud you sing, or if you can sing the notes. I can sing the notes in Verdi's Otello, but I don't have the right color and timbre of voice to be heard over the orchestra. This can get technical as we talk about things like singers formant, of "ping" in the voice, resonators, head voice, and all sorts of other vocal technical stuff. I had an experience of sitting in the pit of a recital (about 10ft away) from a Heldentenor (Wagnerian tenor) when he gave a recital with orchestra. His voice was really no louder than the average singer, but the color and power of his voice and the resonance allowed him to do what I cannot do, which is be heard though and project above an 80 piece orchestra!
Follow-up questions are very welcome. Please email them to me!
