Video transcript
A cappella choir workshop with Stuart Davis - 02. Part 1 - warm-up

Every time we start any sort of day or any kind of workshop we just have to do a little bit of warming up and it's mainly about getting rid of how you were before you were singing and getting into that mindset of we're just going to be making music. We're going to be singing. We're going to be using our voice.

And so we have to just get our voice into this place where it's the right voice, and where it's nice and easy for us, and where it's coming out beautifully. So we just do a couple of little silly exercises to get us going there. All right?

So you're pretty close together, but that's OK. The first thing we're going to do is reach in the air, and then we're going to join hands like that, and then we're going to turn them inside out. And you can feel how that's just a nice stretch. So that's all we're doing. We're stretching up, stretching up, stretching up, stretching up.

Oh, you can stretch to one side. You can stretch to the other side a bit. You can stretch backwards a little bit. You can twist a bit and then you can do whatever you like with that. And we're just trying to iron out all those stiff muscles. Keep them up there. We're stretching. We're still doing it. And take a big, big, big breath in, and then when you let it out, you're going to go

[GUTTURAL SIGH]

I like that and when you get like that, you're going to feel like this. Yeah, very relaxed. Your face is going to feel very floppy. Your shoulders are going to feel very floppy. Your knees are going to be just feeling nice and relaxed like that. So here we go, one more time. Push that ceiling away. You're tensing up your shoulders, stretching. You can take a big breath.

[INHALES]

And then when you let it all out, big noise.

[GUTTURAL SIGH]

That's excellent. I like that. So I want you all just to bounce up and down, just a little bit on your knees like this. Yeah, this is important. We can't be like this. We're not soldiers. We're not stiff like that. We're nice, and loose, and bouncy like this. So let you knees go just like that. That's good. And we can keep just bouncing gently like that. And we're going to make a couple of noises. The first noise is this one.

[BRRRRRRRRR]

That noise.

[BRRRRRRRRR]

Excellent. OK, so this noise, it's a silly noise, but what's really great about it is that it gets your voice going without you feeling like you're singing, or shouting, or talking, or doing anything else. It's just making your voice work beautifully.

You're not even conscious of the fact that your voice is working, but it's doing what it needs to do, and it's getting your voice into this sort of mode of working that it needs to stay in. OK, and you can do it without even thinking about it because when you go--

[BRRRRR]

--your voice is working beautifully. So we just need to get that going. And the other thing about it is that when you go--

[BRRRR]

--it feels like your voice is coming from this part of the face. OK, and this is really important. We don't want to feel like our voice is coming from down here somewhere. It has to be feeling like it's coming from your face. All right, so I'll just get you to do it one more time. We're going to go--

[BRRRR]

And when you do it, just have a think about how it feels, and you will feel it feels like your voice is coming from this part of the face. So we'll give it another try.

[BRRRRRRR]

Excellent. Anyone get that idea, that feeling like, oh yeah, it feels like it's all happening here? Yeah? And already, you probably feel like a little bit tingly around the lips and around here. That's good, OK. Noise number two. Have a listen.

[ROLLING TONGUE]

Beautiful. Some people will find they can't do that. Doesn't matter. Some people just can't do that. Don't worry about it. If you can't go--

[ROLLING TONGUE]

--go

[BRRRR]

One or the other is great. When we go--

[ROLLING TONGUE]

--it feels like your voice is more like-- it feels like it's sort of up here. By going--

[ROLLING TONGUE]

--it seems to send the voice up into this part of your face. And again, that's a really good feeling. That's where we want our voice to feel like it is. Again, we don't want our voice to feel like it's down here. We want to feel like our voice is up here. So when you go--

[ROLLING TONGUE]

--just think about it just for a second and see if you can feel that it's happening up here. Try it.

[ROLLING TONGUE]

Beautiful. Anyone feel that sensation? Yeah, OK. So what I want you to do is in your spare time, and preferably when there's not too many other people around, just go like that.

[ROLLING TONGUE]

And

[BRRRRRR]

And the more you do it, the better your voice will become. It's as simple as that. OK, it's great warming up. It's good to do any time of the day, and the more you do it, the more your voice will get focused in on the sound that it's supposed to be making, and it's just great.