The Gotta Minute Vocal Warm-Up - and Variations: “RABRAS”Getting the voice and body ready to serve you and your message:

1. Release tension – Tension kills resonance and may read as insecuritya. Relax and Stretch - neck, shoulders, wherever you know you hold tensionb. Shake it out / dance it out - our voice is directly connected to our bodies - movec. Drop tongue to bottom of mouth – keeps us from excess tension and t’uh

2. align – Alignment affects the voice, as well as how we are perceiveda. Hanging easily/relaxed off the skeleton – like clothes on a hangerb. Periscope is how we are designed - chin level - head balanced between earsc. Woo – let the sound flow up and over the top – not up your throatd. Practice in the shoes you will wear

3. BReathe – Voice rides on the exhale - athletic breath for speakinga. Exhale – blow out the candle b. Let the air drop in, sideways - instead of thinking of inhalingc. Hand Press – think of your lungs like a glass – fill the bottom firstd. Hu humm, breath in and shake it out

i. Our voice rides on our exhale (tight air=tight voice=hard to listen to)e. Trills with lips (raspberry) and tongue (motor boat)

i. Loosens our articulators and connects to the power source

4. Resonate: Balance YouR steReo -- Resonators need to be alive for a full sound that carries. When out of balance, this can lead to miscommunication.

a. Bass, Treble, and Sub-Woofer - Hee (mouth), Hey (chest), Huh (the “bear”)b. Optimal Pitch - mmm-hmmm, yes – keeps us right in the middle of our range

5. awaken aRticulatoRs – Diction/enunciation energized to be understood, increases clarity and ease of sharing

a. Tongue stretch – this muscle holds tons of tensionb. Eat face, KissKissHi – let the face movec. PTK, BDG - Topeka, Bodega – moves the articulation in your mouthd. Pencil talk helps get the voice to the front of the mouthe. Vowels and consonants – they have their different rolesf. Other tongue twisters – know your own needs

i. Unique New York, New York’s unique, I love unique New York

6. slide the siRen – Full range of colors of our voice, avoid monotonea. Blend with hey – Hand held high, low note, siren from low note to high and backb. Trills with sound and explore the variety

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Power Source = Lungs || Sound Source = vocal folds/larynx || Voice = Sound shared outside of your body *When voice is pushed from the throat it can easily become strained

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