Singers - Do Warm-ups, and Cool Downs Really Matter?

Nov 10

As singers, I know we’ve all heard we should warm-up before singing - but why? Did you also know we need to cool-down after singing? I'll get into a little of that later. Y’all know I like to do my research and understand the reason behind things I’m instructed to do. That’s just how I’m wired (shrug). At least you get to benefit from my personal obsessions as well. So let’s get into it!

The Science

So where did the concept of singers warming up come from, and what's the science behind it? The theory of warm-ups come from sports science. Researchers assume vocal warm-ups work like athletics. Singers, like athletes, use a warm-up to prepare their muscles for subsequent exertion. These warm-ups increases core and muscles temperatures causing more efficient muscular functioning.

The most notable of these physiological changes that accrue during warm-up are increased blood flow and increased skeletal muscle temperature. Heat comes from muscle contraction, blood flow, and friction inside the tissue. The main idea is “viscosity”, or how stiff the folds are. According to the theory of vocal folds vibration, vocal warm-ups should lead to a lower phonation threshold pressure. In other words, the voice would take less breath pressure to start.

Anatomy Of The Vocal Folds (also called “vocal cords”)

Each of the two vocal folds are made up of three main components:

The vocalis muscle: An internal muscle fiber (part of the larger thyroarytenoid muscle) that forms the core of the fold and allows for fine adjustments in tension and pitch.
A vocal ligament: A band of elastic tissue that runs along the edge.
A covering mucous membrane (mucosa): A soft outer lining that vibrates as air passes through from the lungs.

The folds are a pair of pliable shelves of tissue located inside the larynx (voice box), and stretch across the top of the trachea. They remain open in a V shape during breathing and come together to vibrate during speaking and singing. This vibration is called “phonation.” They also protect your airway. The vocal folds open to allow breathing and covered by the epiglottis during swallowing to prevent food from entering into the lungs and close during voicing. They vibrate very fast – from 100 to 1000 times per second, depending on the pitch of the sound we make.

Pitch, loudness, and quality differ between people because vocal folds are different in length, thickness, and tension.

Watch the video below to see vocal folds in action!

Vocal Folds in Act

The Benefits

So why should we warm-up? Here are a few things I've come across in research.

What happens when you don’t warm-up?

Not enough warm-up may lead to limited range and loudness capabilities or injury, similar to what would happen to an athlete who does not warm up before an event.

A 2023 Brazilian study of classical singers notes that in many cases, the lack of vocal warm-up and cool-down may cause strain, which in turn may overload the entire vocal tract musculature. It also says singers are the occupational voice users at greatest risk of vocal complaints

Cool Downs

Cool downs are a short 2-5 minute series of gentle exercises performed immediately after heavy singing, public speaking, or intense vocal performance. They help transition the voice from a high-energy, broad range back to a relaxed, neutral speaking level.

If you don’t know where to start, here are a few warm-up and cool-down exercises:

Warm-up Exercises

Singeo

Aussie Vocal Coach

Jacobs Vocal Academy

Cool-down Exercises

Jacobs Vocal Academy

Tina's Vocal Studio

Sources

https://etd.auburn.edu/bitstream/handle/10415/4004/Duke_Final_Thesis_Draft%203_25.pdf;sequence=2

https://www.science.gov/topicpages/p/phonation+threshold+pressure

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/jshr.2802.207