Singing exercises

Gentle humming, sirens and trills. Always start here.

• Hum on one note ●○○Closed lips, an “mmm” you feel in the lips and nose. Four seconds, calmly.
• Hum 5-4-3-2-1 ●○○Five notes downward on “mmm”. Warms up without loading the folds.
• Lip trill – siren ●○○Lips buzz like a motorboat, the sound slides an octave up and back.
• “Oo” siren (octave) ●○○Smooth glissando up and down on “oo”. Connects the bottom and top of the voice.
• “Ng” siren (fifth) ●○○The sound at the end of “soNG”. Leads resonance into the “mask”.
• Gentle 1-2-3-2-1 ●○○Three notes up and down. Change the vowel: mee, meh, mah.
• Downward sigh (yawn) ●○○From a high “haa” freely down, like a tired sigh. Relaxes the larynx.

Intonation step by step. The foundation of clean singing.

• 5-note scale ●○○The classic: five notes up and back. The most important intonation exercise.
• Major scale (octave) ●●○A full octave up and down.
• Minor scale ●●○Natural minor scale – a darker sound, typical of ballads.
• Major pentatonic ●●○Five notes that almost all pop runs are built from.
• Chromatic (5 semitones) ●●●Each next note a semitone higher. An extreme intonation test.
• 9-note scale ●●●More than an octave – you pass through the passaggio both ways.
• Major scale downward ●○○From the octave down. Teaches you not to sag on low notes.
• Broken thirds ●●●1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5... Trains thinking in intervals.

Leaps across chord tones. Accuracy and register connection.

• Major triad 1-3-5-3-1 ●○○The basic broken chord.
• 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 ●●○Chord with the octave. The most popular exercise in singing lessons.
• Minor triad ●●○The broken minor chord.
• Octave leap 1-8-1 ●●○One leap, but a big one. Connects registers.
• Dominant chord 1-3-5-b7-8 ●●●A minor seventh between the fifth and the octave – a bluesy sound.
• Staccato 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 ●●○Short, separated notes. Trains a fast, accurate onset.
• 1-5-8-5-1 ●●○Fifth and octave – the skeleton of every chord.

Hitting specific distances between notes.

• Interval: major second ●○○You sing a note, leap 2 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: major third ●○○You sing a note, leap 4 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: minor third ●○○You sing a note, leap 3 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: perfect fourth ●○○You sing a note, leap 5 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: perfect fifth ●●○You sing a note, leap 7 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: major sixth ●●○You sing a note, leap 9 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: major seventh ●●●You sing a note, leap 11 semitones up and come back.
• Interval: octave ●●●You sing a note, leap 12 semitones up and come back.
• Interval mix 1-3-1-5-1-8-1 ●●●Bigger and bigger leaps from the same base.

The top of your voice without forcing. Powerful, long high notes like in big pop choruses.

• “Nay” 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 (mix) ●●○A nasal, bratty NAY. Sets the voice in mix – the top without shouting and without falsetto.
• “Gee” 1-5-8-5-1 (cord closure) ●●○A hard “G” closes the folds, “ee” keeps it thin. High notes without air in the tone.
• “Mum” 8-5-3-1 (top down) ●●○Start at the top, come down. Teaches carrying the lightness of the top into the bottom.
• “Wee” siren through the passaggio ●●○The narrow “ee” vowel helps you ride through the voice “break” (E4–G4 for men) without a flip.
• Belt: long note on “eh” ●●●A strong, bright, open note on “eh” (as in “ten”). Four steady seconds, high up.
• Messa di voce on a high note ●●●Soft → loud → soft on one high note. This is how big pop choruses build tension.
• Flip into falsetto 1-8-1 on “oo” ●●○Bottom note in chest voice, top in light falsetto, back down. A trademark of acoustic pop.
• Falsetto: long high “oo” ●●○A light, airy falsetto on “oo” above your chest range.
• Leap 1-5-8 holding the top ●●●Two leaps up and three seconds at the peak. An emotional “release” like in a chorus.

Pentatonics, ornaments and pop scoops. Acoustic pop style.

• Pentatonic run down 8-6-5-3-2-1 ●●○The most common run in pop – from the octave quickly down the pentatonic.
• Pentatonic run up ●●○A run-up ending on a long octave.
• Blues run (minor pentatonic) ●●●A darker, R&B version of the run. Seventh and minor third.
• Turn 5-6-5-3-1 ●●○The classic pop “ornament” at the end of a phrase.
• Mordent 1-2-1 and 1-7-1 ●●●A quick “touch” of the neighboring note and back. Upper and lower mordent.
• Pop scoop (slide into the note) ●●○A short, deliberate slide from below into the target note. It should be an effect, not a habit.
• Long run 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 ●●●The whole scale down at a fast tempo.
• Rhythmic pentatonic phrase ●●○A short phrase with syncopation – like a line in a song.

Support, stability, messa di voce, vibrato.

• Long note 6 s ●○○Hold one note steadily for 6 seconds.
• Long note 10 s ●●○Ten seconds without wavering and without sagging.
• Long note 15 s ●●●Fifteen seconds. The level of a big ballad chorus.
• Stability: 3 long notes ●●○Three chord tones, 4 seconds each, with a breath between them.
• Messa di voce (soft → loud → soft) ●●○Crescendo to the middle, then decrescendo. The pitch stays put.
• Long phrase on one breath (12 s) ●●●Eleven legato notes on one breath. Phrases in pop ballads are sometimes longer.
• Timed “sss” hiss ●○○Release air on “sss” for as long as you can. We measure seconds. Goal: 30+.
• Vibrato on a long note ●●●Start straight, after a second let a natural wave in. We measure rate (goal 5–7 Hz) and depth.
• Straight tone without vibrato ●●○The opposite of vibrato: a perfectly straight, motionless note. The pop “straight tone”.

Fast scales and melismas. Precision at tempo.

• Fast 5-note scale ●●○The same scale as in the basics, twice as fast.
• Fast 1-3-5-8-5-3-1 ●●○Arpeggio in eighth notes.
• Trill 1-2-1-2-1-2-1 ●●●A fast alternation between two notes.
• Melisma 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1 ●●●Nine notes on one vowel.
• Fast octave scale ●●●A full octave in eighth notes.

Hear it and repeat it. No notes shown.

• Repeat the note ●○○You hear one note and repeat it. The note is revealed only after your answer.
• Repeat the interval ●●○Two notes – repeat both.
• Repeat 3 notes ●●○A short random three-note melody.
• Repeat 5 notes ●●●Five random notes from the scale.
• Repeat the chord (broken) ●●○A random major or minor triad. Recognize it and repeat it.

Songs and original pop phrases. Sing with lyrics.

• Are You Sleeping (Frère Jacques) ●○○A simple, well-known melody. A warm-up with lyrics.
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ●○○A fifth leap at the start, then walking down the scale.
• Ode to Joy (Beethoven) ●○○The theme of the 9th Symphony. Only seconds – a step-by-step intonation test.
• Happy Birthday ●○○An octave leap in the third phrase. A classic trap.
• Jingle Bells (chorus) ●○○Rhythmic, repetitive. Trains holding the same note.
• Silent Night ●●○A wide range (1.5 octaves) and long notes. A ballad in its purest form.
• Amazing Grace ●●○Pentatonic in practice. Melismas on “zing”, “a”, “was”, “but”.
• When the Saints Go Marching In ●●○Energetic, with long notes at the end of phrases.
• Pop phrase: acoustic verse ●●○An original phrase in the style of acoustic verses: low register, minor pentatonic, speech rhythm.
• Pop phrase: chorus with a high note ●●●An original chorus: a leap to the octave and holding it for 3 beats. Twice.
• Pop phrase: falsetto hook ●●○An original hook: twice up into falsetto and down the pentatonic.
• Pop phrase: belt ●●●An original phrase: a 5-7-9 run-up and a four-second belt on the octave.

Vocal range test, free tuner.

• Vocal range test ●○○Find your lowest and highest comfortable note. Sets the range for all exercises.
• Free mode (tuner) ●○○No task – you see live what you sing. For improvising and checking single notes.