Basic Vocal Warmup -Pro Tips for Singing Guitar Players (A Solo Acoustic Vlog)

[@grene1955]

I am a singer first, and a guitar player second, so a bit different from what you described. Breathing of course is the main thing. But a couple of things I can recommend after 50 years of gigging... the deep breathing exercises are important, no doubt. It not about moving a lot of air, it's about controlling it. Being able to maintain pitch when your lungs are getting emptied out requires control, and also looking ahead at how much air you are going to need to nail the upcoming phrase in the song you are performing. I don't do any real warm ups. I just start with songs that are relatively easy to sing. I don't do any demanding songs for at least 3 or 4 songs into my first set. Somethings are obvious. Don't drink carbonated beverages when performing. Ever! Also I stay away from anything with milk in it. Including latte's. Dairy drink will gum up your throat. But even more important...don't drink anything really cold. It doesn't make sense to get your throat warmed up, then icing it down. I only drink room temp water while performing. Lastly... Most people don't understand at all, just how physically demanding singing is. It's not just your vocal chords... It's your entire body supporting the effort. Get and stay in good condition!

[@FrankPersico]

Excellent post I appreciate your wisdom and in sure the rest do as well. I myself need to take your advice as for the carbonated beverage: I tend to drink club soda when I play. :(

[@grene1955]

@@FrankPersico Thank you! I love your channel and seriously appreciate what you are doing! Keep up the great work!

[@FASFatherandSon]

Great advice. I always try to start with easy songs to warm up my vocals too.

[@FrankPersico]

@@FASFatherandSon me too. well sometimes lol.

[@Fronz05]

More videos on vocals and playing...yes! Great stuff Frank! Thank you!

[@FrankPersico]

For sure!! Thank you

[@russr1338]

Yes, more vocal videos would be appreciated. Thanks.

[@FrankPersico]

Great thanks for feedback. I will work them into the mix

[@PaulAshley]

A couple of good vocal topics would be about pacing yourself in a long gig and another on placement of songs that stretch your vocal range. As someone who gigs only once in a while, I often find myself losing the low end of my range near a gig's end. Abd the high end may just not have the support needed for a song like American Pie.

[@FrankPersico]

I will address this moving forward it’s a good point and probably the biggest problem most of us face. The short answer is we usually work the vocal folds (aka cords) too hard but not using proper technique which stems from not understanding how our “instrument”(the voice) actually works

[@Tiimmaaayy]

Thanks for the information. I'm trying to improve my singing confidence, I feel like I am a guitar player who finds in necessary to sing. One of the main things I have noticed is that I lack endurance - after an hour, I am shot. I look forward to more of your videos. I have found all of them informative.

[@FrankPersico]

The better you start to understand proper technique the more endurance you will have .. it does get easier

[@brentmoyer6618]

I enjoyed your vocal video, Frank. You provided lots of great tips. I'll watch for more of these and for any of your guitar content. Thank you from Toronto!

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks. I will be doing more vocal vids in the future as well. Friday mornings is when the guitar videos drop and vocal and vlog type content I mix in between as I create it. :) enjoy!

[@harveyway945]

Love the vocal stuff! Looking forward to the next one.

[@FrankPersico]

More to come!

[@BrianCampbell303]

I had a great voice teacher for three years and these exercises are familiar to me... but it's good to get a reminder. That was about 30 years ago!

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks for sharing!

[@jackiesmith6506]

Thanks!! I appreciate your tips and down to earth style of relating

[@FrankPersico]

You are so welcome!

[@nathanieleubanks2358]

Another warmup routine I got from a guy w a Bachelor’s degree in voice: Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu-Lu…. Like Frank mentions in his warm up, focus on the tongue hitting the back of the teeth, and it stays at the floor of the mouth. It should be moving backwards and forwards - this makes the tongue and larynx work in unison, which is the secret to really pleasing vocal sound. I do E-shape scales, from root on 6th string to root on 1st string and back down, skipping every other note. I usually start on A, then B, C#, D, C, Bb, Ab, F#, F, and end on G. This unlocked my voice, helped me start sounding like I had a clue - miracle! My wife is classically trained mezzo soprano, she suggested using ma-me-mi-mo-mu to focus on vowel enunciation - so I added that to the Lu-lu-lu routine and wow has it helped my singing! The combination of these two and some interval training is also helping my intonation, which is the hardest vocal skill to master. (Plan on YEARS to mastery)

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks so much for sharing with the community. Really do appreciate it

[@georgemakesmovies4438]

Just wanted to say thanks so much for your great videos.

[@FrankPersico]

My pleasure!

[@rguidryrd]

Great video, very helpful. Please more on this topic!

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks and will do!

[@mcmums]

yes please! More singing tips and insights would be most helpful. Thank you Frank.

[@FrankPersico]

You got it!

[@artcarnrick6905]

Thanks for posting... Singing on pitch is important, but the breath control is the secret to great singing.

[@FrankPersico]

My pleasure. Thanks for commenting :):)

[@LicksoftheLegend]

Super psyched for this one! Gonna watch this once the kids are asleep. Thanks for the great videos Frank!

[@FrankPersico]

My pleasure. Let me know what you think as this is my first vid even touching on vocals. Any ideas are most welcome

[@CozBoogie]

Thanks Frank and cheers from the PNW!

[@FrankPersico]

Any time! Have a good one👍👍

[@jeriboxx4331]

Another singer first guitar second here, very timely post…gotten back to real warm ups like you describe instead of singing a few songs in the car and start off the set easy…it’s a muscle warm it up…I also have halls vitamin C to keep things lubed up..limit alcohol…dehydration, fatigue, allergies…have to protect your voice and practice both voice and guitar….Great post thx

[@FrankPersico]

Well said! I always resisted proper warmups as if somewhere deep down I just didn’t think it mattered . I couldn’t have been more wrong. I think the biggest problem the people like me (guitarist first) have is that they never really learn how the “instrument” works. If they did they would take better care of it and realize to get its potential and also avoid injury you had better warm up. Thanks for sharing

[@jeriboxx4331]

@@FrankPersico I judge my entire gig by voice, if it’s good I’m good…I’m so obsessed with getting better on guitar my voice has taken a back seat, bad mistake…remind everyone to turn up the mic you have to hear yourself and use the power of the mic…if the guitar is too low your turn it up you don’t play harder…😂

[@FrankPersico]

@@jeriboxx4331 excellent advice. i make that mistake myself.. trying to push my voice to compensate for a bad mix!

[@awesomeisasawesomedoesyo182]

Thanks Frank .

[@FrankPersico]

You're welcome

[@FASFatherandSon]

Great video. I used to do the lip and tongue exercises a few years ago. People thought I was nuts lol. I have to start back. I would actually say I started as a song writer first and then needed the dining and guitar playing to compliment the song writing lol.

[@FrankPersico]

Definitely great to warm up ..

[@michaelkhorsandi8623]

As a guitar player, I’d appreciate some nut and bolts topics that a lot of us probably skipped. Even simple things like finding your range and proper breathing (when wearing a guitar no less) would be appreciated.

[@FrankPersico]

Will work on it for sure. Thanks for the feedback

[@robertgrimsted877]

Really good vid frank I’m gonna practise your vocals stuff ps you sang imagine brilliantly I do some Beatles as well go for it frank 😀

[@FrankPersico]

thanks so much..

[@joaobrasil3689]

Very interested in vocal learning

[@FrankPersico]

Go for it!

[@martybaer3050]

I focus on cord closure..try to spend a few minutes with vocal fry...and then bubble lips for a few minutes. 5-7 minutes..

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks for sharing with us all. Much appreciated

[@chadandrews98]

Thanks! When you said “ I’m an idiot” He shouldn’t have said “yea I know” lol.

[@FrankPersico]

I know it’s actually pretty funny. He just happened to be saying “I know” as I was saying “im an idiot” it’s great lol

[@jrpipik]

One of the best things you can do to improve your singing is choose the right key to sing in. Try songs in different keys, not just the key they were originally recorded in or you learned to play it in.

[@FrankPersico]

Excellent advice

[@kerryfromaj9032]

Amazing! I started taking vocal lessons last year. I feel like a complete idiot. My vocal project was Pinhead by Ramones. The best take aways from my lessons was make a breathing map, Buddha belly and most importantly sing it like you mean it. Don’t try to sing it like the original in a copy cat voice. Sing it like you mean it will be much better.

[@FrankPersico]

So true. You have sing in YOUR voice and have YOUR own motive. It’s very powerful once you find out how to unlock that. Most guitarists (and I was this way as well) know precisely how their instrument works but do not know how their voice works… that is the first issue that needs to be resolved imho yo truly sing at your best: I will be exploring this subject in future vids. I think it is worthwhile

[@joeycosentinomusic]

How do you get your guitar to so sound clear? And even a little bit of that twang? I’m a solo acoustic musician as well and I’d love to get that crisp sound out of my speakers! Cheers and thanks for another video!

[@FrankPersico]

Nothing special really. the pickup is a fishman Prefix (with the barndoor and 9 volt battery). I don't use any effects I just play through my loop pedal into the fishman solo amp. I think that may be clarity you are talking about is that you are only hearing the guitar and no extra fluff. Thanks for commenting I hope this helps.

[@marcgonzales4250]

Hey question I’m 52 and do about 10-12 gigs a month and have been gigging about 3 years now I’ve noticed that sometime my range diminishing a little. This is concerning me. I haven’t changed or adjusted my singing at all and I wondered if I should be taking collagen I heard that can help the vocal folds

[@FrankPersico]

Do you do a vocal warmup every day even on days you don’t sing? I would recommend it even if it’s just 5-10 mins while in the shower or driving somewhere. There are some days your range won’t be the same but in your warmup you will get a feel for your cords and where they are living for that day. Then you can style accordingly. Don’t be surprised if your range increases throughout the gig itself when you start taking this approach.

[@robertgrimsted877]

Hi frank love imagine by John Lennon sounds brilliant try and sing woman by John Lennon I think you will do it great 😀

[@FrankPersico]

I'll check it out!

[@agfisher007]

How do you find your vocal range ..are you in key or flat ..and how do you change your range ? ..

[@FrankPersico]

Your vocal range is simply the highest and lowest notes you can comfortably sing . You may or may not be getting your fullest potential range if you are not singing properly and warming up properly. So that being said you can increase your range with regular practice and proper technique to a certain extent. You should be able to tell if you are in key somewhat intuitively but study with a teacher would help you to identify if your pitch is off and then help you to correct it. That will then give you a reference point

[@EveyoneCallsMeTheDude]

Nice.. I use this one, kzbin.info/www/bejne/jl7EaaiXa7dol9Esi=RIUuUGb7xOdhRPbJ, And I also have a vocal coach, it sounds more serious than it really is. She pushes me to work on stuff I otherwise wouldn’t and I run though songs with her to make sure I sound good before playing out not all, but a lot of new songs I work on before playing out.

[@FrankPersico]

Thanks for commenting and sharing your warmup with us as well!