Even though he is a conductor, artistic director, and co-founder of multiple choirs, Jonathan Miller isn’t at all biased when he suggests vocalizing with others is a fun and effective way to warm up your voice. Below, he shares more ways to exercise your vocal cords.

Practicing voice exercises can be fun with a guide, even more so with a group. But thanks to technology and videos from Sounds Good Choir’s online rehearsal collection, you can have fun warming up at home with a conductor and a group!

Paul Langford’s now-famous 21-minute warmup is a treasure. You may get through it before you realize 21 minutes have gone by—or, if you’re super pressed for time, just do the first 10 minutes today and then start over tomorrow. And keep going just like that.

This video of Paul with some of the Friday singers on his Zoom rehearsal is typical of how he combines vocal exercises.

Below: SGC conductor Paul Langford’s 21-minute vocal warm-up.

When you’re working out, doing cardio or weights, do you expect that you’ll love every minute of it? Probably not. Try applying that same attitude to your vocalizing. You don’t have to love each vocal exercise for it to be worthwhile, so go easy on the self-judgment. 

I don’t always like how I sound when I’m first starting to warm up. Therefore, I need to keep my inner critic at bay for a while and just get through the sets of “goo goo goo” or “vvvvvvvv.” It usually takes me 10 minutes to feel like my voice is actually doing anything decent, and about 12 minutes to feel like the pistons are firing and the breath is engaged. If I can stick with it until the 15- or 20-minute mark, I usually get some endorphins going simply because my brain says, “Oh, yeah, that’s sounding pretty good now.” 

Now you try warming up with Paul!