The Choral Warm-Up, according to Father Finn
William J. "Father" Finn, A famous choral conductor, insisted that the process of learning how to sing is not difficult, and that a director could make good music with any choir he was given, if he followed a few basic principles. He wrote a very brief guide called "An Epitome of Some Principles of Choral Technique", from which I have extracted some core ideas.
Ward choir directors, imagine being told this: "…it is not difficult, even with the limited time at the (director’s) disposal…..after having eliminated the worst defects, to develop positive excellences in each choral line…..that the singing of the (ward choir) may soon take on a lustrous charm".
Father Finn suggests that one of the "worse defects" is poor vocal quality and quantity.
Fixing poor vocal quality
Contrary to popular belief, a person’s vocal quality is not an end-all. Anyone can be taught to sing correctly, and a choir is a great place for any correctly used voice. Vocal warm-ups can be used to encourage correct singing, and Father Finn recommends the following techniques for the training of amateur voices: 1) Reduce the volume of sound uttered. (Actually, if you use these exercises, you’ll actually get MORE sound, but the choir will percieve that they’re singing softly.) He says "Excessive (volume) effects not only a too tense constriction of the laryngeal (throaght) muscles, but is directly responsible for stridency, shrillness and other qualities of ugliness". Translation: When a person forces air through a tensed voicebox, the sound is nasty, hard to tune, and limited in range. Relax the vocebox!
Vocal tension Vs. Sound quality
Tense -------------------------------Relaxed----------------------------------Loose
Shrill, raspy sound Agile, comfortable sound Light, airy sound
Finn offers the following exercise to set the ideal vocal tension. On the syllable "mm", and with relaxed neck and lips, sing a downward scale at a pianissimo dynamic level. Start high in the vocal range and work successively lower. Start each scale by filling the lungs with air. Make sure that the first note is "mm"’ed comfortably before bothering to descend the scale! Also, make sure that the sound quality from the top of the scale is sustained to the bottom. Once your choir is comfortable with the "mm"’s, start with "mm" on the top note, then open up to a vowel and descend the scale, making sure that the vocal quality doesn’t change as the "mm" changes to a vowel.
At this point, you will have taught your amateur singers what a relaxed voice feels like, and can use it as a reference point forevermore. For example, if the choir sings a passage with tense voices, you can ask them to hum through it at pianissimo, then oo through it, the again with the words, in order to reinforce proper relaxation.
Father Finn also gives three prerequisites for good singing: correct breathing, correct stance, and relaxation. The following is quoted directly from his guide:
"1) Most people breathe successfully and in accord with the provisions of nature most of the time; they couldn’t survive otherwise; but when asked to take a breath for a special function, like singing, they often become selfconscious and inhale quite unnaturally, usually raising the shoulders. Practically all the (director) need do in this connection is to warn them to keep the shoulders down and to take as quick and deep a breath as possible. Slow expiration of breath should also be counselled, and each practice period should commence with breathing exercises for about a minute.
2) By the proper stance, I mean one foot should be slightly forward of the other to give an easel-support to the diaphragm(big breathing muscle under your lungs). Opera singers frequently sacrifice the posture appropriate the dramatic action, in order to gain the advantage of the support.
3) Muscular ease and mental relaxation are essential to proper vocalism. Physical tenseness in any muscle of the head or torso is communicated to the larynx, interfering with the freedom desireable for facile (easy) tone production. Muscular rigidity is often the cause of flattening in amateur singers, and of sharpening in artists. At rehearsals, I frequently direct the singers to swing their arms to and fro, rather listlessly, to assure physical relaxation. The lowering of the chin in attacking high notes relaxes the throat and thus gives the vocal cords greater facility to function freely.
Fear, distaste, and mental fatigue frequently affect the timbre and pitch of a tone. It is most important, therefore, to establish the (choir) in a cheerful mood. Much rebuke is a mistake. The controls of singing are mental, and the singing necessarily reflects the state of mind of the singer. (p. 7-8)"
The following outline for a choir rehearsal leans heavily on Finn’s ideas:
I. Warm-Up
Stretch and relax head, face, neck, shoulder, back, and arm muscles, 2 min; Breathing exercise, 1 min; II. Humming downward scales, 1 minute; III. Change the hum to another vowel, 1 minute); IV. Other vocal exercises, 2 minutes; V. Choose some difficult phrases from the rehearsal literature, and use them for exercises.
II. Sing something familiar. Practice watching the conductor, blending, phrasing, etc.
III. Practice all unfamiliar material. Texts should be read in rhythm, softly, by the choir before singing them, in order to unify pronunciation and phrasing. Sing in a dynamic range that allows singers to hear one another. If a piano is used, play softly. Foster sight-reading skills; they really economize rehearsals in the long run.
IV. Sing through something which the choir will feel successful about, and/or sing through the choir song.
A choir director who follows Father Finn’s advice will be very pleased with the results. The choir will sing with better intonation and with a uniform tone quality that blends very well. Having achieved this, other techniques can be used to develop other aspects of the voice. Future articles will focus on warm-up exercises targeted to develop specific traits or fix specific problems.