Lessons With Shana

Welcome to Day 3 of Choir Week!
Today we’re diving into one of the most essential — and often overlooked — parts of every choral rehearsal: the warm-up.

A strong warm-up routine does more than get voices moving. It sets the tone for focus, teamwork, and healthy vocal technique. And when students understand why they’re doing each part of a warm-up, they engage more deeply and progress faster.

For a long time, I treated warm-ups as something to “get through” before the real work began. Some days they were rushed. Some days they were overly ambitious. And some days… they were skipped entirely.

What I’ve learned — as both a singer and a teacher — is that the most effective warm-ups aren’t flashy or extreme.
They’re consistent.

---

What Should a Choral Warm-Up Do?

A well-rounded choral warm-up targets multiple areas of vocal and musical development. In my classroom, I focus on five core components:

1. Posture & Alignment

• Establish physical readiness
• Check feet, spine, head position, and overall balance

2. Breathing & Breath Coordination

• Encourage low, relaxed inhalation
• Build steady, supported exhalation

3. Tone & Vocal Technique

• Phonation and resonance
• Pitch accuracy, vowel clarity, and gradual range expansion

4. Diction & Articulation

• Consonant clarity and vowel shaping
• Tongue twisters or rhythmic speech patterns

5. Listening & Ensemble Skills

• Blending, tuning, and balance
• Group awareness and responsiveness

Skipping one of these areas often shows up later as tension, intonation issues, or lack of focus.

---

Why Intensity Isn’t the Answer

There’s a common belief that warm-ups need to:

• cover the full range immediately
• push limits
• feel exhausting to be “worth it”

In reality, this often leads to:

• tension
• vocal fatigue
• inconsistency from rehearsal to rehearsal

Singers don’t need to be pushed harder.
They need to be warmed up regularly.

If you want to see how this philosophy plays out in practice, I break down exactly how I structure weekly vocal warm-ups — and why consistency beats intensity — in this post → How I Structure Weekly Vocal Warm-Ups

---

How I Structure Choral Warm-Ups Each Week

A typical warm-up in my classroom takes 8–10 minutes, not 30.

Instead of reinventing the wheel every day, I rotate exercises weekly while keeping one consistent item in each category. This helps students feel secure and reduces decision fatigue.

A simple structure might look like this:

1. Physical alignment check-in
2. Breathing pattern (e.g. 4-in / 4-out / 8-hold)
3. Sirens, lip trills, or five-note patterns to establish coordination
4. Gradual range extension or tuning work
5. Call-and-response or a short round to reinforce ensemble listening

When singers know what to expect, their bodies respond faster.
Less guessing. Less tension.

---

Reinforcing Warm-Ups Beyond Rehearsal

One challenge many choir teachers face is helping students maintain healthy habits outside of rehearsal time — especially during sectionals, independent practice, or after time off.

This is where short, focused vocal workouts can be incredibly useful. They reinforce coordination without overwhelming singers and support consistency between rehearsals.

Below is Vocal Workout #1, which I often use alongside warm-ups. It’s intentionally simple and works well for:

• daily vocal check-ins
• sectionals
• independent practice
• days when you want consistency without intensity

🎥 Vocal Workout #1

These workouts focus specifically on vocal coordination.
They don’t include physical alignment, breathing instruction, or repertoire-based exercises — those still belong in your full choral warm-up.

Instead, the workout isolates coordination so singers can repeat healthy patterns without overload, especially outside of rehearsal or during sectionals.

Looking for a classroom-ready version of these workouts?

I’ve packaged the vocal workouts into a printable, teacher-friendly resource on TpT that you can use for:

• daily warm-ups
• sectionals
• sub days
• independent practice
• students returning after illness or time off

🛍️ Find the Vocal Workout Series on TpT here.

---

Try This: Student-Led Choral Warm-Up Assignment

To help students take ownership of the warm-up process, I created a Choral Warm-Up Assignment that encourages leadership and musical understanding.

Students are guided through:

• planning a complete warm-up routine
• categorizing exercises by vocal skill
• writing short reflections on the purpose of each exercise
• notating 3–5 exercises on the staff
• leading the warm-up in a small group or full class

This works especially well for upper grades, leadership development, or assessment tasks, and it aligns with the Ontario Arts Curriculum.

🛍️ Find the Choral Warm-Up Assignment in my TpT store.

---

Bonus Freebie: Vocal Warm-Up Routine Poster

Want a visual reference to guide singers through warm-ups?

I’ve created a 2-page printable Vocal Warm-Up Routine Poster that breaks warm-ups into five clear steps, plus a page of tips to help students stay focused, relaxed, and vocally ready.

🎁 Download the free Vocal Warm-Up Poster here →

---

You can display it in your classroom, add it to student binders, or even use it as a teaching reference for student-led warm-ups.

⸻

Final Thought

The biggest improvements I see don’t come from one impressive rehearsal. They come from:

• showing up regularly
• repeating healthy patterns
• allowing the voice to settle into efficiency over time

If warm-ups have ever felt overwhelming or inconsistent, the solution probably isn’t more.
It’s simpler, steadier work.

📅 What’s Coming Next?

Tomorrow is Day 4 of Choir Week, and we’ll be talking all about First Rehearsals — from icebreakers to classroom culture to quick-win repertoire.

Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!

⸻

✅ Don’t Forget:
    •    Share your favorite warm-up in the comments
    •    Pin this post for later
    •    Tag me on Instagram @lessonswithshana if you use the warm-up assignment in your classroom!