Vocal Warm Up for Teachers

Taking care of your voice (or losing it!) is an issue all teachers eventually face.

Here’s a really simple way to relax your voice and make it last a lot longer, just in case you forget the regular warm ups!

Richard Graham

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8 Responses to “Vocal Warm Up for Teachers”

  1. Nena

    Funny how the teacher on the video couldn’t or wouldn’t do it!
    I have to try that…I usually end up with a q low voice! sore throat! Will let you know how it goes!
    Nena

  2. richard

    Yeah she didn’t come on the first day so missed all the Genki English rules and thought it was acceptable to not try.

    I ended up telling her to leave!

  3. JC

    Hi Richard,

    I’m grateful that I found this blog and all the help it contains for teachers. Thanks for such contribution!

    I can’t view the video (or any from Youtube); would you mind explaining the vocal warm-up?

  4. richard

    Hi JC,

    Where are you based? I know Youtube is still banned in China which is a real hassle!

    This one is actually really difficult to describe without a video! You sort of blow a raspberry but without sticking your tongue out. Just make your lips vibrate up and down! Hmmm, I don’t think that really helps does it…?

  5. JC

    I’m in China right now!

    The exercise sounds neat; do the lips touch as they vibrate? It reminds me of how schoolkids play low brass instruments before they learn to “elephant-blow”, hahahaha

    I find it fascinating that such an exercise would help the vocals, but it’s so fun ๐Ÿ˜€ Thanks for the explanation!

  6. M. Haller Yamada

    Excellent! I just lost my voice last week, and the docs told me not to speak for a week. So, I’m trying to ease back into the routine, and build up my voice.

    One thing I used to do (and am starting up again) is to do scales in the car. I have a CD from a musical improv book, and I just play that three to five times during my drive to work. I find “ah” the most relaxing, but using dipthongs (ay, ee, ai, ou, you) to be strengthening. (-: I’ll definitely try at least one round of “brr, brr, brr, brr, brr” next week!

    BTW, for those who can’t see the video, Richard uses his lips to make a kind of horse whinny — brrrr. It’s the same noise my mom used to make to imitate a motorboat (-:. Hope that helps.

    Keep up the great work! I’d love to see more posts that deal with the physical aspects of teaching.

  7. Jocely Kikuchi

    Hi Richard,
    Now a days, I’m losing my voice too due to stuffed up nose I got due to weather changeable condtion. Today I have the guts to open and listen to your video a” funny advice” the thing, is I am tryig to imitate the way you sounded. I’ll try it again later. Sorry for my delayed reaction.

  8. WinnieW

    This is a great reminder to all teachers that we have to not just keep being genki for our students…but also to take care of ourselves too. We need our voices.

    I also experience losing my voice every couple of weeks (from the weather, being sick, my own genkiness, etc). Will try this out for the new week.

    Thanks for suggesting this Richard. I really love all the helpful games/tips/ideas from GenkiEnglish.

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