WARM UP
A handbook on choir warm-ups, voice training and singing together
“... I think you should know that "Warming Up" is a really, really delicious, well-crafted and useful book! I will use it for high school choir and music lessons and I will order another copy for my colleague immediately :-)"
Christian, DK
ARE YOU WARM ENOUGH?
Warm-up exercises are games and exercises that warm up the body, voice, heart and brain and bring people of all ages closer to each other through song, music and movement. In this book, we have collected exercises and thoughts on how the warm-up can be both a greenhouse for community and the joy of singing and a playful learning space for musical and singing development.
TAILORING
This book is aimed at anyone interested in singing and choir, regardless of age and level. The warm-up exercises in this book should be seen as basic recipes, and just like good and well-functioning food recipes, it is necessary that they be adapted to the size, age, skills and tastes of the target group. It is the chef who must ensure that everyone is sufficiently challenged, wants to eat with another time and is full, so that everyone at the table can feel happy, healthy and strong. The challenge is to adapt the exercises so that everyone comes along. You certainly have your own ideas on how these exercises can be put together, changed and adapted, and that's good, because that way the choir rehearsals, singing lessons and music lessons become more dynamic, personal and interesting.
THE GOOD WARM-UP
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creates and supports a healthy and inspiring community that gives us the desire to express ourselves musically and space to be who we are, in mutual respect for each other.
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creates common ground, presence and focus. awakens our body and voice. reminds us of what we already master vocally and musically.
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creates space for contemplation, creativity, play and self-forgetfulness. creates a safe learning space where we are inspired and invited to develop new musical and singing skills one step at a time. anticipates challenges and serves as a common reference for the singers in the further rehearsal process.
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creates infectious energy, synergy and singing joy.
THE 5 STEPS
The good warm-up can have many different forms and structures, but always helps to give the singers a good starting point for the social and musical space and helps to create psychological security and focus. We have good experience in dividing our heating into five stages. Therefore, the warm-up book is divided into five sections, each marked with a color, so that it is easy to navigate around the book.
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BREAKING THE ICE
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BODY, BREATHING AND SUPPORT
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AWAKENING AND TRAINING THE VOICE
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SYN(G)ERGY - SING + SYNERGY + ENERGY
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FOCUS
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​Rhythm Focus
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Pitch Focus
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The sound in focus
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Impression and expression in focus
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Performance focus
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WARM UP THE BOOK
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With Warm up the book you can strengthen the singing and musical skills.
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You can help to raise and inspire the joy of singing in yourself and in your choir singers.
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You can help strengthen and develop the community in your group.
WHO ARE WE?
Kristoffer Fynbo Thorning
Kristoffer Fynbo Thorning is a professional singer, high school teacher and technology enthusiast. He is trained as a soloist in vocal management from the Jutland Conservatory of Music, specializing in electronic voices, and works daily at Brandbjerg College. Kristoffer is known in the international choral and vocal music scene for his pioneering approach to ecapella (electronic a cappella music), his latest technological toys on stage and his songwriting in the electronic vocal group Postyr. He has more than 15 years of experience teaching choirs and vocal groups with singers at both amateur and professional level, as well as with performance and icebreakers. Kristoffer loves to get involved in new musical projects and works, among other things, in the intersection between electronic music and classical choral singing, sound and video installations and larger concert productions involving many vocal artists from different traditions and cultures. Kristoffer is a board member of the Aarhus Vocal Festival and a keen lecturer on song and community. The focal point in Kristoffer's approach to warming up is empathy, contemplation and humour. www.stoffert.dk
Tine Fris-Ronsfeld
Tine Fris-Ronsfeld is a professional singer, composer, arranger and choir director. She has a degree from the Jutland Conservatory of Music with a specialization in rhythmic singing and a trained solo conductor in rhythmic choral conducting with a specialization in timbre and harmony. Tine is co-conductor of Vocal Line, conductor of Lyt and singer in Postyr. In the international choral and vocal music community, she is known as a passionate singer, vocal coach and conductor and for her innovative choral arrangements. She writes for leading Danish choirs such as Vocal Line, Syng Selected and Lyt and is known for her catchy compositions for Postyr. Tine has more than 20 years of experience teaching soloists, choirs and vocal groups at all levels in Denmark, Europe, the USA and Asia. Tine has published the handbooks on icebreakers and warming up, a large number of albums and choral sheet music. Tine is also frontwoman for the Aarhus Vocal Festival, a member of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of Americas Advisory Board and the European Choral Associations think tank. Joy of singing, trust and learning are key words in Tines approach to warm-up. www.tinefris-ronsfeld.com
Sin(g)ergy Publishing
In 2014, the two of us, Tine and Kristoffer, started the micro-publisher Postyr Experience, which has now changed its name to Singergy Publishing I/S. It started with a long conversation over a cup of coffee in a café in Aarhus, about how nice it would be to have a collection of exercises for our own practice as teachers and workshop holders. Since then, the publisher has produced more than 10 different publications in 4 different languages. In parallel with our other work and activities, we publish and manage the various book publications ourselves. They all have a clear focus on communication, accessibility and community and deal in one way or another with learning and flow through music, song and movement. The books are aimed at anyone who teaches music and anyone who works with groups. It can be, for example, music teachers, singing teachers and choir directors and others who work in the creative and creative professions such as dancers and actors. But it can also be a wider group of primary and secondary school teachers who need brain-breaks and a good atmosphere in their classrooms and trainers in sports, social workers and integration workers who need to create a strong community based on security, trust and curiosity. It can also be managers and team builders who focus on creating workplaces where there is team spirit, psychological security and job satisfaction in everyday life and in connection with change processes and the development of new ideas and concepts. 'Warm up' is published by Singergy Publisning and supported by the Korsangernes Fællesråd, Brandbjerg Højskole and the Statens Kunstfond, and the publisher collaborates on other publications with the French choir organization Cepravoi and the Irish choir organization Sing Ireland.