Don't Be a Dumbbell

DON’T BE A DUMBBELL

A common warm-up exercise is singing a major scale on solfege syllables: DO RE MI FA SOL LA TI DO. A common problem with singers is maintaining openness while singing. This problem manifests itself regularly in my choirs during the major scale. Each vowel has its own space, and the smaller the vowel, the more closed the space seems to be. 

I realized the major scale is a fantastic way to practice openness because it starts and ends on a very round, open vowel - OH. This is why I say “Don’t be a dumbbell.” Dumbbells are designed to have big, round weights on each end (DO) and in the middle is a thinner handle for your hand to grab. If the singer succumbs to using speaking vowels, then RE is smaller than DO, MI is very small, FA opens up from there, SOL is big again, LA moves back down, and TI gets very small. WHAT IF the singer started with a fantastic, open OH vowel for DO, and then KEPT THAT SPACE for all the other syllables? DON’T BE A DUMBBELL!

Choir Bites Interactive Slides can enhance online/hybrid lesson plans or be used as supplemental assignments. Your singers’ awareness will rise as they engage with these simple, “sticky” concepts! Click here to learn more! 

Of course we know that not every vowel can be the same size. By the nature of production, the EE vowel requires lifting the jaw slightly and arching the tongue. However, as a mental exercise it works well to challenge oneself to keep the larger space of OH as much as possible throughout the scale. Start with a big round space and keep it. When the scale ends, the singer is thus not “opening up” for the final DO, but is already in position. This also helps reinforce the idea of singing a phrase rather than a series of individual notes. DON’T BE A DUMBBELL!

An added benefit is having one more “shorthand” phrase you can use with your singers to make them chuckle while reminding them to sing as openly as possible all the time. DON’T BE A DUMBBELL!