Vocal warm-up practices and perceptions in vocalists: a pilot survey.

OBJECTIVES: Investigated in a pilot study the type, duration, and frequency of vocal warm-up regimens in the singing community using a survey.

METHODS: One hundred seventeen participants completed an online survey. Participants included voice students from undergraduate, masters, and doctoral music programs and professional singers.

RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of participants reported always using vocal warm-up before singing. Twenty-two percent of the participants used vocal cool down. The most preferred warm-up duration was of 5-10 minutes in duration. Despite using vocal warm-up, 26% of the participants reported experiencing voice problems. Females tended to use vocal warm-up more frequently than males. Females also tended to use longer warm-up sessions than males. Education of the participants did not appear to have any noticeable effect on the vocal warm-up practices. The most commonly used singing warm-up exercises were ascending/descending five-note scales, ascending/descending octave scales, legato arpeggios, and glissandi.