So by request, I am going to post a vocalise every week. Some will be hard, and some will be easy, but I hope this will provide an accessible source of information on those funny exercises that we singers do. I also hope that it will force me to make some new ones because I tend to use the same few over and over again.
So this is the “major scale plus 9th” vocalise. I learned this from Prof. Charles Roe at the University of Arizona, though it is very common for singers and instrumentalists.
Difficulty: Moderate
I practice this vocalise about 20 times a day so it makes sense for me to post this one first. The challenges include:
- Maintaining your pitch center while moving quickly.
- Modifying vowels quickly and precisely.
- Navigating passaggi. Don’t over weight your chest voice because that will make your shifts more difficult.
- Keeping your breath steady. I tend to breathe after [a], but if you are working on breath control you can breathe after [u].
As you can see the export cut this off half-way. Be sure to change keys regularly. Also, the chords underneath are a I V7 pattern. Pretty easy, and any spelling is allowed. Enjoy!
Major scale plus 9th
Excellent! Thank you.