Warm-ups · alto · for choir
Choir warm-up for altos (G3–D5)
Long tones, chord tones and falling lines in the alto section's comfortable range: ten minutes before rehearsal. Total: 9 min. Press Play to hear each exercise in this key, then sing it back.
Press Play on any exercise below.
| Exercise | Keys | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lip-trill siren on “brr” · warm-up | 5 keys, A3 to F♯4 | 1 min | |
| Hum and slide on “mm” · warm-up | 5 keys, A3 to D♯4 | 1 min | |
| Long tone, held steady on “oo” · main | 15 keys, A3 to B4 | 3 min | |
| Chord tones, held on “noo” · main | 9 keys, A3 to G♯4 | 3 min | |
| Cool-down slide on “oo” · cool-down | 5 keys, C♯4 to G♯4 | 1 min |
Why these, in this order
- Lip-trill siren. Loosens the voice before anything is scored.
- Hum and slide. Gentle onset, no pushing.
- Long tone, held steady. Holding one note still is the base of a clean choir sound.
- Chord tones, held. Root, third and fifth: the notes a section tunes to.
- Cool-down slide. Ends low and easy.
Is this my range?
This page uses the comfortable middle of a typical alto range, G3 to D5. Your own range might be a few notes wider or narrower. The free voice check measures it in about three minutes and keys every exercise to you, then scores each note you sing in cents.
Other voices: basses, baritones, tenors, mezzo-sopranos, sopranos. Stop if anything hurts; this is practice, not medical advice.