Vocal Singing Exercises & Scales

Vocal singing exercises online complete with midi scales to help you practice, plus singers articles and links to sites offering vocal exercises. 

When you have mastered your breathing, the following free singing exercises will help you on the path to improving and understanding your voice.

The key to a good rehearsal is to ensure that you achieve the following before starting:
Abdominal breathing
Good posture
Breath during natural pauses
Keep your chin level
Keep your knees loose
Keep your head up
Keep your shoulders sloping and relaxed
Keep your toes pointed forward with your weight on heels and soles
Keep the front of your neck loose - don't stretch it
Keep abdominal muscles relaxed
Keep your back muscles relaxed
Avoid holding your shoulders lifted and puffed out
Relax and SMILE.
If your having a bad day or feel tense and stressed, this can affect your practices and performance. To help achieve consistancy do a few Relaxation Exercises before your rehearsal. If it all starts going horribly wrong, take a break, relax or do something else and try again later.

Stand with your shoulders relaxed, arms by your side.

Breath in slowly.

Sing one note, holding the note for as long as you can without becoming short of breath.

Do NOT suck in your stomach!

Repeat the exercise with different notes using doh, ray, me, far, so, la, te, doh.

Use different mouth shapes and vowels like "ooh", "ee", "a" and "aah"

Try singing up and down a scale (called an arpeggio).

Sing short notes (known as Staccato) as well as long ones.

Practice along with our free online midi scales!!
Vocal Scales - Click Here
Sing phrases to improve diction: Examples:-
'I really love to sing' (going up the scale)
'Do,re,me,fa,so,la,te,do'
'La, Lo, Le, Lo'
'Ma, Mo, Me, Mo'
'Ta, To, Te, To'
'Hi, He, Ha, Ho, Hu'
'Qua, Quo, Que, Quo'
'Fluffy Floppy Puppy'
'Lolli, lolli, lolli, lolli pop'
'Bring back the boys big brown blue baseball bats'
'Sally saw silvester stacking silver saucers side by side'
(c-e-d-f-e-g-f-a-g-b-a-c--b-d-c up the scale then down the opposite way)
(suggested by Erica Zweig posted to Vocalist Newsgroup.

To feel the difference between raised and normal positioning of the larynx, place your fingers gently on your throat and try to talk as if you were a child or use 'baby talk'.

Record your efforts, notice the notes that do not sound right and concentrate on those until they do! Listen to the difference in your recordings over the next few weeks practice sessions to hear the improvement in your voice.


Singers seeking more advanced exercises, Vocalises, or songs without words, range from basic vocal scales and exercises to classical works of art designed to test intonation and phrasing, control and nuance, visit the section for online vocalise andvocalise books containing singing exercises. 

Accessing Head Voice

Head voice is not just for tenors, IMO. I believe that all singing voices are entitled to this healthy aspect of vocalism, and that it can be learned by almost all who study and practice to learn it, and by many just by playing around. 'Finding' a head voice is most problematical for those who have sung by forcing... by trying to sing high with the same registration as they use for the lower part of the voice. Next after that in difficulty (IMO) is the singer whose singing habits are very light, wispy tones. Over time, these singers have become used to expect that their voices should feel a certain way when they sing, and those expectations (and their associated mental images and physical sensations) are habit. To learn to sing head voice, which is a co-ordinated use of the musculature of the voice, the student must progressively replace their habits (and expectations) with new, practised ones. The expectations (and images) seem to play leapfrog with the muscle coordinations during this time, in something like 6 week cycles, in my experience. The teacher guides the process by (in my approach) moving the student's mental image by asking the student to make sung sounds that are a little different, maybe even experimental. The earlier discussion about lip trills, 'wonky' falsetto-like whoops and hollers are reasonable examples, based on the student's starting point. For example, for the 16-yr-old bass with nothing above middle C, and altogether too much 'muscle' feeling and concept in the tone, the teacher might start with messa di voce (cresc-decresc) patterns, and coax the singer to include softer dynamics into the student capabilities. The very act of trying this, over time, will induce a gentleness of thought which will allow the voice to rebalance a little, dropping some of the weight at the softer dynamics. From there, the student must learn how to move the voice from pitch to pitch without 'selling up' the higher pitches. Its remarkable that, after all the 'performance' weight has been removed, that a given voice will move nicely up, readjusting the balance of registration in a nice gradual fashion. At a certain point in this development, I think the teacher gets the sense, partly by watching, partly by listening, that the singer is ready for a breakthrough to a head voice co-ordination. Its commonly felt that many fine singers have a noticeable sensation transition as their voice moves into head voice on the way up, or when coming out of it. These sensation transitions can be substantial, but as a general rule singers work to 'allow' such a transition to occur without adding unnecessary extra work and tension in the throat, jaw and tongue regions. Under the guidance of a good teacher, the student will learn how these sensations change note to note as the teacher assists them in finding their right 'sound' in that area, and begin to accept the fact that these new sensations, and their accompanying sounds are 'right' for their voice. From an exercise point of view, I think that low tension, well supported 'leaps' across the change region allow the voice to 'go wonky' a little, and spontaneously respond to the pitch change in the student mental concept. With a little, non-judgemental vocal play, the student can 'find' a nicely co-ordinated head voice. I think its best to expect it to occur accidentally, spontaneously, as any 'control' mental images that the student is using, or concerted efforts to 'make' it happen, seem to induce just enough restricting tension to prevent the spontaneous reco-ordination. Others have cited their pet approaches to this. They are all excellent. Once the new sound has been found, it must be smoothed out, made dependable and predictable.... a habit.  I am excited to tell you about some truly superb free online vocal lessons. But first... Can I ask you... Do you know the biggest lie about singing? I’ll give you a clue... What does your vocal teacher always tell you to do? Do you know the answer? If you don't know... you will soon! But first… I want to share with you this tremendous resource... Right now, you can subscribe (for free) to world renowned vocal coach 'Roger Burnley's vocal tips newsletter. When you do this, you will receive many exciting and useful tips that you can apply to your singing. Not only can you apply them, but you can IMPROVE with them. Roger Burnley is a teacher well known for the lightning results that he gets with his students. Time after time, singers come to him, frustrated and distressed, thinking they will never develop a truly great voice. But one by one, Roger takes them by the hand and changes their voice, in minutes... and the changes are permanent... One of the most important things in singing, is learning how to navigate your bridges. This means that, as you move up your range, you change gears (zip up your vocal chords) so you can continue to sing higher. This 'changing gears' will allow you to use all areas of your voice. As well, you will experience your full range (which in most cases, is more than three octaves) Can you sing over three octaves, easily, without changing your tone quality? If you can't, I suggest you check out this amazing free resource and receive many valuable free online vocal lessons, including 'the biggest lie about singing'. IMPORTANT To sign up for this amazing free resource, look to the right of the screen when you get to the site and follow the instructions on how to receive your free online vocal lessons. Included is a video lesson where you will see Roger add an octave to a singers voice, right in front of a live audience! Watch this video, and you can imitate, and see the results for yourself. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy singing actually is, when you have the right exercises to practice. Learn correct technique, and your singing will flow with as much effort as when you talk. It's only when you practice incorrect technique when singing becomes hard. Your voice becomes tense, and it just doesn't sound like you want it to. So have you thought of the No. 1 lie in singing yet? If this is still bothering you, head over to Roger's site , and sign up for his free newsletter. You will be amazed at the answer.  A Dozen Voice Training Exercises And some other bits of advice Your vocal cords are muscles, and like any muscles they can become tired and damaged. The following exercises have been devised and compiled by my friend and singing teacher, Andrea, and typed up by me with various enhancements and addition of theory. The first two exercises are to loosen off the muscles in the next, around the vocal cords. 1. Starting with your tongue on the RHS of your mouth, make a figure of 8, so that your tongue goes across your top teeth, to the middle, then crosses to the bottom teeth, along to the LHS of your mouth, then, up, and across the top. Keep your mouth closed for this. 2. Put the tip of your tongue behind your bottom set of front teeth. Let your jaw drop and gently push out your tongue. Repeat a few times. The following exercises are mainly for exploring your natural range, and should be tried at different pitches, preferable gently undulating pitches: 3. Ga-ga! - Make baby noises up and down randomly within your natural voice range. Try with all the vowel sounds, e.g. ga-ga, ge-ge, gi-gi, go-go, goo-goo 4. Bzzzzzz! - Make buzzing noises like a bee. The idea here is to find resonances in your mouth and sinuses. Try changing the shape of your mouth. 5. Innnnnnnng-uh!. This is mainly to find natural resonances in your sinuses. Try words like: Ding, Ping, Zing, Ting. Hold the 'i' sound so that it makes your sinuses tickle. 6. Mmmmmm! - Close your lips, but pull your lips back into your mouth over your teeth. Make a humming noise, and allow your lips to relax, so they are just closed. Change the pitch of your voice until your lips start to tickle. Hold this note for a while and then find other notes / frequencies where this happens. 7. Hah! - Imagine you are digging a hole (you have to do the actions too!): as you dig into the ground, exhale with a "HUH!" sound. Lift the soil, and as you chuck it over your shoulder, make a "HAH!" noise. Repeat until it gets too silly. You can also practise this by pretending to do Kung-Fu moves - punches and kicks and the likes. 8. Oooooh! - Slidey continuous journey up and down your natural range - Okay, you have to move your arms for this one: high notes - arms up in the air, low notes, bend your knees and hang your arms like a monkey. 9. Me - me - me... etc., up and down your natural range, for ages, for fun..., then all of the following: mah, mi, may, my, moo, mu. You can mix them up too. 10. Yah! or Yar! - for this one, just let your jaw drop loosely to a loose hanging - don't force it open, do it for a while - 20 times or so. 11. Wow! - Start as low as you like, and go up to as high as you like within your natural range, then back down again. Wwwww-aaaaaaaa-oooooo-wwwww. You gotta open your mouth as wide as it needs. 12. La-la-la - this is the classic, and most heard of the exercises. Try using different scales, ascending through natural major / minor scales, and also chromatic and triadic (chord) scales, or just mess around with arbitrary notes or pitches. Try this with ah-ah-ah-ah..., and then all the other vowel sounds, instead. It's more difficult, apparently (thanks Claire). Natural range - this is from the bottom note of your vocal range to the highest note you can reach before your voice breaks and goes into "falsetto". You can practise most of these in a falsetto too, but be warned it can sound silly. It's best to learn just not to care about how silly it sounds. Other things to do... General Advice If you want to keep your throat clear of phlegm - avoid milk and dairy products. Making a drink of half a lemon squeezed into a pint of water can be used to clear phlegm. Don't eat late at night - this can cause acid reflux, which is when the stomach acid comes back up the throat and damages the vocal cords. Avoid smoking. Media Students Read sections of books, newspapers and magazines out loud. Try recording it with a tape recorder (remember those?), a mini-disk, mp3 stick recorder, on your computer. Don't worry if it only has a cheap microphone. Analyse what you have recorded - be careful not to go "this is rubbish, I have a rubbish voice, I hate it... etc.." The important thing to think is "How can I improve my voice?" (or reading, or singing, or whatever...) Listen to other voice artists. Ask the question: What makes them good? Also ask this of yourself: Could you improve the definition of the words? Could you improve your breathing technique? Would it help if you moved your mouth or lips more? Would it sound better if you were more relaxed? Try getting involved in a local, college or hospital radio station. It'll be voluntary, but the experience will be invaluable. Vocalists / Singers Relax. Try exercises 1 and 2 if you feel your voices is tense. You can also try other relaxation or yogic exercises to relax you before singing. What about having a bath? Sing along with anything. It's probably best to start with stuff you like. As with, spoken word, try recording it with a tape recorder, a mini-disk, mp3 stick recorder, onto your computer, etc. You can get karaoke backing disks, or download midi or mp3 karaoke files off the internet. Sing everywhere, as quiet, or as loud as you like. To hell with whoever my be listening. Analyse what you have recorded - be careful not to go "this is rubbish, I have a rubbish voice, I hate it... etc.." The important thing to think is "How can I improve my voice?". Watch for lead-ins to notes, try to keep the notes you want to deliver as precise as you can - don't forget the gaps are as important as the notes. Try singing through a PA / amplified system, and get used to your own voice. Remember: the microphone is your best friend, learn to use and love it. You can use it to amplify even the quietest, most subtle sounds that you would just not hear in most performance situations without a mic. Listen to other voice artists. Ask the questions: What makes them good? What do I like about their voice / style? Do they talk like that in normal day to day life? Also ask this of yourself: Could you improve the definition of the words? Could you improve your breathing technique? Would it help if you moved your mouth or lips more? Would it sound better if you were more relaxed? When recording, try using as many voices, characters, pitches, octaves, harmonies, or whatever. If you are using computer based recording, go nuts, record everything. What is there to lose other than time? Use as many voice resonances as you like and try mixing / blending them together. You can make your voice sound sweet, rough, distorted, angry, childish, silly or whatever. Try getting as many emotions or imitations into your practise, but be careful not to push your voice too hard - you may damage your vocal chords. Try exercises 1&2 above if your voice gets tired, and stop if it begins to hurt. Drink plenty of water. Try editing out parts of your recording - remember what I said about gaps (or rests). Edit out waste noises, use fades to clean up the recording, and apply this to your singing style. It saves time in a studio in the long run if your vocals are right from the off, so learn what sounds good in the recording. Learning to sing well can be a long process. Take your time to learn your own voice and what you can do with it. Over time your voice will develop to be more adaptable. Choose songs that are easy for you to sing at first, then gradually bring in more challenging songs as you get better. Remember: Bob Dylan is a world famous singer. As is Dave Vanian from the Damned, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Rotten, and Nick Cave. And Jennifer Lopez (Oh no she dit'n!). In fact, most manufactured bands... especially the ones by soap stars are not reknowned for their amazing nutural vocal talent. You have nothing to worry about. A lot of it is about having something to sing about, and having the guts to go out and do it. Many may mock, but are they prepared to go out and do the same? Most of all - enjoy it. Love what you are doing because you want to be doing it. Have fun, or what's it all for? inging Exercises & Scales Stand with your shoulders relaxed, arms by your side. Breath in slowly. Start with the Scales singing Ooh, Eee, Aa, Aah to each scale. Sing one note, holding the note for as long as you can without becoming short of breath. Do NOT suck in your stomach! Repeat the exercise with different notes using doh, ray, me, far, so, la, te, doh. Use different mouth shapes like "ooh", "ee", "a" and "aah" - Practice to OEAAH. Try singing up and down a scale (called an arpeggio).  Practice to each of the scales listed below. Sing short notes (known as Staccato) as well as long ones - Practice to Staccato. Record your efforts, notice the notes that do not sound right and concentrate on those until they do! Listen to the difference in your recordings over the next few weeks practice sessions to hear the improvement in your voice. We have provided a full list of scales A to G including sharps/flats.  The following is a list of midi files for you to practice online. Each of the midi scales has 3 Octaves (apologies to those who require higher or lower than this) pick the most comfortable or you can practice to all three if your range reaches to that extent.  DO NOT OVERSTRETCH YOUR VOICE - if you cannot reach a note do not attempt to push your voice or you may damage your vocal chords. Practice each scale using one shape at a time i.e., Ooh - then repeat with Ee, Aa, Aah. A Scale - 3 Octaves of the A scale. A#/Bb Scale - 3 Octaves. B Scale - 3 Octaves of the B scale. C Scale - 3 Octaves of the C scale. C#/Db Scale - 3 Octaves. D Scale - 3 Octaves of the D scale. D#/Eb Scale - 3 Octaves. E Scale - 3 Octaves. F Scale - 3 Octaves. F#/Gb Scale - 3 Octaves. G Scale - 3 Octaves. Ohh, Ee, Aa, Aah - 1 Octave split into 2 bars of each note including sharps/flats - sing the whole section with all the shapes starting with Ooh for 2 beats, then Ee, Aa, Aah for 2 beats each which will complete the 2 bar section, continue through the whole exercise. Staccato - 1 Octave split into 2 bars of each note including sharps/flats - begin with one shape i.e., Aah and sing all the way through then repeat with each shape. Practice all of the above with various mouth shapes & sounds and take note of how your voice sounds with each, the position of your tongue and the feeling it creates in your body.  Watch yourself in a mirror and ensure that you remain relaxed whilst you practice - do not tense your neck, shoulder or throat muscles during these exercises. Practise these every day if possible - Once a week is the minimum you need to exercise your vocal scales but we recommend you use a daily routine which includes breathing exercises and relaxation - this can be achieved in an hour so theres no excuse! We hope you find this useful - please let us know via the Frequently Asked Questions, or Contact Form if you encounter problems or have any queries.   Enjoy!! Please Note - These Midi files are NOT available for download at this time Return to Exercises Section or Click Here - If you have reached this page via a search engine.