How to Make your Choir Sound Awesome: the Ultimate Vocal Warm-up Book
by Lucy Hollins and Suzie Vango
Banks Music Publications 2022
£45 from banksmusicpublications.co.uk

Warm-ups are the focus here.  As the authors state, they are an essential part of any rehearsal for singers. They not only protect and nurture vocal health and prepare choirs for success but also provide a fantastic opportunity for learning efficiently in an engaging way.  Fun is always advocated and we are reminded of the important social and mental benefits of group singing: warm-ups can be used to gather, focus, create a safe and welcoming environment, and foster a sense of belonging – all of which can lead to a more adventurous and more enriching musical experience.

The book’s first and main section provides twenty warm-up activities in each of three areas of focus: movement/alignment, breathing/airflow and vocalising.  Presented in a ring binder, with the warm up pages physically divided in three so that warm ups in each area can be selected independently, various combinations of activities can be selected and delivered with the book open as a reference point.  For example, lying open flat, you could choose and combine movement warm-up 5, breathing warm-up 18, and vocalising warm-up 4.  These exercises come with some useful notated piano accompaniments and chord progressions.

The second section of the book provides brain workout activities.  And the third provides arrangements of songs from around the world.  These can be added to warm-ups or used to muster energy mid-rehearsal if required.

This book is suitable for choir leaders of all levels of experience working in a variety of settings.  Things are explained simply and clearly in a jargon-free way, which is helpful, and even for those, like myself, for whom some of the exercises are already be familiar, it is very useful to have the ‘Why do we do this?’ section on the back of each warm-up exercise as a reminder of the reasoning and science which underpins it and an efficient way to explain its value to the singers.  It is also very freeing to be encouraged to select and adapt warm-ups appropriate to the needs of your choir.

If there is anything which could be improved, I would suggest that the ‘Why do we do this?’ information, rather than being on the back of the warm-up, could be placed on the back of the previous page so that the information is visible without needing to turn the page.  But this is a small tweak in a book that is vigorously well thought out and useful.

This book is to be highly recommended.  It is full of positivity and encouragement.  It has given me a sense of the shared effort we all make as choir leaders and it has provided me with new as well as familiar tools, all in one place, to help me to support singers to improve their focus, skills and confidence.  Not all of the warm-ups spring off the page: I will need to spend further time trying some of them out to be sure to lead them confidently with my choirs but that will be time well spent.  The more I get to know this book, the more benefit I will gain from it.  It is certainly a worthwhile investment of time.

Edinburgh based folk-pop singer songwriter Kim Edgar is fuelled by a passion for social justice, folklore and feminism.  She crafts keenly observed details of people’s lives into powerful, understated songs that reach out and touch listeners.  Kim directs the choirs at Edinburgh Jesuit Church and the Falkirk-based Freedom of Mind Community Choir, who sing for good mental wellbeing.
kimedgar.com