Voice Lessons Near Me: 5 Ways to Leave Boring Vocal Warm-Ups Behind (and Get Fierce!)
- Joseph Stanek
- Mar 7
- 7 min read
Updated: May 8
Voice Lessons Near Me or Far Away... It Doesn't Matter: Don't Be Basic!
Let’s get this out of the way: If you’ve been Googling, “voice lessons near me” and ended up learning the same basic boring scale from a coach who’s stuck in 1985, it’s time for a serious upgrade. Your vocal warm-ups should be anything but bland, boring, or basic. Such a buzzkill! They should leave you energized, excited, and ready to conquer whatever stage or studio you step into.
Below are five fierce techniques to shake off those yawn-worthy scales and give your warm-up routine the spicy reboot it deserves.
1. Ditch the “Me-Me-Me” Scale for Sickening Riffs
Old-school scales definitely have their place, but let’s face it: doing the same pattern day in, day out can get stale fast.
Try This: Incorporate contemporary riffs or short segments of your favorite songs. Focus on rhythm variations—break them down into smaller, more digestible pieces; start slow, then speed up.
If you're a regular riff-singer, I know you've got your top 3 favorite riff-singers that you idolize (Christina Aguilera better be on that list, too!). Pull out some of your favorite riffs from their collection—it doesn't matter which songs they come from—and work them into your vocal exercises. You'll thank me later.
2. Get Your Body Involved (Yes, Really!)
Vocal warm-ups aren’t just about your vocal folds. Your entire body plays a role in producing sound. We know this. Now act on it.
Pro Tip: Add arm stretches, gentle neck rolls, and even a bit of dancing to loosen tension. Feeling “fierce” means releasing stiffness from head to toe.
And when I say to "add" them, don't just do them silently; do them while you sing! It always makes me giggle when I ask my singers to get some movement going in their bodies and then the moment they start to sing, they freeze again. Singing IS movement. You've got this, don't be afraid to look silly at first. Then you can make it fierce.
3. Add Character & Storytelling
It doesn't matter what type of music you're singing, or if you think the lyrics relate to you or not. Your job as the singer is to make your audience believe every word you sing comes from the depths of your soul. If you can't draw a direct connection to the lyrics, get creative.
Wanna know my secret when I can't find anything super relatable in the lyrics? Don't judge me. I figure out a way to sing the song to a McDonald's McFlurry (#NotAnAd I promise!). For instance, I'm singing Toni Braxton/Diane Warren's "Un-Break My Heart" in a concert coming up. I'm in a great place with my personal life, although I have BEEN THROUGH the emotional breakups before... but I really don't want to go back to those memories, so I figured why not sing the song as if I am in my car at the McDonald's drive-thru at 11pm and all I want is an Oreo McFlurry, the Oreo McFlurry I've been craving all day long... You know what I'm talking about. When I place the order, I hear the employee's voice come crackling through the speaker: "I'm sorry sir, the ice cream machine is broken." AGAIN!? When the music is queued up and the introduction is playing, here in my imaginary world as I'm taking my first breaths to sing the song, I'm thinking: "Is the ice cream machine really broken, or is my precious Oreo McFlurry just ghosting me because it doesn't want to see me anymore? Who's Oreo McFlurry in there with? Why wasn't I invited? How could my life turn out like this, when all I ever needed in life was an Oreo McFlurry!?" ::START SINGING!::
Don't leave me in all this pain
Don't leave me out in the rain
Come back and bring back my smile
Come and take these tears away
I need your arms to hold me now
The nights are so unkind
Bring back those nights when I held you beside me
Un-break my heart
Say you'll love me again
Undo this hurt you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked out of my life
Un-cry these tears
I cried so many nights
Un-break my heart
My heart
See what I mean? It might be silly to you, reading it here on the blog like this, but I'm telling you: it works.
Give it some context by imagining the character’s mood. Trying a pop ballad? Envision the story behind the lyrics.
Why It Works: Engaging your imagination triggers emotional depth, which helps your voice open up in a more authentic way.
4. Sing in Different Spaces
Switch up your environment—a stairwell, a bathroom with killer acoustics, outside at the park, or a corner of your living room you never hang out in.
Fun Fact: Changing the acoustics challenges your ear and helps you adapt your vocal technique to new environments. You might have to concentrate a bit more depending on the space you choose.
5. Use SOVT (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract) Exercises—Without Being Boring
SOVT exercises (like humming, lip trills, tongue trills, straw phonation...) can transform your tone, but who says you have to stare at a clock while you do them?
Spice It Up: Put on your favorite beat, hum through a straw, and feel the backpressure realign your vocal folds. It’s fierce science, baby!
By the way, if you're looking for a regular way to shake up those vocal warm-ups, try our Interactive Vocal Warm-Up Generator - it's in Phase 1 for now, with some new exciting updates coming VERY soon... stay tuned.
The Tour de Fierce Interactive Tongue Twister Generator
And if you're really looking for something different to spice up your vocal exercises, try your hand at some tongue twisters. Lucky for you, I've just coded the hell out of an interactive tongue twister generator and it's up and running on Tour de Fierce. But before you go getting your tongue twisted...
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of these tongue twisters:
For some reason, everybody wants to fly through tongue twisters as quickly as they can on their first time through them. Maybe it's some sort of, "Challenge accepted!" mentality, but while that's entertaining, you're missing the point if you stumble through it once and then never look at the tongue twister again.
After you get your first crash run through the tongue twister (if you insist!), go back to the beginning and read the tongue twister silently, noting where the tricky spots are going to be when you actually say the words out loud.
Don't fall victim to speaking them with an unnatural cadence. Think of the words and what they mean in context with each other, don't think of it as a tongue twister. Think about where the natural emphases would fall within the sequence of words if it was just like any other boring sentence. Focusing on a natural cadence of speech weakens the challenge of speaking a tongue twister correctly.
Sometimes, before I say it out loud for the first time, I like to quietly go through the words to myself, making sure I move my tongue and lips exactly where they need to be throughout the tongue twister. This sort of "dry run" helps you feel the mmovement in your articulators first, so it's easier to slip right into using them again when you put the words with it for real the next time.
Start slow. Make sure you get every syllable perfect.
Then, work it until you are able to speak the tongue twister perfectly, without tripping on your diction or going too slow. The point of the exercise is to say the words correctly, not fly through them. So don't worry about going super fast. Just make sure you are able to be correctly understood when you say the tongue twister. BAM!
Check it out here: Interactive Tongue Twister Generator
Ready to leave mediocrity behind? There are plenty of other people out there who do mediocrity so well... just leave it to them, ok? We're fierce here. Let's have a private coaching and I'll show you how the magic gets made with fun and exciting vocal exercises.
Also, if you’re looking for in-person sessions, here’s my NYC vocal coaching location.
Final Thoughts
Your warm-ups should excite you, not bore you. If you’re typing “voice lessons near me” into Google, make sure the coach you find—whether online or local—challenges you to break free from the same old, same old. Because guess what? Basic is boring, and we’re not here for that.
Don’t force it. Fierce it.
FAQs: Vocal Coach Near Me, Send Me Some EXCITING Vocal Exercises!
Question: What’s wrong with traditional vocal warm-ups like 'me-me-me'?
Answer: They can feel repetitive, unmusical, and disconnected from real-life singing. Unless customized, traditional warm-ups often ignore the singer’s actual style and goals.
Question: How can I make vocal warm-ups more fun?
Answer: Use song-based riffs, rhythmic variations, movement, improvisation, or tongue twisters. These tools keep your mind and body engaged while strengthening your voice.
Question: Are SOVT exercises better than normal warm-ups?
Answer: SOVT (Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract) exercises like straw phonation or lip trills reduce vocal fatigue and improve resonance. They’re especially effective for recovery and coordination.
Question: Can creative warm-ups still improve technique?
Answer: Absolutely. In fact, they often accelerate technical progress by involving breath, rhythm, emotion, and language—all while keeping the process enjoyable.
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