I once asked a great sounding woman singer who does busking in NYC: How do you manage to have your voice sounding fresh and clear after a daily performance of about 4 hours? And she told me that she does warm-ups before singing and cold-downs after every busking performance.
I’ve hear and practice some warm-ups but i’ve never heard of cold-downs, so it would be great if you can explain a little bit more in details how this cold-downs work and if exist, can you give me some effective exercises to use?
-Lalo
Hey Lalo, I’ve actually never done cool downs for vocals… well, at least consciously. If I did, it’d be just a couple of scales designed to release the voice.
Doing anything that encourages open space and a steady flow of air would probably be ideal for cool downs. This wouldn’t be an aggressive warm up as much as it would be a release and return to normal speaking. All this being said, if you’re zonked after singing a bunch, you don’t want to do too much for a cool down, especially if your throat is dry. In that scenario, I’d suggest more hydration and vocal rest than anything.
I hope this helps.
Vocal Coach Ken Taylor