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AKA Stemple Exercises
In the early 90s a team of researchers Joseph C. Stemple, Linda Lee, Beth D’Amico, and Betsy Pickup conducted research to determine the efficacy of a series of exercises that they called “vocal function exercises”. These exercises were designed to strengthen and balance the laryngeal musculature and to balance the airflow. These four exercises are easy, widely accessible, and take a limited amount of time.
This series of exercises was shown to have pronounced benefits for healthy singers increasing phonation volume, increasing low and high pitch ranges, increased phonation time, and decreasing mean airflow rates. Or put more simply, singers were able to sing higher, lower, longer, and louder while using less air.
Stemple, J.C., Lee, L., D’Amico, B., Pickup, B., 1994. Efficacy of vocal function exercises as a method of improving voice production. Journal of Voice 8, 271–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-1997(05)80299-1
Frequency: Twice Daily, Every Day
Duration: A minimum of one month, but can be used once daily to maintain
Session Length: About 15–20 minutes for all 4 exercises
Dynamics: All exercises should be completed as softly as possible with a stable consistent sound.
1. Sustained Comfortable Phonation
-Take a Maximal Inhalation
-Sustain ‘eeee’ /i/ as long as possible on a comfortable pitch
-Repeat a Second Time
2. Low to High Glide
-Inhale
-Glide from your lowest note to the highest note (physiological not artistic, it’s not about sounding good)
-Repeat a Second TimeA note: Stemple recommended ‘Oh’ /o/ as the vowel for this exercise, others recommend lip trills, tongue trills, or other sounds of your choice.
3. High to Low Glide
-Inhale
-Glide from your highest to lowest note
-Repeat a Second TimeA note: like exercise #2 Stemple recommended /o/, additionally your highest note should be your highest physiological note, not the highest note you can sing beautifully.
4. Sustained Pentascale
-Maximally inhale
-Make tight “oh” /o/ lips, protruding a little more than normal. You should hear/feel a sympathetic buzz on the lips.
-Sustain the note for as long as possible.
-Do each of the five notes twice.
Soprano: C4 (Middle C), D4, E4, F4, G4
Mezzo/Alto: B3, C4 (Middle C), D4, E4, F4
Tenor: E3, F#3, G#3, A3, B3
Baritone/Bass: C3, D3, E3, F3, G3
A note: there is no reason to work your way to higher frequencies, instead focus on extending the duration of your phonation for maximum benefit.
Google Sheet for Sopranos, Mezzos/Altos, Tenors, Baritones/Basses. You can make a copy and use this sheet to track your completions and durations.
