It is amazing the way vocal exercises actually work!!!
I've been trying to do my full set of warm-ups and exercises every day (or at least as many of them as I can fit in) for a couple of weeks now, and. Man. It really makes a difference. Who'd'a thunk it?
I do vocal fry, lip buzzes, interval pitch practice, swoops up and down over my "break", singing with my tongue stuck out, singing on a "vvvv" sound, using physical cues to assist me, etc.
And then I try singing a couple of classical pieces that I typically use for practice – "O del mio dolce ardor" by Gluck and a bunch of Mozart arias that I'm particularly fond of – followed up by some non-classical songs (either my own or cover songs).
I can feel and hear the increased control over my voice, the expansion in my range, the way it's getting easier to move between chest voice and head voice without the dramatic messy break I always used to have there...
...and most importantly, my voice feels HEALTHIER. I used to have to cough and clear my throat a whole bunch while singing, and absolutely chug water in order to stay hydrated. Now that I'm learning to use less breath when singing, my throat doesn't dry out so fast, and even after a solid four hours of singing like today*, admittedly my throat is a teensy bit sore but my voice still sounds really good!
I have rarely experienced any kind of physical exercise actually working for me in my whole life, so I am totally high on this :D :D :D
(*I did not intend to sing for that long. I lost track of time)
