Best Vocal Exercise Ever – The Lip Trill/The Bubble

One of the most useful vocal exercises in singing is the lip trill, which i like to call ‘The Bubble’.  If you’ve ever had a singing lesson i am sure you’re singing teacher would have shown you this. When you come for a voice lesson at the artist studio in Surry Hills, you will DEFINITLEY be doing a lot of these.

The idea of the bubble is to blow air gently through your pursed lips letting out a sound on any given pitch. You can do the bubble on any scale, on any note ascending from low to high or descending high to low or even  through an entire song (‘Happy Birthday’ for example). Below is an example of how to to the bubble and how to apply it to a 5 tone scale.

So why do we do this strange looking and sounding exercise? Scientifically speaking it is a semi occluded vocal tract exercise. In other words, you sing while making a partial stop or hindrance in the vocal tract, this in turn affects the way the vocal fold vibrate. It creates a back pressure and allows them vibrate effortlessly, enhances the vibrations, and thins the edges of each vocal cord this is extremely beneficial for warming up the voice when it is experiencing fatigue .

How does this help singing?

Well naturally, it relaxes the larynx and gets the body ready for singing. By calling for and even flow of air, relaxed jaw, soft and relaxed lips and controlled air pressure it puts everything in the right and ready spot it needs to be in to sing. Most importantly it should naturally decrease all throat tension, which reduces the risk of injury and allows the voice to perform at its best.

The idea is to keep a steady flow of air and control the volume, DO NOT expel too much air or push so that you get louder. That is not the purpose of this exercise. The bubble will allow you to glide effortlessly through your entire range without any disconnect in your register. in other words, it is easy for you to vibrate the cords and vocalise through your whole range.

If you are unable to let your lips vibrate freely, place one finger from each hand on each side of your face where the dimples would normally be, and slightly apply pressure. This should release tension from your lips and allow the diaphragm  to push the air past your vocal cords and get those lips flowing freely.

This exercise will be in your voice tool kit for life…… You can thank us later 😉

Christian