Lip trill, tongue trill, humming,
or phonation into narrow tubes
(all partial occlusions of vocal
tract) on glides, scales, or
arpeggios

• Gets respiratory muscles into full action rapidly
• Minimizes upward force on vocal folds because of positive oral pressure
• Spreads the vocal folds to vibrate their edges only
• Lowers phonation threshold pressure by providing an inertive acoustic load

Two-octave pitch glides, up
and down, high vowels /i/ or /u/

• Low chest to high pure falsetto
• mixed voice
• Gives maximal stretch to vocal folds (first ligament, then muscle)
• Maximum dichotomy between TA and CT muscles; then unity between them
• Avoids the difficult passaggi
• Gets Fo above F1 for varying acoustic loads

Forward tongue roll and
extension, vowel sequence
/a/-/i/, scales

• Creates independence between the phonatory and articulatory structures
• Loosens tongue and jaw
• Helps keep vertical larynx position stable during articulation

Messa di voce, proceeding
from a partially occluded tract,
to high vowels, to low vowels

• Engages the layers of vocal fold tissue gradually in vibration, medial to lateral
• Help singer match tension in muscle to tension in ligament
• Tests symmetry of crescendo versus decrescendo control under changing respiratory conditions
• Makes all intrinsic muscles of the larynx work in coordination with changing lung pressure

Staccato on arpeggios

• Elicits clean and rapid voice onset, establishing a dominant mode of vibration
• Trains adductor/abductor muscles simultaneously with tensor muscles during pitch change