Effects of Warm-up Focused on the Mind-Body on Choral Performance

In choral performance, a wide variety of musical expression is required to deliver the worldview of the work to the audience. Singers need to regulate their mind-body to be in the optimal state, which includes relaxed concentration and flexible kinesthetic controllability in sensation, expression, and vocalization, for the chorus. Therefore, a choral warm-up focused on the mind-body could be crucial for various musical expressions. However, what kind of warm-up helps the singer achieve the optimal condition for the chorus remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of a warm-up method focusing on breathing, physical movement, imagery, and the combination of those factors on singing performance.

Twenty-five choral singers were randomly assigned to five groups, and then singers for each group online conducted one of five warm-up conditions (breathing / stretching / imagery work / all works / control) and performed singing tasks to evaluate singing performance, including sensation, expression, and vocalization, both subjectively and objectively. Changes in mood were also measured using the second edition of the Profile of Mood States.

The results showed that the warm-up with imagery work or all works could objectively and subjectively enhance singing performance. By contrast, the warm-up with breathing or stretching did not significantly improve performance, but did enhance subjective evaluations in general. In addition, no significant correlations were found between the objective performance evaluations and changes in individual mood.

These results suggest that a warm-up focusing on mind-body interventions, especially imagery work, may enhance choral performance, thereby providing new insight for the establishment of more effective choral warm-up methods.