Album Notes

Beginning to more experienced young singers can warm up and learn good singing technique as they sing thirteen classic pop songs on this 2-CD set. Susan Anders’ No Scales, Just Songs Vocal Workouts have been used by thousands of singers worldwide. Her method has been tailored here for younger voices, with kid-friendly songs and easy singing instruction. This fun warmup can be is used in the home, car, or classroom, and is suitable for girls or boys ages 8-13.

The Just Songs Vocal Warmup for Kids method uses warm up sounds combined with a set of kid-friendly classic pop songs. The songs gradually increase in range and difficulty to warm up the voice gently and easily. Instructional segments precede each song. The warmup can be sung with the warm up sounds or with the lyrics.

The Just Songs Vocal Warmup for Kids includes:

• Two CDs of instructional narration and music tracks.
• Fully produced music tracks with and without guide vocals.
• Thirteen kid-friendly classic pop songs; a ten song warmup, plus three additional work songs.

Three versions of the warmup are included:

Warmup 1 includes all the songs, sung with vocal warm up sounds. Each song is preceded by an instructional track including some “Repeat after me” sections to help the singer learn voice technique essentials like correct breathing, posture, resonance, range expansion, and pitch accuracy.

Warmup 2 includes all the songs, sung with the lyric. Each song is preceded by a brief instructional introduction.

Warmup 3 includes all the music tracks for the songs without vocals. Each song is preceded by a brief introduction. Kids can graduate to this warmup after working with the first two warmups. Singing teachers can also use these tracks as part of their lesson plan.

Additional Work Songs: For older or more advanced singers, three more challenging songs are included at the end of each warmup. Singers who want to sing in a bigger range and polish their vocal delivery can use these songs once they have warmed up with the first ten songs. The three songs are Take Me Home Country Roads, Hey Jude and Over the Rainbow.

Songs:

Lean On Me
One Love
The Name Game
Rockin’ Robin
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Yellow Submarine
I Ain’t Got No Home
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Wade in the Water
Joy to the World
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Hey Jude
Over the Rainbow

Please note that some of the songs are shorter than the original versions.

Range:
B below middle C to C an octave higher. The additional work songs go to the Eb above that. Adult sopranos and baritones can also use this method as a warm up. Baritones will sing an octave lower than the guide vocals.

A Note from Susan:
“I’ve been contacted by many children’s choir directors and children’s singing teachers who are using my No Scales, Just Songs Vocal Workouts successfully with their kids. Most kids would much rather sing a song than a scale, so the song-based methods are a great way to introduce good vocal technique to younger singers. But when I designed the workouts I was thinking of adult singers and post-puberty vocal cords. Also, it concerned me that the lyrics of most of the workout songs cover grown up themes.
So I developed this vocal warm up specifically with kids in mind. First, I wanted it to be fun, so I tested these songs on a lot of kids to make sure they liked them. I wanted these to be kid-friendly songs and lyrics, drawing from pop songs of the last forty years. Most importantly, a child’s vocal cords are still growing, so I wanted this method to be gentle. This is a vocal warm up, not a workout. The goal here is not just to help young singers warm up vocally, but also to instill some good vocal habits at an early age in a way that’s easy and fun.”

Bio:
Susan Anders has been coaching singers for over twenty-five years. She has worked with thousands of singers, including Hillary Scott (Lady Antebellum), Joey Heatherton, Josh Gracin, and Rose MacGowan. Her methods include Harmony Singing By Ear, The No Scales, Just Songs Vocal Workout, Singing Live, and Singing With Style. Susan is also a singer-songwriter (“A soulful, commanding voice”--the New Yorker). Her most recent release is Swimmer. Susan was born and raised in Berkeley, California and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee.