For a bit of inspiration for vocal warm-ups or songwriting, why not turn to quotes or proverbs? The variety available is endless and can fit almost any topic or need. Quotes can be short, long, inspirational, powerful, humorous, motivating, and more. They can instantly connect you to a famous person, author, movie, book, or culture. With some of my vocal students, I have them select a quote centered around something they love or are passionate about. We then work to create a short vocal experience and incorporate the quote into our singing. In one of my performing groups, I wanted to have a fun warm-up/song that connected our focus of summer songs. I looked up an inspirational quote in Hawaiian and came across this proverb:
I then grabbed my ukulele and composed a simple song featuring some simple call and response sections. After my group was comfortable singing it, we started adding new elements each week like solos, backup singer parts, etc. One week we changed the call and response pattern, and students improvised a different melody to fit within the chord structure.
Wade is a board-certified music therapist and one of the directors at Spectrum Creative Arts. He completed additional training programs in Orff-Schulwerk, Neurologic Music Therapy, and Performance Wellness. As a songwriter and creative writer, Wade has authored several music resource books for music therapy and music education.