SAVING YOUR VOICE. THINGS YOU'VE PROBABLY NOT THOUGHT ABOUT PT.1
Like many of us, we tend to think that singing is just well, opening your mouth and letting sound come out. As funny as that seems and as easy as I wish that was, this is not true in the slightest. Over and over, and on many occasions, students who start working with me almost instantly find out that singing requires a lot more energy, skill and training. It's not just physical, it's emotional, phycological, mental, mathematical, and some may say, even spiritual. You're really using the whole body when you're singing.
Like athletes, we're building certain muscles, working on increasing lung capacity for better breathing, strengthening our diaphragms for better belting, expanding our vocal range to sing higher and lower notes, memorizing sounds, pitches and tones, along with developing clarity of the voice while learning proper usage of vowels (ear training). Learning Tempo and rhythmic formulas. We're zoning in on our psyche and preparing ourselves for performance, even if performance means in front of our friends, family or just singing one super fun night at karaoke.
We're ALL conquering fears that we ALL have and after every lesson, after every performance, I believe we break those fears down! I see this in all my students and I can proudly say that I witness something truly amazing, each and everytime.
So you see, we need to recognize that singing is way more work than we realize and the more and more we dedicate ourselves to refining this art and craft, the more rewarding it is for our whole singing self. If you have a passion and drive for singing and getting out on that stage, then go for it! You CAN learn to sing and be good at it!
Ok, I want to share a few tips with all you fellow singers, beginners and pros, who might not know a lot about vocal health care. This is SUPER important and I hope you take all this into consideration when you're about to perform or go to your next lesson.
VOCAL USAGE
It doesn't matter who you are, you must care for your voice so that you can sustain it for years to come. Those of us who sing and perform professionally (including actors), who make speeches in front of large audiences, or even broadcast for a living, must take even better care as we use and abuse our voices more.
I want you to always remember that there should never be any pain or discomfort in your voice. I mean, the voice will definitely get tired if it's used enough, like all muscles do, but the vocal muscles should NEVER hurt. If they do, stop what you're doing and get some medical help. Example: Seeing a vocal and throat doctor.
YES IT'S BEEN SAID MANY TIMES...DRINK MORE WATER
This next tip is hard for some people, including myself. OMG! Drinking 8-10 glasses of water... a day!!! I try my best but it's a hard one for me BUT I have to say it is probably the BEST thing you can do for your voice and for your body. This keeps you fully hydrated and your vocal mechanism works wonders. You'll definitely notice a difference in your singing. Not only does this help your voice but it hydrates your skin and your body so its functioning properly. Another GREAT thing about drinking water: aging more gracefully as you get older meaning: less wrinkles. :) Woohoo!
For singers who live in dry, harsh cold climates (such as myself), it would probably be in your best interest to drink even more water to keep yourself fully hydrated. Honestly, I drink double espressos throughout my day of teaching and well, I have to drink EVEN MORE H2O to replenish just what I lost in moisture because of coffee being a diuretic. Coffee and tea remove moisture from our bodies that need to be replaced so keep drinking your water. Your body will thank you. Another great tip: for performing, ALWAYS drink luke warm water. NEVER put ice in your water as this shocks your vocal cords and shrinks them. You're gunna have a struggle throughout your night, trust me, I'm speaking from experience.
WOULD YOU RUN A Marathon WITHOUT STRETCHING FIRST?
Probably the most important and beneficial tip of all: warming up the voice before ANY singing. I don't know how many times I say this to my students, (haha, I'm starting to get annoying I'm sure with all of them). I stress so much the importance of warming up and how long you should warm up before you go out and actually start singing. I understand that every voice is different and at different levels so I know that a warm up will be different for every individual singer.
A good warm up consists of 10-20 mins of thoroughly exercising the vocal muscles, "warming" and "stretching" them out well. The goal here is to start out comfortable in your mid register and move on upwards from there. Using a piano and knowing your basic major and minor scales is a great tool to have for warming up vocals, but if you aren't familiar with your scales or don't have an instrument to sing along to, go online and find videos with music to follow. They are tremendously helpful in ear training as well. Begin with some basic low impact humming and lip trills (like the motorboat). They're great for flexibility and getting the voice to be pliable and easy to work with. This also helps to strengthen and develop muscle in your vocal folds and throat without straining or compressing them. I recommend starting small then gradually getting bigger with your warmups.
So, I'm happy to leave you here with some helpful tips on preserving your voice. I'll make sure to post future readings to this article very soon. There's just too many tips and tricks for just one blog post! Also next time, I'll explain what happens to the voice when you don't warm up and how detrimental it can be for your long-term vocal experience. Thanks for taking the time to read and joining me at Sing A Song That's Yours Vocal Studios!
Musically yours, Bridgette