How To Fix Your Voice Before Singing

Two teens singing at a microphone using vocal health tips for singers.

7 Tips on How to Go along Your Singing Vocalization Good for you

If yous are a vocalist—whether in a choir or in a rock ring, onstage or in the shower—you should know how to go on your singing voice healthy. Later all, the state of your vocal health tin can either make or pause your performance. Thankfully, vocal health for singers isn't all that complicated. Some common sense and a little insider noesis on vocal-wellness tips will do the trick, so you lot can sing your heart out.

Why Healthy Vocal Cords Are Important for Your Singing

As a vocalizer, your vocal cords are your instrument. Yous'd never paddle a canoe with a cello or use a flute to hit a golf ball. Also, you should never abuse your voice. Healthy vocal cords volition permit yous to exercise your full range and produce a full, pure, tuneful sound. And even if you're more Fe Maiden than Iolanthe, if you want a career as a singer, your vocal health should be your number i priority.

"...if you want a career as a singer, your vocal health should be your number i priority."

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What are vocal cords?

Vocal cords, also chosen vocal folds, are two triangular bands of tissue that sit down at the top of your windpipe. They're open while you're breathing, and when you speak or sing, they close, pulling tighter for higher notes, remaining loose for lower notes. You want your vocal cords soft, shine, flexible and gratuitous of inflammation.

Can yous harm your vocal cords?

Allergies, smoke (starting time- and secondhand), tension, overuse, abuse (similar screaming) are all potentially dissentious to your voice. Irritated or inflamed vocal cords won't close efficiently, preventing you from hit the college notes in your range and producing a rougher, more than breathy sound no matter what notation you're singing.

Y'all might similar a breathy sound, and that's great, but that should be your choice. Keep your voice flexible and good for you, and you lot'll exist able to sing in whatever style you choose.

7 vocal health tips are: warm up, use your core, stop if it hurts, humidify, hydrate, take vocal naps and don't inhale smoke.

7 Tips on How to Keep Your Singing Voice Healthy

Hither are seven suggestions for means to maintain song wellness for singers.

Warm up—and cool down.It is vital that y'all warm upward your vocalisation before singing, and there are a variety of exercises to suit all ages, song ranges and levels of experience. Always ease into your exercises by first warming up your facial muscles—loosen your lips and jaw muscles by blowing through your lips, sticking out your tongue every bit far as it volition go, massaging your face and sighing musically.
Don't be afraid to make some noise as your warm up. Let your voice wander up and down its range. Then motility onto humming, or perhaps do some gentle lip rolls or tongue trills. Only once you experience similar your face, mouth and vocalisation are loosening should you start singing bodily notes. The whole process should have between 10 and 20 minutes (and don't skimp.).

After your lesson, audience or performance is over, take time to absurd down. While cooling downwardly is often omitted from lists of vocal-health tips, it's a really simple way to support vocal health for singers. Sigh on a descending note. Yawn, raising your soft palate and releasing any congenital-upward tension. Do some gentle lip rolls, again allowing your voice to gently descend. Have 5 or 10 minutes to allow your voice to settle back into its normal speaking range.
Hydrate your voice.If you lot're wondering what to drink to sing better, the answer is simple: h2o. Water is i of the best drinks for your singing voice, with herbal teas (but not likewise hot) in second place. Drink water throughout the day, and keep a water bottle nearby during lessons and rehearsals. And don't recollect that a swig or two of h2o while you're warming up is enough. Your vocal folds work best when they're well lubricated, and that ways keeping your unabridged torso hydrated.
In that location's no way to directly moisten dry vocal cords. Cipher you drink or spray or dissolve in your mouth passes directly over your vocal folds. Your larynx is separate from your esophagus (and it's a skilful thing too, or we'd always exist choking). But dry vocal cords rapidly become irritated vocal cords, and that'south how y'all harm your voice. The more water you potable, the better your voice will be.
Humidify your domicile.A better question than what to potable to sing improve is what to breathe to sing amend. Although null y'all drinkable can directly moisturize your vocal cords, you tin can give your voice a boost by breathing properly humidified air. Overly dry air is very taxing on your breathing and your voice.
Consider humidifying your home, especially when yous're working on a particular product or if you're doing a series of concerts. Using a humidifier can support your respiratory wellness while likewise preventing dry vocal cords.
Take song naps.

If you work out, you know how important rest days are. A tired vox, just similar a tired body, is more prone to injury. If you're ill, if your allergies are flaring up or even if you've just been working your phonation a lot (like in rehearsal or when you're preparing for an audition), take fourth dimension to rest your vocalism.
That ways no talking, no singing and definitely no whispering, which is terrible for your vocal cords. A tired voice needs time to regenerate, so the longer you rest information technology, the better. Vocal residuum gives your delicate vocal folds fourth dimension to recuperate and heal.
Avoid harmful substances.Smoking (or vaping) anything is absolutely the best and quickest way to permanently ruin your voice. Don't do it. When you lot inhale fume, you lot're essentially bathing your vocal cords in toxins. Everything you breathe in—every pollutant, every speck of pollen, every particle of dust—passes correct over your vocal cords, drying them out and irritating them.
Alcohol might non have such an immediately dissentious issue, but it is dehydrating and inflammatory. And the loftier saccharide content of nigh mixers is likewise bad for your voice. If your song health is important to you , revisit tip #2 for suggestions on what to drink to sing better.
Don't sing from your throat.Despite all this talk about healthy song cords, your song folds are only one part of a circuitous arrangement that produces your singing voice. To sing well and to maintain your song health, you demand to understand your body and know where your voice is coming from. You lot should never sing from your throat—the power behind your phonation is your breath, and your breath should exist supported by your diaphragm. Sing from your core, permit your song cords to relax, and let your voice resonate in your chest, pharynx and confront.
Don't worry if this doesn't immediately make sense to yous. It takes time to train your torso to back up your vocalization, though you lot tin can speed up the process by working with a song charabanc.
Don't sing if it hurts.We experience pain for one uncomplicated reason—it'due south our body's way of telling united states to Cease. If your pharynx hurts, if you accept an infection of whatsoever kind or if you've strained your voice through overuse, don't sing. Put yourself on vocal rest. Drink a lot of water. Get some extra sleep. Take care of yourself and your tired voice. But nigh importantly, do not push through the pain. You can seriously damage your vocalisation by singing when your phonation is strained or your throat is hurting.

"Have care of ... your tired voice. Merely most importantly, do not push through the pain."

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Frequently Asked Questions about Vocal Health

Whether you're wondering about dietary choices and the best drinks for your singing voice or are concerned almost vocal strain, we've got y'all covered.

What should you eat for a healthy singing voice?

A healthy diet tin amend every attribute of your life—including your voice. And a healthy diet is a counterbalanced diet: lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. These volition requite yous energy and stamina, both of which singers need. Y'all might want to avoid dairy products because they tin thicken mucus, which can clog y'all upward.

Consume lightly before an audition or performance. Yous demand the energy, only an overly total stomach can printing upon your diaphragm, making information technology harder to have a really deep jiff, and that naturally gets in the way of your voice.

What are the best drinks for your singing voice?

The all-time drinks for your singing voice are water (especially room-temperature water, perhaps with a clasp or ii of lemon) and tea, simply be careful about consuming too much caffeine, which can dehydrate you. You can discover wonderful herbal teas designed for singers.

While it's true that cipher you beverage straight affects your song cords, herbs like glace elm, peppermint and licorice root are first-class for reducing inflammation and cutting through mucus generally. If you have too much phlegm in your throat, you'll be tempted to clear it with a piffling rasping cough, and that is especially hard on your vocal cords.

What are the symptoms of strained vocal cords?

If you've been singing a lot, y'all may feel a slight pinching awareness at the back of your pharynx. That'south vocal strain, and information technology'due south nothing to worry near—except if you keep on singing. As soon as y'all experience pain, back off. Hoarseness and scratchiness are warning signs that your phonation is tired and you lot need to give it a rest.

If you go along to push, yous might start missing notes, and that should definitely make you cease. A little time and TLC are all yous need to recover from strained vocal cords.

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How can y'all better your voice for singing?

At that place are several ways yous tin can better and strengthen your singing voice, but the single all-time and most productive fashion is with singing lessons taught by vocalization instructors. Your voice is unique, and while online communication and videos tin can definitely help, they're no substitute for a trained vocalisation coach who can adjust your technique as you lot go and can teach you exactly those exercises that will do you lot the nearly skilful.

A vocal coach can assist you define your range, teach y'all to smooth out your bridge and help keep your vocalization as good for you equally possible.

We hope you found this list of seven handy vocal-health tips useful. Every bit singers ourselves, we know that these are all tried and true methods of maintaining song health for singers. And salubrious voices are beautiful voices.