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How to: Maintain Vocal Health
Maintaining vocal health is a balancing act for the best of us and can be a real struggle for some. We will talk about 5 of the top challenges and fixes for keeping a healthy voice while you progress as a singer. We will see that keeping your voice in top shape is not just about doing your singing exercises every day and focusing on proper technique. Many factors have an effect on how your voice will perform on any given day.
1. Sleep
Getting a good night's rest is key to maintaining a healthy voice. You may have noticed waking up with a scratchy, raw voice in the morning after a restless night.
The fix: Try to get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night. If the air is especially dry in your room, think about purchasing a humidifier.
2. Stress
Let's take a moment and recognize how stressed most of us can get in our day-to-day lives. Many people hold tension from stress in their chest, throat, jaw, mouth, and facial muscles. This can have a significant impact on limiting your technique, range, and tone.
The fix: Breathe slowly! If you can breathe in for a slow count of 4, and our for a slow count of 10, you can trick your body into de-stressing! More on that here.
3. Over Use & Strain
Overusing and straining your voice can happen to anyone, even non-singers. If you speak a lot during the day (or raise your voice frequently), chances are you have gone horse once or twice. The scary side of vocal overuse is the long-term effects like loss of range, developing nodes on your vocal cords, and pain when speaking or singing.
The fix: As always, we advocate for proper technique. Use your speaking exercises from your coach throughout the day to ease the strain on your voice. Always practice with relaxed, correct technique. When fatigue sneaks up on you (or you are planning on using your voice a lot), Vocal Eze is the best way to go.
Vocal Eze uses all-natural ingredients with no harsh chemicals, no artificial flavoring, no fillers, and no additives. It was developed by a health coach for top touring acts like Linkin Park, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and Tim McGraw. Our teachers use Vocal Eze to help with hours of teaching, singing, and then going into the studio to work on their own songs and projects.
The foods you put into your body can play a huge role in how resilient, or not, your voice will be. Some foods to avoid are:
Caffeine - mercilessly dries the throat out
Oily Foods - can increase the viscosity of mucus in your throat, which will up the chances of irritation
Refined Sugar - can act just like oily foods to bog down your throat
Dairy - can do the same thing as oily foods and refined sugar: thickening, and slowing your throat's natural mucus descent to a crawl.
5. How Much Water You Drink
Anyone who has taken a voice lesson knows that eventually, you are going to want to reach for a drink of water. Here is some great info straight from the Mayo Clinic on how much water to drink.
"...How much fluid does the average, healthy adult living in a temperate climate need? The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is:
About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women
These recommendations cover fluids from water, other beverages, and food. About 20 percent of daily fluid intake usually comes from food and the rest from drinks."
What about the advice to drink 8 glasses a day?
You've probably heard the advice, "Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day." That's easy to remember, and it's a reasonable goal.
Most healthy people can stay hydrated by drinking water and other fluids whenever they feel thirsty. For some people, fewer than eight glasses a day might be enough. But other people might need more."
We took a look at 5 of the biggest influences on vocal health. There are many more factors that can play into how your voice will feel and sound on any given day, addressing these influences is a great place to start.
If you are experiencing vocal strain or fatigue, please get in touch for 50% off of your first voice lesson. lessons@bestmusiccoach.com
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