Medical Supplies

Singing and vocal health

Improve Your Singing with Healthy Speech

How you speak can directly affect how you sing. By taking good care of your voice when speaking, you are improving your vocal health. You can improve your speaking habits by: When you’re at parties, clubs, or sporting events and want to be heard, speak at full volume without screaming. If you tend to speak loudly all the time, turn down the volume. Watch your articulation while speaking in order to prevent tension – speak with no tension in the jaw or tongue. Applying your knowledge of breathing while talking on the phone and avoid talking on the phone until your voice hurts due to lack of breath support.

You are What You Eat

Though it might not be an issue for you, being too lean can cause problems regarding stamina when singing and trying to sustain higher pitches. To improve your stamina, make sure you’re giving your body the nourishment it needs. There are singers that don’t eat until late in the day, but the body needs nourishment to get started. Try to get yourself into a routine where you eat something early in the day so you don’t find yourself snacking late at night because your body feels hungry.

Keep Yourself Properly Hydrated

The human body is composed of 50% to 60% water. Your lungs need water in order to keep its tissues moving as they should. The tissue in your muscles is comprised of up to 75% water. So keeping your body well hydrated helps your singing voice work better.

Many people find water to be boring to drink. You can drink other liquids to keep yourself hydrated, but remember that drinks that are high in sugar won’t help your waistline and caffeine can really dry you out. Caffeine is a diuretic and causes your body to get rid of excess water which means you can’t rely on that cup of coffee to keep your voice in good shape.

Getting plenty of shut-eye

When you don’t get enough sleep, your throat tissue has no time to heal. If you continually deprive yourself of sleep, you voice begins to feel sluggish. You want to recoup and regenerate during the night. Try sleeping a little more for several nights and see the difference it makes in your singing.

Proper Nourishment is Critical

You should always eat a balanced diet. By following the basic nutritional guidelines, you will eat balanced amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products, and meat. Within this balanced diet you find proper amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats. You may find that singing requires more energy, which means adding more protein to your diet to enhance your body’s ability to sustain you through long rehearsals.

Preventing a Sore Throat or Infection

It can make a big difference if you keep just a few simple remedies hand for the times you feel a tickle coming on. One staple that many singers swear by is a bottle of saline nasal spray which is nothing more than water and salt. When you spray the solution up your nose you effectively wash away germs that may be waiting around, ready to attack your immune system.

It also helps to gargle with warm salt water. Adding a few teaspoons of salt to a half cup of warm water and then gargling helps wash away any germs that can lodge in the back of your mouth. Simply mix about a half cup of warm water with a few teaspoons of salt and gargle, washing away germs that are lodged in the back of your mouth. People that get frequent infections around their tonsils find that saltwater is a good friend. If you want to stop canker sores in their tracks, just swish the saltwater around in your mouth.

I hope you found this vocal health information helpful. To learn to sing like a star and discover more about maintaining the best posssible vocal health, I recommend checking out the Sing With Freedom vocal training program from Per Bristow.

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