What are some tips to keep my vocal chords healthy so that i can sing my best??!
Question: I understand. Isn't it hard around this time? The weather is all over the place and you can't garantee anything....however, as a singer myself who has to sing quite often to keep afloat financially, here are some tips to keep you afloat.
If you feel yourself losing your voice, don't talk for a day or two. Talk as infrequent as possible. Walk around with stickie notes if you have to. Sometimes, the voice just plain needs rest. In addition to sleeping, you need to give the vocal chords time to recover. Sometimes that is the only thing that will gaurantee your recovery unfortunately. So take a break from the phone, silly conversations, and just be quiet. it is amazing what quietness will do for you (trust me...I know. And it is HARD to keep me quiet. LOL).
Be careful with your instrument. Bad techinque can ruin the voice. I am not saying you should sing classical music by no means, but the incorrect material for the instrument, the incorrect breathing and pushing in the instrument can cause the voice to constantly have problems. Make sure you have good diaphragmatic breathing, and make sure you are singing correctly according to your own gift. If it hurts to sing after a while, something in the technique is off. Change the focus and try again.
People will tell you certain foods do things, but everything isn't true for everybody. Something that does work for everybody is water. Stay hydrated. Hydration is the vocal chords' love forever! Sometimes hot liquids does help. Certain teas can also soothe the chords. Throat Coat tea is nice when your chords are a little distressed. Vitamin C doesn't hurt either. If you have sinus issues, clean your sinuses with a neti pot or squeeze bottom with saline solution. You can find it in a drug store or natural food/organic type stores.
Always cover your neck in breezy weather. Invest in a scarf that is interchangable with the weather.
Don't scream or yell. I know it is common sense, but someone out there needed to read this besides us!
Treat your chords like a valuble instrument. Have a good diet. Vocalize it everyday to keep the endurance and range up to par. Don't drink alot of alcohol and stay away from smoking and smokey areas when possible. Vocal chord health hates smoke. Only those who want a smokey low voice benefits breifly from smoking. After a while, it makes their intentions go to the opposite direction. Get plenty of rest (which can be hard sometimes but if you can't sleep....just lay there). Try to keep yourself from stressful situations. When people act like idiots, walk away. Vocal chords hate intense arguments.
Its good you are asking this question. Most people want to know how to sound good instead of how to keep healthy. In order to sing better your vocal chords must be healthy. I am so happy you correlated the two.
Answers: I understand. Isn't it hard around this time? The weather is all over the place and you can't garantee anything....however, as a singer myself who has to sing quite often to keep afloat financially, here are some tips to keep you afloat.
If you feel yourself losing your voice, don't talk for a day or two. Talk as infrequent as possible. Walk around with stickie notes if you have to. Sometimes, the voice just plain needs rest. In addition to sleeping, you need to give the vocal chords time to recover. Sometimes that is the only thing that will gaurantee your recovery unfortunately. So take a break from the phone, silly conversations, and just be quiet. it is amazing what quietness will do for you (trust me...I know. And it is HARD to keep me quiet. LOL).
Be careful with your instrument. Bad techinque can ruin the voice. I am not saying you should sing classical music by no means, but the incorrect material for the instrument, the incorrect breathing and pushing in the instrument can cause the voice to constantly have problems. Make sure you have good diaphragmatic breathing, and make sure you are singing correctly according to your own gift. If it hurts to sing after a while, something in the technique is off. Change the focus and try again.
People will tell you certain foods do things, but everything isn't true for everybody. Something that does work for everybody is water. Stay hydrated. Hydration is the vocal chords' love forever! Sometimes hot liquids does help. Certain teas can also soothe the chords. Throat Coat tea is nice when your chords are a little distressed. Vitamin C doesn't hurt either. If you have sinus issues, clean your sinuses with a neti pot or squeeze bottom with saline solution. You can find it in a drug store or natural food/organic type stores.
Always cover your neck in breezy weather. Invest in a scarf that is interchangable with the weather.
Don't scream or yell. I know it is common sense, but someone out there needed to read this besides us!
Treat your chords like a valuble instrument. Have a good diet. Vocalize it everyday to keep the endurance and range up to par. Don't drink alot of alcohol and stay away from smoking and smokey areas when possible. Vocal chord health hates smoke. Only those who want a smokey low voice benefits breifly from smoking. After a while, it makes their intentions go to the opposite direction. Get plenty of rest (which can be hard sometimes but if you can't sleep....just lay there). Try to keep yourself from stressful situations. When people act like idiots, walk away. Vocal chords hate intense arguments.
Its good you are asking this question. Most people want to know how to sound good instead of how to keep healthy. In order to sing better your vocal chords must be healthy. I am so happy you correlated the two.
Don't smoke or drink. Keep your throat from getting too dry.
Stay out of smoky or polluted areas.
Here is a website on the care of vocal cords for singers.
http://www.blues101.org/articles/holisti...
basically... don't smoke (obviously). don't drink too much alcohol (dehydrating). don't scream (you can develop nodules on your vocal chords).
drink lots of water. drink hot tea. always warm up before you sing.
Besides don't drink or smoke, don't scream if you need to project your voice. Avoid any dairy products,soft drinks, chocolate at least 2 hours before your performance. Drink room temperature fruit teas or honey and ginger tea also help. Last of all make sure you are well warm up with proper exercises.
good luck