​

SELF CARE TIPS FOR SINGERS:

YOUR BODY IS YOUR INSTRUMENT

​

All singers live within their instruments all the time. Every healthy thing you do will help your voice and every unhealthy thing you do will harm it to some degree.  You already know plenty about general self care, and that will go a long way toward singing your best, so let me just mention few things I commonly discuss in my work with my students: 

 

Sleep!  One of the most common things I see interfering with my students singing their best is inadequate sleep. If you are unable to get good sleep on a regular basis, I strongly encourage you to seek out a qualified health practitioner and keep seeking until you get the relief you need.  I have witnessed across the board that students' singing is always significantly compromised on less than six hours in any given night.

​

Hydration: The vocal folds are busy in there creating friction in order to produce vocal sound, so just like your car engine or bike chain, they require adequate lubrication to function their best and without damage. It takes regular, daily fluid intake to produce adequate hydration to the vocal cords – a last minute swig is not enough.  Caffeinated beverages are diuretics and therefore counter-productive.  Be careful of drinking black tea and especially green tea because their high level of tannins will dry out your throat considerably.  You can easily ruin a lesson or performance by drinking green tea shortly beforehand.On the other hand, good old honey and lemon tea and many herbal teas will give you nice lubrication, as will sucking on a piece of licorice root. 

​

When I moved to the high desert from the west coast, my voice succumbed to dehydration until I got a few things figured out.  Humidifiers are inadequate here unless they are high powered and restricted to a small enclosure.  However STEAM is  miracle worker, how ever you get it.  Sometimes I just boil a pot of water and breathe in the steam for a couple minutes at a time. 

​

Irritants and Inflammation: Be aware of vocal irritants, especially smoke, dust, pollen, coughing, screaming and singing louder or higher than your voice is either physically able to do or you simply haven't gained the skill to do. All of these will irritate the vocal cords and singing too much under these conditions can lead to inflammation, which can lead to blisters or polyps which must be surgically removed.  Avoidance of these things and vocal rest (and seeing a healthcare professional) are essential to keeping your voice healthy or restoring your voice to health. The clearest sign of

is hoarseness, commonly caused by coughing, congestion, yelling or screaming or vocal misuse. Hoarseness is a clear indicator that your voice needs rest to heal itself. Ongoing hoarseness should be addressed by a healthcare practitioner ASAP.

​

Vocal Technique: Sooner or later, singers will come to  realize that training the body to sing well in a healthy manner is a lot like any other physical endeavor such as running or dancing.  We need to warm up just as athletes do and start our sessions out easy.  We improve fastest with regular work-outs that hit the sweet spot between too easy and too hard. We learn to stretch without strain, and we learn that slow and steady often gets the best results.

​

If we follow those general guidelines we have the best chance of excellent results within the shortest amount of time, especially under the guidance of teacher who understands both vocal physiology and the best ways to pace the process.

​

Trust yourself: There is much more to say on these topics than can be addressed here; I encourage you to reach out to trustworthy, knowledgeable resources including singing instructors and licensed  healthcare providers.  More than anything, I encourage you to listen to your body and to your own inner wisdom.  I wish you well on your singer's journey.

​

​