Since the year has just started now is as good a time as any to talk about vocal health. A lot of people have been pretty dormant with their voices over the summer. While they might have practiced a bit or sang at a few gigs it is likely that none have been in a choir full time or in several high demand shows all while singing rep for lessons. Now it is back to the times of singing for hours a day and desperately trying to keep voices healthy for the next performance. Hopefully by the end of this article there will be a few new techniques that people haven’t heard of for keeping a voice healthy.

The first thing seems like a given but it can never be said enough: hydration, hydration, hydration. There is never enough water to drink. Wake up in the morning and drink a full glass of water. When the day has a dull moment, drink a glass of water. Drink water in any spare moments you can because it will always help you in the long run. When you are singing you should ALWAYS have a water bottle with you. Has this point been repeated enough? Probably not but it will have to do.

On the note of hydration, hot liquids are always a nice way to calm a sore or tired throat. However make sure that it is hot but not scalding. And while coffee tastes amazing , it will hurt rather than help because the caffeine actually dehydrates you and could make your throat hurt worse. For these drinks, a nice herbal tea would do wonders. If that doesn’t sound good try a peppermint or a fruity one with a little sugar or honey. These teas don’t really taste like teas and are great for those who hate tea.

The next thing is to not overdo it.  Listen to your body and what it is telling you. When the doctor says “don’t do that” in response to “My leg hurts when I do this” the advice is there to help stop the pain. This logic applies to the voice. When in a choir rehearsal and your voice starts to hurt, mark it by singing down the octave and make sure you are fully supported in breath and posture. This is just a rehearsal and there will be dozens more of them. There is only one performance that matters in the end.

The final piece of advice is to listen to the voice teachers and communicate well with them. If they are asking you to do something and it hurts, let them know. Their job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. On the other side of things if they ask you to do something that seems ridiculous just do it. There must be some method to their madness. The worst thing that could happen is that it doesn’t work and they try something different.
These topics could go on for days about this is where they end for now. And although it is in the distance here there is one parting tidbit of advice: don’t overdo it at Vespers.