When a guitarist, or a saxophonist, or any type of musician, is serious about his or her craft, you'll notice a certain reverence towards their instrument: tuning, re-stringing, oiling, polishing, and consciousness of protecting it from harm.

For singers, our body is our instrument, yet we don't always give our instrument the care we should. We scream at a loud concert, we smoke, we drink, we don't exercise, and we eat badly, not to mention that studies have shown that most Americans don't get enough sleep.

(For more on "Sleep Debt", check out:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0224_050224_sleep.html )

Let's start with how we use our voices in day to day life: The word to remember is SUPPORT. If you're at a concert, a baseball game, or at a loud party, chances are you're yelling, screaming, or at least talking over other background noise... that's okay, provided you use breath support. Make sure you're breathing deeply, and feel your diaphragm push out the air, as opposed to your throat muscles.

Smoking... where should I start? By now we should all know the dangers of smoking, so I'm going to skip that and focus on the effects on a singer. Although some singers claim to need a smoke before a performance, the reality is that smoking can alter the quality of your voice, reduce your range, and drastically reduce your lung capacity. Less lung capacity = less air. Less air really affects singing.

Drinking alcohol dehydrates your voice, which can cause irritation and damage. Personally, I've noticed that even a glass of wine, or a beer, will affect my voice the next day, making my voice less powerful, and reducing my range.

If you want to use your voice to the best of it's potential, it may be time to honestly evaluate how your lifestyle may be negatively affecting your instrument. 
 


Comments

Natasha

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:08:54

Great advice Adri-Anne! One question, what do you think about the effects of caffeine on our vocal chords? I completely lost my voice after pregnancy (I guess that's what 16 pounds of baby will do to your diaphragm) but even as I am building it back up now, I can't help but wonder if the coffee I drink now (I didn't really drink coffee before having the boys) is affecting my range and control...?? What do you think?

 

Adri-Anne

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:43:34

Hey Tasha! Personally, caffeine hasn't been good for me as a singer... one of my (many) teachers over the years told me that it leaves a residue on the vocal chords. I don't know how true that is because I haven't read or heard that anywhere else, however, I do find that it dries out my vocal chords, and if I have a cup of coffee before singing, for example, my voice will tire out much more quickly than if I had water or even tea.
Another thing that coffee does, related to the fact that it's a diuretic, is that because there is less moisture in your body as a whole, the mucus that coats and protects your vocal chords becomes thicker and then causes you to have to clear your throat a lot, and may interfere with your singing. To experiment you could cut down on your coffee bit by bit (I"m in the process now!) by doing a few weeks half-caff, and then doing half decal, half half-caff for a week or so. By then you could probably have tea in the morning pretty comfortably. (Although green tea tends to do the same as coffee to my voice, maybe because of the caffeine). Actually, now this reply is really long... Maybe I'll just do a blog on coffee and the voice! PS I love your blog too... Domestica!

 



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