Taking Care of Your Voice

The human voice is quite the delicate instrument. It is important for not only singers, but for anyone who uses their voice a lot, to maintain and take care of their vocal mechanism. Failure to do so can result in laryngitis, sore throats, or perhaps the worst, vocal nodules.

1. Drink Water: Very simple, water is good for you and for your voice. It provides lubrication and prevents your vocal chords from drying out.

2. Avoid dairy and caffeine products: Dairy products produce a lot of mucus that can hinder proper vocalization. Caffeine does the opposite; it dries your voice out!

3. Swallow instead of clearing your throat: Clearing your throat puts a lot of strain on your vocal chords, swallowing is the healthier alternative.

4. Avoid acids: Food and drinks that are acidic in nature can irritate vocal chords. If you suffer from acid reflux, a common problem for many singers, try taking apple cider vinegar pills to neutralize the acid.

5. Bundle up: Wear a scarf when it gets cold out. Cold air is damaging to the voice. Breathe through your nose to warm the air that will later go through your vocal chords and lungs.

6. No yelling: This one doesn’t need much explanation. Yelling wears out your voice very quickly. There are ways to project your voice without straining your chords, check out past blogs to find out how!

7. Warm up: A good, simple warm up with always set your voice up for any stress that it may occur.

8. No smoking/drinking: Another obvious no-no, smoking and drinking both dry out your chords.

9. No ibuprofen: Perhaps unbeknownst to some, ibuprofen also dries out your vocal chords.

Follow these steps to a healthy and stress-free voice!