Voice Tip #3
It may be raining, but there's a rainbow above you...The Eagles
A light rain is falling on the Fraser Valley. Don't worry, the sun will be back shortly!
Which brings me to a very good question: What is the best thing for a singer/speaker to drink in the heat? When having your mouth wide open for extended periods is a way of life, your throat dries out. Heat and dryness add to the problem.
To understand hydration, let me explain a bit regarding that drying process. Your lungs, throat, mouth, sinuses and nose are one large, continuous sheet of mucous membrane. To keep your throat moist, you need to hydrate your entire system. That's why the spritzing solutions you'll see on the Internet for singers work only temporarily. They moisten only the mouth.
When I smoked (ahem!) and sang in Manitoba's very dry atmosphere, I was desperate. I even tried a spray bottle of artificial saliva from the pharmacy. It worked! For about ten minutes.*
Think about this: Nothing you swallow or spray directly flows over your vocal cords. If it did, you'd choke! There are two separate "tubes" in your throat. When you swallow, a tissue "trap door" called the epiglottis closes the one leading to your vocal cords/lungs, so the substance goes straight to your stomach. Separate tube. Whatever you drink is processed through your digestive system before affecting your respiratory (breathing) system in any significant manner.
The solution? Drink water. Lots of it, all day. Don't wait till you feel dry. By that time, your entire system, including organs, has been negatively impacted by dehydration. Drink before you exercise, don't wait till you're thirsty.
You'll find you'll pee more than the average person. Just one of the perks of being a public speaker or singer. I find it's worth it. Better than having a "dry mouth crisis" in the middle of a set. Happily, you will find a visible improvement in the quality of your skin!
Warm, weak tea with a teaspoon of honey is also an excellent moisturizer. Be aware tea exacerbates the peeing problem :-D
If you're going to vocalize, make it room temperature. I cringe every time I see musicians drink ice water the kind wait staff bring. It's like throwing ice water on a marathon runners' legs! Everything cramps. You want the structures responsible for creating sound to stay warm and loose.
My students repeatedly tell me that just that one change in habit has sometimes made the difference between ending the gig with a sore throat or not. Be super polite to the wait staff when asking for lukewarm, and tip them. They work hard, and are helping you with your job. You may find yourself becoming a bit of a character at certain venues, and your glass of lukewarm H20 will be waiting for you---along with jokes about being a "regular"!
What about when a patron sends you an alcoholic drink? The two most drying substances are alcohol and carbonated sodas. Here are two things you can do to protect your voice and remain polite: (1) If you're determined to retain a certain image, make a deal with the wait staff to bring you warm, weak tea in a glass, with a teaspoon of honey. It looks like whiskey; or (2) smile and raise the glass of alcohol to the donor---then drink it after the gig.
If you "need" alcohol in order to perform, well, that's outside my area of expertise. If it's just common stage fright you're dealing with, I can tell you that Singers Yoga and a proper vocal warmup will put you in a "performance zone" that mood altering substances can't touch in terms of effectiveness.
Don't just drink water when you're about to sing. Make it a habit. Keep water by your bed, in your car, etc. You need more water than the average person. If the common nutritional advice to drink 6-8 glasses per day isn't solving your dryness problem---drink 10.
What about the old clunker, "Drink lemon juice"? Yesssss, IF you have a cold or excess mucous for other reasons. Even then, I recommend squeezing lemon into water, not actually sucking on the fruit, as some people do (!). Lemon is a mild acid that strips the healthy, thin layer of mucous that retains moisture. It can create more dryness, in a vicious circle. That large sheet of mucous membrane I described earlier is a moisture-retaining organism. Keep it balanced. Coffee is also overly acidic, and can cause dryness and mucous together, if taken with dairy. See the food post below for more info on acidic foods and how mucous is created.
Try adding a teaspoon of liquid glycerine to your glass of water. This is a sugar that helps retain moisture. It can be obtained OTC cheaply at the drugstore.
Have a wonderful summer, and keep that water glass tipped!
Copyright 2011 Reisa Stone. May be forwarded, but not reprinted or distributed in any format without written permission.
A light rain is falling on the Fraser Valley. Don't worry, the sun will be back shortly!
Which brings me to a very good question: What is the best thing for a singer/speaker to drink in the heat? When having your mouth wide open for extended periods is a way of life, your throat dries out. Heat and dryness add to the problem.
To understand hydration, let me explain a bit regarding that drying process. Your lungs, throat, mouth, sinuses and nose are one large, continuous sheet of mucous membrane. To keep your throat moist, you need to hydrate your entire system. That's why the spritzing solutions you'll see on the Internet for singers work only temporarily. They moisten only the mouth.
When I smoked (ahem!) and sang in Manitoba's very dry atmosphere, I was desperate. I even tried a spray bottle of artificial saliva from the pharmacy. It worked! For about ten minutes.*
Think about this: Nothing you swallow or spray directly flows over your vocal cords. If it did, you'd choke! There are two separate "tubes" in your throat. When you swallow, a tissue "trap door" called the epiglottis closes the one leading to your vocal cords/lungs, so the substance goes straight to your stomach. Separate tube. Whatever you drink is processed through your digestive system before affecting your respiratory (breathing) system in any significant manner.
The solution? Drink water. Lots of it, all day. Don't wait till you feel dry. By that time, your entire system, including organs, has been negatively impacted by dehydration. Drink before you exercise, don't wait till you're thirsty.
You'll find you'll pee more than the average person. Just one of the perks of being a public speaker or singer. I find it's worth it. Better than having a "dry mouth crisis" in the middle of a set. Happily, you will find a visible improvement in the quality of your skin!
Warm, weak tea with a teaspoon of honey is also an excellent moisturizer. Be aware tea exacerbates the peeing problem :-D
If you're going to vocalize, make it room temperature. I cringe every time I see musicians drink ice water the kind wait staff bring. It's like throwing ice water on a marathon runners' legs! Everything cramps. You want the structures responsible for creating sound to stay warm and loose.
My students repeatedly tell me that just that one change in habit has sometimes made the difference between ending the gig with a sore throat or not. Be super polite to the wait staff when asking for lukewarm, and tip them. They work hard, and are helping you with your job. You may find yourself becoming a bit of a character at certain venues, and your glass of lukewarm H20 will be waiting for you---along with jokes about being a "regular"!
What about when a patron sends you an alcoholic drink? The two most drying substances are alcohol and carbonated sodas. Here are two things you can do to protect your voice and remain polite: (1) If you're determined to retain a certain image, make a deal with the wait staff to bring you warm, weak tea in a glass, with a teaspoon of honey. It looks like whiskey; or (2) smile and raise the glass of alcohol to the donor---then drink it after the gig.
If you "need" alcohol in order to perform, well, that's outside my area of expertise. If it's just common stage fright you're dealing with, I can tell you that Singers Yoga and a proper vocal warmup will put you in a "performance zone" that mood altering substances can't touch in terms of effectiveness.
Don't just drink water when you're about to sing. Make it a habit. Keep water by your bed, in your car, etc. You need more water than the average person. If the common nutritional advice to drink 6-8 glasses per day isn't solving your dryness problem---drink 10.
What about the old clunker, "Drink lemon juice"? Yesssss, IF you have a cold or excess mucous for other reasons. Even then, I recommend squeezing lemon into water, not actually sucking on the fruit, as some people do (!). Lemon is a mild acid that strips the healthy, thin layer of mucous that retains moisture. It can create more dryness, in a vicious circle. That large sheet of mucous membrane I described earlier is a moisture-retaining organism. Keep it balanced. Coffee is also overly acidic, and can cause dryness and mucous together, if taken with dairy. See the food post below for more info on acidic foods and how mucous is created.
Try adding a teaspoon of liquid glycerine to your glass of water. This is a sugar that helps retain moisture. It can be obtained OTC cheaply at the drugstore.
Have a wonderful summer, and keep that water glass tipped!
Copyright 2011 Reisa Stone. May be forwarded, but not reprinted or distributed in any format without written permission.
posted by Raisa Stone at
4:41 PM
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