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  • Home
  • About Me
    • James’ Performing
    • James’ Teaching
      • Virtual Lessons & Coaching
      • Teacher Mentoring & CPD
      • Mascarade Opera Studio
      • Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
    • James’ Writing
      • Books
        • Singing & Singing Teaching
        • The Classical Voice Training Workbook
      • Research & PhD
  • Classical Voice Training
    • Upcoming Courses
    • Classical Voice Training Workbook
    • Podcast
  • Courses & Workshops
  • Bookings
  • Resources
    • Online Teaching
    • Studio Equipment
    • Online Lesson Equipment
    • Zoom Audio Settings
    • Multidisciplinary Voice Team
    • Vocal Health
    • Links
      • Financial Assistance & Scholarships
    • Books
    • Videos
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Privacy
  • Home
  • Vocal Health

Vocal Health

The voice is made of living tissue. This makes is susceptible to:

  • Overuse
  • Misuse & Abuse
  • Bad Technique
  • Inefficient Speech Patterns
  • Accident
  • Disease

The quality of one’s speaking voice is really important as even professional singers only use their singing voices for 20-25% each day, the rest of voice use tends to be speech.  Inefficient speaking patterns create the muscle memory for inefficient singing patterns.  If in doubt book to see a speech therapist at a specialist voice clinic.

Below are some things to watch out for and be aware of and tips on efficiency and hydration:

stop

Vocal Abuse

Avoid:

  • Raising the voice, loud talking, shouting, yelling
  • Projecting the voice with poor technique
  • Speaking or singing at an inappropriate pitch
  • Speaking or singing with an inappropriate register
  • Throat clearing
  • Coughing
  • Speaking/singing with a dry throat
  • Speaking/singing in dusty or smoky environments
  • Speaking/singing with laryngitis or a cold or with swollen vocal folds
  • Bad postural alignment
  • Bad breathing patterns and habits
  • Hard Glottal attacks
  • Speaking/singing with tension
stop

Acid Reflux

Avoid:

  • Eating large meals or lying down right after a meal
  • Eating a heavy meal and sleeping on your back
  • Eating certain foods: citrus, tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, or spicy or fatty foods
  • Drinking alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, or tea
  • Smoking
  • Taking aspirin, ibuprofen or blood pressure medications
stop

Vocal Overuse

Avoid too much:

  • Talking
  • Singing
  • Laughing
  • Coughing
  • Vocalising (this includes humming!)
stop

Stop if you feel a Tickle, Scratch or Cough

Avoid vocal constriction – if you feel a tickle, scratch or coughing sensation whilst you are singing stop – you are probably constricting the voice. Seek the avoid of an experienced singing teacher or voice professional.

  • The vocal folds have no nerve endings
  • You can’t feel when they’re tired or swollen – they ‘just don’t seem to work’
  • Sure signs of vocal fold swelling: hoarseness or raspiness in the sound (as the folds can’t achieve full closure) a sense of having to work a lot harder than normal to get the same results.
  • If you could feel how much damage you were doing, you’d stop straight away!
blue tick

Efficiency

Always aim for efficiency in voice use:

  • Efficiency is defined as the ability to avoid unnecessary effort
  • The definition of vocal efficiency is using the right amount of effort in the right place at the right time. No more. No less.
  • Effort tends to spread – sometimes beneficially, sometimes detrimentally
  • Singing requires effort!
  • It’s vital to discriminate between necessary effort and unwanted tension
  • A good technique means efficient voicing
blue tick

Hydration

Stay hydrated:

  • Average person requires 4 litres of water per day
  • Athletes need more like 6 to 8
  • Water can take 4 hours to get into the system
  • Thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration (loss of concentration can be one of the first)
  • Sip water little and often

Categories

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Recent Posts

Head & Chest Voice: Really?
02Jun,2020

Tags

acoustic registers laryngeal registers phonation registers singing voice registers

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