An established singer who’s been performing for years, a music teacher in primary school, a 6-year-old on her way to her first singing class, a lady in her 40s practising for the weekend karaoke party—what do all these people have in common? That one big looming question of “How to keep one’s singing voice healthy?” To understand this better, let us first dive into simple basics around singing and vocal health.
What Are Vocal Cords?
Vocal cords are two bands of muscle inside your voice box, also known as the larynx, that allow you to vocalise, or, in simple words, make sounds. For easy flow of sound, you would want your vocal cords to be flexible and smooth, without any sort of inflammation.
Can You Damage Your Vocal Cords?
Yes. Your vocal health should be your number one priority if you’re looking at a long career as a singer. In today’s day and age, with a high amount of pollutants in the air and processed fast foods, damage to the vocal cords comes easy. Additional factors such as smoking, excess spice or oil in your meals, and continuous screaming and talking in a loud volume affects your voice drastically.
Why Healthy Vocal Cords Are Important for Your Singing
Think of your voice as an instrument. Just like a violinist or a pianist would care for their instruments by keeping them clean and ensuring they don’t pick up moisture, so should you. Healthy vocal cords are essential for singing as they directly impact the quality, range and control of your voice. When your vocal cords are in a good condition, you can produce clear, resonant sounds easily. Proper vocal cord function ensures precise control over pitch and dynamics, which overall enhances your performance. Additionally, maintaining a consistent vocal health also helps in prevention of nodules or polyps that are usually a factor of straining your vocals too much. Ensure that your singing remains powerful, versatile and accessible to various vocal ranges by keeping your vocal cords healthy at all times.
10 Tips on How to Keep Your Singing Voice Healthy
Vocal Care 101 is to ensure your voice is well rested and healthy. Prevention is always better than cure, and here are proven 10 tips to keep your singing voice healthy.
- Staying hydrated:
An adequate amount of water intake is every singer’s best friend. A well-hydrated body helps reduce strain on your vocal cords and keeps the muscles lubricated. You may add natural ingredients like ginger or lime that have medicinal properties but do so only in moderation. Lukewarm water works best to clear your throat, but also ensure that the water isn’t too hot as that can cause damage to the voice.
- Warming Up:
Singing is basically like exercising, where you don’t start by lifting heavy weights but start slowly and easily. Similarly, your facial muscles need to be warmed up before singing, helping your lips and jaw to loosen up. The most common voice warm-up exercises are lip trills, tongue trills and singing scales. You can do this for any amount of time between 10 to 20 minutes.
- Singing within your range:
Singers are often tempted to sing extremely high or low notes without realising that those notes may not be in one’s natural singing range which can only be increased gradually and over time with practice. Be mindful of these limitations and don’t push your voice too much, too soon.
- Body Posture:
You sing not just with your throat but with your entire body. The right posture while sitting or standing, is when your shoulders are relaxed, which supports breath control and voice production.
- Avoiding voice deterrents:
Excessive consumption of alcohol, extremely cold beverages and smoking may harm your voice in a big way and the effects can be seen almost immediately.
- Inhale steam:
Steam can help with rehydrating your voice, easing out inflammation and loosening mucus or any kind of congestion in your throat and nose. This allows for a smooth flow of your breath and voice, resulting in a great vocal output.
- Daily Lifestyle:
A lot of singing is physical work, and in order to deliver well, you need to exercise and also be well-rested with good sleep. Eat balanced meals at regular intervals to enhance your vocal strength. Avoid extremely greasy foods or food with a lot of hot spices.
- Listen to your voice:
You must know when your voice is tired or if you’re straining yourself too much in order to sing. The only thing to do in such situations is to take complete voice rest. Ignoring this can have long term compilations with your voice.
- Keeping a check on mental health:
Extreme amounts of stress can affect your voice and in turn, your overall singing. You can resort to breathing exercises, meditation or yoga to keep your stress levels under control.
- Take advice from a certified vocal coach:
Vocal coaches come with a lot of expertise and experience when it comes to singing and taking care of your voice in the long run. Being stage performers themselves who usually have gigs every week if not more, there’s a lot you can learn from them—not just from a performance point of view but also maintaining vocal health in spite of a busy schedule. Finding the right vocal coach for you can be an intimidating task, especially if you are a beginner. You can learn from them in person or even through online singing classes. A great platform to find the right teacher for you is Artium Academy – India’s leading music education platform for vocal and instrument learning where you can learn music online. They also offer you a FREE trial class to get your voice assessed and evaluated by certified academic experts.
Conclusion
Caring for your voice is a long-term process, and your habits in your daily lifestyle have a profound impact on your vocal abilities. While the aforementioned practices may seem daunting at the start, they can easily become part of your daily routine once you start, with the right amount of determination. Every singing voice is a unique and powerful gift – treat it with care and let your voice shine!
For more such tips and tricks, Book A Free Trial at Artium Academy and let our academic experts guide you every step of the way!
