TOP TEN FAQ’s FOR SINGERS

3.  How Do I Look After My Voice?

This is a tough one because just like a lot of athletes, everyone is different. A lot of it depends on the care you are

giving your body and I’m not saying that everyone needs to be ultra slim and eating the right foods and exercising every

day but there are definitely some don’ts. The first is don’t smoke – anything. The smoke passing down over your vocal

chords (along with the nicotine/tar) will dry them out and eventually will destroy them – OK that’s serious stuff and

there are many people who smoke who are great singers but it is  incorrect to say that smoking will not harm your

vocal chords, it will and severely. Drink in moderation. My grandmother had a great voice and she had a recipe if her

voice was sore or she had a sore throat through having a cold. 2 Lemons, 2 soluble aspirins, a teaspoon of honey, a nip

of whisky or brandy (two drinks invented primarily as medicines centuries ago and “pure” drinks) hot water all mixed in

a mug then go to bed and sweat the problem out of you. Believe me it works. But apart from that she never drank

anything else apart from warm water when she was singing. Both my parents were good singers and they followed her

advice as well and also never had any problems with their voices. Other people take throat lozenges (you need to be

careful here, some are just glorified sweets and have added sugar which will make the problem worse. If you have a

sore throat, don’t sing; but; don’t talk either. Warm up properly; don’t start the set with your hardest song if you

know that it is really stretching you out and could cause damage. Some people are allergic to certain foods, dairy,

gluten etc. and so of course you need to take all that into account. You are not going to sing well if you have eaten or

drunk the wrong thing, are tired, run down, have a sore throat or unprepared. It’s a no brainer really eh!

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VOCAL TIPS