Singers; Avoiding Voice Strain
Some people find it difficult to understand that your voice is as susceptible to injury just as much as any other part of your body. Whether you depend on your arms as a boxer, your legs as a waiter or your voice as a singer; damaging this vital component can be irreversible and single handily ruin your singing career.
So what can you do to ensure a long and happy singing livelihood? There is a list as long as your arm of various techniques that can assist you in avoiding voice strain ; however this article will concentrate more specifically to the voices of singers.
If you find you tend to suffer a sore throat after singing , there are a number of possibilities that may be affecting this. The golden rule for singers always has been, and always will be; drink plenty of water! With every use of your voice, you are relinquishing moisture from your throat leaving it to become dry. To sing in such an instance, also known as “dry air” singing, is one of the more common causes to a sore throat which also leaves you more susceptible to viral/bacterial infection. Furthermore, breathing through your nose allows air to moisturise before reaching your chords and aids keeping your throat lubricated.
The next concern for singers is vocal abuse. Causes of such include anything that entails using ones voice at an intense level; shouting over crowded noise, doing voice impersonations requiring you to distort your normal talking voice, even singing to high or loud. If you are required to do anything as such, it is best to get some vocal rest afterwards. You can rehabilitate the voice gently using exercises such as humming and tongue trills. Sometimes to suffer in silence can pay in dividends!
Before the smoking ban in the UK, often at the epicentre of causing sore throat singing was inhaling second hand cigarette smoke. It is quite often for singers to start their careers in small bars and clubs, in which the times prior to the smoking ban meant dire consequences to a singer. Thus it goes without saying, if you are a smoker and wish to take your singing career seriously… DO NOT SMOKE!