Singing Tips!- Page 2

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/22/06 at 12:52pm

You can also make a steam room. Turn your shower on hot and shut the door for a few minutes.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/22/06 at 7:25pm

if you're feeling congested try puting a bit of apple cider vinegar in your tea, or, for the brave, swallow the tiniest bit of the vinegar. it really helps, even though it tastes pretty bad.

and for the people who still can't get this in their heads, DONT EAT/DRINK ANYTHING COLD!

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:11am

aspirin constricts your blood vessels and has actually been proven to increase instances of vocal hemorraging. (WAY worse than nodes or any other vocal problem)

only take aspirin if you REALLY need to....stick with gargling salt water if you get a sore throat.

[Jesus]

Posted: 8/23/06 at 11:50pm

Learn to sing through your bridges...

[Matthewjames]

Posted: 8/24/06 at 3:47pm

tried the apple cider vinager thing
it tasted so bad lol
didn't work for me.

usually i find that tea, warm water, garlgling with slat water, and sleep really helps

[aspen]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 2:32am

^^ *Agrees* Sleep is the single most important factor for me personally. Being tired has a huge effect on my voice.

And if you sing bel canto tired, it's almost impossible to raise your upper palate without yawning.

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 5:05am

When you are at a restaurant, ask for your water with no ice and one or two slices of lemon. Lemon is good for loosening flem.

Drink lemon tea.

The night before an audition or performance, don't eat anything after 8 and get plenty of sleep.

Two words: Thayer's Lozenges :)

Singer's Saving Grace throat spray Professional Strength is so awesome. Unlike any other spray; even better than Vocal-Eze. Tastes extremely bitter, but after a few uses, you get used to it.

No dairy or citrus fruit on performance/audition days.

Begin each morning with light exercise to strengthen your stomach muscles and get the blood flowing (Yoga exercises are awesome for this). Also, sing a little, even on days you're not performing. Go up and down the scale ... know why Steven Tyler is better than ever at almost 60? He damages his throat nearly every night on a tour, but by taking great care of his voice and being extremely strict about vocal health, and by having perfect singing technique (Which he lacked in the early days of Aerosmith), you would never know it.

And take in deep breaths, but as you go up, use less breath by "closing off" parts of the throat. But that deep breath you took will allow you to stay in that same voice and prevent you from going into falsetto. This process is called "zipping up."

All I can think of :)

[DrunkyMcWasted]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 5:17am

Don't drink anything too hot or too cold right before you sing.

Throat Coat tea is a lifesaver. Also, try some lemon herbal tea with honey.

Not all cough/throat drops are bad, but some are. Avoid anything with menthol, and whatever you do don't use Chloraseptic. Try drops with vitiamin C and/or pectin, but the best ones for your voice are Slippery Elm Bark.

Warm up before you sing. Or if, you don't do warm up exercizes (I admit, I'm occasionally guilty of it), at least sing something easy first. Don't just open your mouth and belt up to a C.

Sing within your vocal range and style. There's nothing wrong with working on your range, but not everybody can sing everything... no matter how good your voice is. If you're a belter with a lower range, for gods sake don't sing Light In the Piazza at the top of your lungs. By the same token, if you're not a belter, don't try to belt higher than you're capeable of. If it feels or sounds like you're straining, you probably are. It's a good way to do permanent damage to your voice.

Get a voice teacher who works well with YOUR voice. Find someone who you get along reasonably well with, who knows what they're talking about, and will help you improve and train YOUR voice, not try to turn your voice into Idina Menzel's. Just because someone was a good teacher for so-and-so doesn't mean they're the right teacher for you.

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 8/25/06 at 5:58am

Permit me to add this: if you are lucky enough to find a Speech Level Singing certified coach (http://www.sethriggs.com has a searchable list by location) or at least one who is familiar with SLS, go for it. Expensive, but well worth it. After the first month, after the first week even, you'll have gained so much. Including a much higher and broader range than you ever thought possible.

Don't limit yourself; that's what I've always gone by and what our main singing teacher in Summer conservatory at AMT told us. The only difference between Kristen Chenoweth and you is that she has had a lot more training; that's the "only" difference. If you hear her albums or see a performance on PBS, what she is doing is really simple. Relatively easy. Not rocket science.

Her God-given gift is "not" natural talent, but rather an endless and limitless passion and awesome commitment to better herself and maintain what she feels is truly important for her, which is to perform.

Updated On: 8/25/06 at 05:58 AM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:31am

dont drink/eat the following

minty things (including gum)
chocolate
soda
nuts
anything high in acidity

If your toothpaste is minty try and switch it to something like cinnamon :)

[aspen]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 12:02pm

Why nothing minty? I find that putting a drop of peppermint oil in the water when I steam my face really clears my sinuses.

I have noticed that aspartame, found in sugarfree gum and diet soda, seems to have a bad effect.

[smilinggiggle]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 2:44pm

I like mint. It seems to help me...just not menthol (like in some couch drops)

[Marlene]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 1:32pm

If you're dry in the throat...chamomile tea! Tea with lemon if you’re phlegmy.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/28/06 at 12:18am

I went to the ENT recently and the doctor said that something about mint can have really bad long term affects. He's a pretty respected doctor so I trust his advice, I haven't really felt any problems before fromm it either but I guess it's bad! I'll google it and see what comes up..

[typecastme22]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:20am

I can't remember what it is for the life of me but there is some liquid that you gargle with right before singing and it's supposed to help. All I remember if that it came in a bottle similar to hydrogen peroxide. I'll try and remember what it is.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:22am

stretch out before you sing. you're ENTIRE body, including back, jaw, tongue, and anything else you can think of. it really helps!

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 3:25am

I don't know of any special liquid to gargle before singing, but gargling salt water is good for soothing and clearing out the throat. And taking a Thayers lozenge about an hour before and then spray Singers Saving Grace Professional Strength (not the other, as it's not as beneficial) two or three times in the throat right before you sing works perfectly.

[butnooneisme]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 10:49am

Wow. All these tips are fantastic. The two I have to add:

Akalol- My mom was teaching a seminar class, woke up the morning of it with no voice and her assistant found this for her. We always have a bottle of it. It helps for nasal congestion and sore throats. Gargle a bit of it. You will clear up quite quickly, I swear.

Breathing- When I'm starting a song or a phrase, I try to breathe in the shape of the next vowel combination sound I make. Not just breathing in a deep breath, but breathing In the shape of "en" before singing Benedictus helped me to hold it out for 6 measures. I don't know if that made sense or will help but it's been very helpful for me.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 11:56am

I have to ask: What the hell is "akalol"? (I'm guessing alcohol.)

I mean that in the nicest way possible, not trying to be rude.

[butnooneisme]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:11pm

http://www.alkalolcompany.com/

[typecastme22]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:48pm

Yes! It was alkalol. That's what I was thinking of. Thanks.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:02pm

Thanks. Forgive me my stupidity.

[typecastme22]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 2:41pm

I really find that getting your whole body into singing really helps. I don't mean jumping and swinging your body around...but just understanding that your entire body supports your voice and really being actively aware of it.

Also, when I go up for the high notes, making sure that my mouth is very narrow and elongated as opposed to wide open (which generally causes me to actually scream the note instead of sing) makes it sound much much much better.

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/30/06 at 8:06pm

My biggest tip is to commit a serious portion of time before you sing to actually warming up. It is so very important. If you are singing for more than 45 minutes, an appropriate cool-down afterwards will help you be able to sing the next day.

[Marlene]

Posted: 8/30/06 at 10:29pm

"I went to the ENT recently and the doctor said that something about mint can have really bad long term affects. He's a pretty respected doctor so I trust his advice, I haven't really felt any problems before fromm it either but I guess it's bad! I'll google it and see what comes up.."

That's interesting because the voice teacher I had all summer kept drinking mint tea...