Vocal Health: How to prevent long term damage

I am fortunate to have never had any serious vocal issues.  

I exercise regularly, don't smoke or drink, and am very jealous about a minimum of 8 hours of sleep every night.  I truly believe this moderate life has helped me maintain my strength even as I am now in my 57th year of life.

Keeping my voice healthy has had some challenges as I have had many allergies since birth.  I was fortunate to grow out of some, but from time to time something will pop up and my voice gets irritated.   

Or worse, I might fall ill and the illness settles in my throat. 

The best piece of advice I can give is this, and it is a paraphrase of the legendary tenor Carlo Bergonzi:  "If you begin to vocalize and your voice doesn't feel good, stop." 

In other words:

1.  don't push your voice.   You can do a lot of learning by listening to music, softly pronouncing the words, sit at a piano and play through your notes.  The worst thing we can do is to think we MUST sing out to get in a good practice.  So if you are not feeling good, approach the learning process in a different way. 

2.  Sleep.  A good night's sleep works wonders.   When I sing a large role I also enjoy a short nap in the afternoon of a performance.  I try to have a normal lifestyle even of the day of a performance.  I will get up, run errands or have a light workout, eat a light lunch, then lay down for 45 minutes to an hour.  I may only sleep 20 minutes, but I wake up refreshed and always feel my voice has found an extra level of strength and clarity.   Always make sure you finish the nap 3-4 hours before your performance so that you can get your body awakened and ready to go. 

3.  Try to be consistent with your lifestyle so that you can be consistent in preparing for rehearsals in performances:  have a plan. 

4.  Don't TALK!!! I think the worst thing a singer can do is talk too much within 36 hours of a performance.  Talking really grates on your vocal folds. 

5.  Never scream.  Never.  

6.  Try to be very moderate in drinking, and if you smoke, please severely limit it.  

Do these things and you will avoid most of the problems that can stop you from having a quality performance.

Five Tips for a Stellar Audition

Five Tips for a Stellar Audition

1.   Try to sing repertoire in which you are extremely comfortable.  Never add a new piece without proper preparation and having sung it before (unless you were specifically asked by a listener to learn something at the last minute).

2.   Have a stellar pianist.  Needing to lead the pianist by beating time during and audition means you hired a lemon.  An experienced or talented pianist will help you in your total presentation.

3.  Have your words down so that you can interpret the song, AND have a plan of movements to show the listener that you truly know the words and the content of the aria.  Give energy and let them know what you have by being positive in your thinking and energetic in your presentation.

4.  Dress well.  For women, tasteful makeup and moderate heels.  Wearing 5' or 6' platform shoes means you will walk in a very clumsy way.  If you are short, you are short.  Wear moderate heels and you will move more naturally. 

5.  Get your sleep.  If you get your sleep you will have your energy.  If you have your energy you will have your confidence.  If you have confidence and have prepared then you will easily sail through your audition. 

Beautiful Calling

Beautiful Calling
 

I consider opera singing to be a "Beautiful Calling" 

I have often been asked, "How do you sing in a large opera house, one that has over 2000 seats"?

How about if you sing outside am Roten Tor in Augsburg, Germany, or in Italy at Macherata or Caracala in Rome or in the Arena di Verona? 

The Arena hold approximately 20,000 seats for opera! 

In my experience, to increase your voice to be able to sing in huge venues you must use a good balance between "head" and "chest" voice.  I have found many singers, especially sopranos, lean to using a great deal of head voice because it is a pretty, resonant sound.  However, in large spaces, there must be chest voice added in or the voice doesn't travel. 

I was working in Verona one summer (Iago in Otello) and I attend a performance of Aida.  The Aida was a famous singer but she wasn't using any chest voice, a killer for Aida as there are many low notes that require more sound. 

The audience was not pleased and she did not make a very good impression: the sound wasn't big and her low notes were very weak.  

I was impressed, however, to hear her a few years later and she had reworked her voice to have a nice balance of 'head' and 'chest' voice.  She has sung over 20 years at the peak of her profession, and it is because she was able to balance her voice. 

It takes some experimentation and sometimes a good ear to help you find balance, but as long as your can sing easily and stay relaxed, work for a good balance in the registration between 'head' and 'chest' voice.

Posture When Singing

Good posture when practicing or in lessons. 

I often see students looking DOWN at the music while singing.  
What a terrible way to tighten up your throat!!!

If you are looking down then the throat is basically blocking itself from any open sound. 

Many singers feel great CONTROL when looking down or tilting the head down, but we want a free sound, right?

Remember these three rules:

1.  Keep your head up when singing.  This means the music stand you use might need to be raised.
 
2.  Hold music up when singing in choir so that you just see the conductor over the top of the music.
 

3. Stand up when you practice.  Don't sit unless you really know what you are doing.  Sitting can also block your support if you don't keep the chest and head up.  

Support

Is your support too strong?  

Many singers I have found use too strong of a support. 

I believe the support mechanism requires as a rule a gentle support.  If too strong, we run the risk of having muscles too tense around the diaphragm and mid-section. The residual effect can at time carry tension clear up to the throat, therefor affecting the vocal folds. 

If we start tensing unnecessarily in our throat, then we begin to have major issues with tension in the sound: the vocal folds will not be relaxed and vibrate freely, and the throat will be tight, and the sound will be uncomfortable for the singer and listener.
  

Remember these three rules:

1.  The air should always be flowing out of your lungs.  It should feel like a 'river' of air flowing out of your lungs, through the vocal folds and out of your body.

2.  Try to keep your support 'stable' and in your midsection.  Not let the support creep up into your chest or you will be too tight in the throat. 

3.  If you push down too hard in support, then you will also be tightening all the muscles too much. 

So, take a nice round breath, GENTLY push down or out, focus any tension at the sternum (so that the throat can be free), and then you will have a better support and sound.