As a professional singer I am confronted each day by the fact that perhaps my voice won’t do what I wish for it to do… today!
So.. what exactly do I mean…
Well those of you who get up each day and go to work or stay at home you automatically assume that when you open your mouth the right words will come out and somebody can hear / listen to you speak! Right?
But… as a singer sometimes through stress, lack of sleep, illness or environmental factors your singing voice just will not work for you the way you are used to it doing so…. e.g. its like listening to a person who normally speaks well who suddenly when you hear them…their voice has become slow, hoarse, breathy, rough, quiet or maybe they cannot speak at all….This is what happens to singers who perform and its a crisis of major proportions because as a singer you rely on your voice to earn your daily bread!
So.. what can be done.… in simple terms a singer usually will try to carefully and slowly try to re-establish their vocal power by breathing, rest. liquids and quiet…. but if you have a performance sometimes you have to go to an ENT to spray onto your vocal folds a chemical to relax them, ease the infection and allow you to sing…this is both a temporary measure and one to be used only in a big emergency not on a regular basis.
Our voice is exceptionally sensitive to changes in temperature, stress, fluids, food, dryness or moistness, flexibility and unnecessary pressure. Often trying to force your voice to work may cause great damage and mean a longer period of recuperation..
In my limited experience my approach continues to be .. to stop using my voice wherever possible… silence…. rest…. water…. relaxation exercises…and generally humming to slowly bring it back… in other words being very gentle on your voice as your body works to heal the voice structure and allow one to use one’s voice again…
Our body has a great ability to find the means whether its oxygen,blood, fluid or water to help us understand how to heal our voice. The challenge is knowing how to manage your voice while it rehabilitates itself and gets better. For example speaking softer does not help as it puts extra stress on your vocal folds, drinking coffee though comforting might feel good but in essence giving your body a caffeine high is not going to bring your voice back…
So treat your voice with sensitivity as though it needs time, space and care to heal itself…and give it the rest, support, time and care it needs.
Wishing you good vocal health always…
John Norton