(from Singer Network, a service of Chorus America)

10 Easy Rules for Vocal Health

Simple steps for a long and enjoyable singing life.
Margaret Baroody

1. Sleep well
Sleep deprivation can be very detrimental to general health as well as vocal health. Not getting enough sleep negatively affects cognitive and motor functions. Work place accidents as well as car accidents are regularly attributed to sleep deprivation. And during the deepest sleep, called REM sleep, the very important life-sustaining process of cellular regeneration occurs. I am not ashamed to admit that one factor motivating me to try to get more sleep is the connection between sleep deprivation and weight gain. Now that's incentive! So what is the correct amount of sleep? Obviously, people are different but many sleep experts feel that less than four hours is potentially detrimental and that seven to eight hours or more is best. You know when you feel your best and that can be your guide. Begin by trying to increase your sleep by 30 minutes per night. Once you have mastered that, move on to another 30 and so on until you reach what feels right for you.

2. Drink up
Your vocal folds like to stay warm and moist. The vocal folds are basically muscle covered by a layer of tissue called the mucosa. Think of this mucosa as tissue paper that must be able to waft freely in the breeze in order for you to produce your best voice. For this to happen, the folds must stay properly hydrated. Otherwise, they cannot move freely or have easy, unencumbered contact with each other. When the folds are not moving freely, the entire system begins to overwork. Imagine a car engine without the proper amount of oil to lubricate the parts. The vocal folds are moisturized both by the air you breathe and your fluid intake. The fluids that you drink don't generally touch the vocal folds on the way down. These liquids travel through the stomach and small intestines and systemically back into the vocal folds. This usually takes 30 minutes or more. Aim for eight glasses of water per day as a suggested amount. Start the day with two eight-ounce glasses. Since caffeine is a diuretic, for every cup of caffeinated beverage, drink a cup of water. Keep water handy and drink little sips all day long. Don't gulp it down just before you are to sing or before heavy voice use.

This may cause you to "reflux" the water and stomach contents. Remember the old adage: "Pee pale." If you drink enough water, your urine should be a pale color, unless you are taking vitamin supplements that can color the urine.

3. Keep breathing
In a sense, the air you breathe "becomes" your voice at the level of your vocal folds. Therefore you need to make sure you are breathing adequately for the vocal tasks you are performing. If you are in a quiet room, talking to one or two people, you will not need the same amount of air as when talking to thirty or more out-of-control students or addressing a business meeting. For most of us, our work lives produce some tension. This can lead to an endless cycle of muscle contraction and shallow breathinguntil you're as tight as a fist. You can break this cycle by doing some deep breathing for one to two minutes, and then periodically during the day. Try to keep your breathing calm, deep, and relatively relaxed.

4. Good posture
Think about how a pianist sits at a piano or how a classical violinist holds her or his instrument. They sit that way or hold the instrument at that angle for a reason: It is the most efficient way to produce sound from the instrument. The same is true with your vocal instrument, your body. The entire system works more efficiently when posture is optimum. Good posture is a simple and yet effective way to improve your vocal function. Good posture is not sitting "military" straight. Think instead of remaining long waisted, creating the most comfortable distance between your hips and your shoulders without arching your back. Also be aware of your head and neck alignment and of releasing tension in your shoulders and neck. Align your hips over the knees, with knees never locked, your shoulders over your hips and your ears over your shoulders. Better alignment allows the respiratory system to function more freely and the larynx to sit more relaxed in the neck-throat region. For more help with posture and alignment, read about methods such as The Alexander Technique and The Feldenkrais Method, or find an experienced practitioner who teaches these methods.

5. Hang loose
Any athlete knows that if the muscles are overly tensed, engaging in a sport becomes more effortful. The same is true for singing. Our muscles need to remain in a relatively relaxed posture in order to give our best performance. Notice what a sprinter does before a race or a boxer between rounds. They shake out negative muscle tensions. I like the image of clothes on a clothes

hanger. I imagine that my bones, my skeletal system, is the coat hanger and my muscles are the clothes. During rehearsals, or any time you feel tight, take a stretch break. Stretch your arms over your head. Bend at the waist, seated or standing, and take three deep inhales. Roll your shoulders. Perform gentle neck stretches. Add any other exercises that make you feel a little less tense. Never engage in a stretching activity that causes discomfort or is counter-indicated because of health issues.

6. Not so loud!
The Lombard Effect asserts that when human beings are around ambient noise, no matter how slight, we subconsciously increase the volume of our voice to compete with the noise. It is very hard to control this subconscious instinct. Why is this increased volume potentially harmful to the voice? Clap your hands together softly. That is similar to quiet talking. Now clap them together slightly harder, then harder yet, then as hard as you can. You will notice that the volume of your clapping noise increases as your hands hit together harder. This is like your vocal folds at louder volume levels. While the vocal folds are designed to take a certain amount of contact force, there are limits. Every voice has a limit beyond which it cannot go without beginning to break down, no matter how perfect your technique. Think about the volume of your voice, both when you are singing and when you are speaking. Are you singing louder than your choral neighbors? What about at workare you in situations where you must talk over other people or other sounds? Think of your voice as an interest payment you are given each day. You are allowed $10 worth of voice per day. Where are you going to spend that $10? Once it's gone, you are speaking and singing on your capitol, not your interest, and that is a sure way to put your voice at risk.

7. Slow down
As a rule, the faster we talk, the less we breathe and the more tense our vocal systems become. Slow down your rate of speech. When you first attempt this, it may seem awkward and unnatural, but I guarantee that your listener will hardly notice. This slower rate will not only allow your vocal system to work more effective but may also produce a more calming environment for you and the people with whom you live and work.

8. Less is more
As a voice teacher I have a habit of filling dead airspace with what I am sure are pearls of knowledge and words of encouragement without which students will never be able to fulfill their artistic destinies. But studies are beginning to show that all of those verbal instructions of mine may not help my students learn more quickly. In fact, people do better if they learn to more effectively monitor

themselves. If your job or vocation requires a lot of verbal instruction (that includes you, parents!), think about areas in which you might cut back. Think of your voice as a prescribed measurement. It might surprise you to discover that as much as 20 percent of what you say could be eliminated without a negative impact.

9. Silence is golden
As a vocal athlete, your vocal folds need all the rest you can give them, even when you don't think they need that rest. Do you really need to have that conversation during your lunch hour? Do you really need to call that person on your cell while driving home? Phones are notoriously hard on the voice. When you are speaking on the phone, you can't see the other person's mouth movements, facial expressions and hand gestures, so you work harder to communicate. This usually means over-working the voice.

10. Chill out

Everyone needs time to recharge. Your body needs time and your mind and spirit need time. Give yourself some time just "to be"not "to do." It can be important to engage in activities that relax you, whether it is exercise, reading, watching TV, or listening to music. But also take moments where you are doing absolutely nothing, where you are vegetating, letting your mind go completely blank. This is what I call "drift time." "To-be time" or "drift time" is essential to creative development. It allows your brain to recharge in ways nothing else can. Sadly, in our society, we have lost the understanding of the importance that absolute relaxation time can play in maintaining good physical, mental, and spiritual health. So those are the 10 easy rules for vocal health. If you could miraculously apply all of these suggestions at once, would that completely change your voice production and protect you from all vocal problems? Probably not. But even the smallest adaptation of these suggestions may improve your ability to produce better voice while protecting your instrument. A good way to start is to tackle just one idea at a time. As my eighth-grade math teacher, Mrs. Stokes, used to say: "Yard by yard, it's hard. Inch by inch, it's a chinch!" This article is adapted from Margaret Baroody's seminar, "The Care and Maintenance of the Voice of the Choral Director and Choral Singer," given at the 2009 Chorus America Conference in Philadelphia.

About the Author

Margaret Baroody is a singing voice specialist in the voice medicine practice of Drs. Joseph Sataloff, Robert T. Sataloff, Karen Lyons, Yolanda Heman-Ackah, Harvey Tucker, and Venu Devi in Philadelphia. Widely recognized for her work with injured voices, Baroody also maintains a busy private voice studio. Baroody has written frequently on the subject of singing, including contributing to the books Vocal Health And Pedagogy, Professional Voice: The Science And Art Of Clinical Care, and Choral Pedagogy. Baroody is a professional mezzo-soprano with extensive performance experience in opera, oratorio, and recital.

Related Links
Choral Pedagogy by Brenda Smith and Robert Thayer Sataloff Plural Publishing, a communication science publishing company, sells various books and texts on vocal health.