Is there anything that I should be doing before a gig to warm up?

This is a list of ideals as it would not be realistic to expect you to do all of these, but if your voice is
unpredictable when you gig then you might want to try these out, Over time you will get an idea of what
you can and can't get away with, and you will be able to shorten your list!

Remember we are all different, so what works for one person may not work for another, and of course as you
get older you will be able to get away with less too.

Do
  • Warm-up your voice and body before singing
  • Get lots of sleep
  • Drink lots of water throughout the day and only warm water when you are singing.
  • mark the music when you are rehearsing a lot to protect your voice
  • Rest your voice if your throat feels fatigued
  • gargle warm salt water, helps to clear phlegm
  • warm-down after singing
  • Healthy diet ( heart burn can effect the vocal folds, especially at the top of your range).
Don't
  • Sing from your throat
  • shout if the monitor mix is too quiet, get the sound engineer to turn it up!
  • consume dairy products
  • Smoke
  • shout or talk loudly, when at a gig especially after a performance
  • eat spicy food
  • take drugs
  • Cough (try gargling to clear the tickle).
  • Clear your throat too heavily (try some water and swallow strongly to clear the phlegm).
  • Eat a big meal before you sing (you will find it hard to get a good deep breath, and thus hold a note).

The monitor Mix

I would just like to go over the second point on the don't list, if you shout because you can't hear yourself, the chances are that everybody else can hear you just fine so when you start to shout people will wonder what is going on, but worst of all you will start to go out of tune, the dynamics of the song will be lost and people will think that you are a bad singer. Make sure the monitor mix is at a good level for you, sound engineers expect you to tell them if the volume is wrong for you, so don't be shy.

Will singing lessons change the sound of my Voice?

I hear this one a lot, the answer is no, unless you want to change your voice (tone) that is! Normally people who ask this question have a classical voice sound in there head and think that this is what happens when you have lessons, that somehow their voice will loose its uniqueness. This is just not the case, a good teacher will add to the palate of colours that you already have (dynamic registration), if you need it that is.

The classical sound comes from singing with a low larynx and this is not the case for pop, where the best place for the larynx is in the middle. This is normally where you speak.

How Long will it be before I can sing well?

The answer to this is the same answer as to ″how long is a piece of string″, who knows. It depends what level you are when you start, what you want to be able to do, and your commitment to working on it.

What key do I sing in?

Strictly speaking it's not a matter of key but where the tessitura of the song lies. This is what you are told when some one is quoting it, but in the real world we all have area's in our voice that we find it easier to sing in,

for example I have a 4 octave range (above average) but I find it most comfortable to sing between C4 down to C3, I feel like I could sing here all day, this is my tessitura area, so any song with the bulk of the melody notes in that area would be for me very easy, even though I can sing in any key.

If you have a more limited range the key is important, if you can't reach the high note in one key you will need to drop the key until you can just hit the high note.

Stage Fright

We all suffer from nerves a bit, it's good for you, keep's you on your toes, gets the adrenalin pumping which helps you to give that bit more on the night, but when you get it so bad that you are sick that's not a good thing. I have found the following to be very helpful in calming me down; you can use this whenever you are feeling anxious, not just before singing:

  1. Sit, stand comfortably (not hunched over) or lie on the floor.
  2. Close your eyes, just listen to your breath going in and out of your body.
  3. Now inhale as if breathing in the scent of a rose for the first time, notice how deep into your lungs the air goes it should feel like your stomach is filling with air (although it's not).
  4. Breathe deeply and slowly in through the nose, and then slowly out of the mouth just listen to the breath and forget everything else, if your mind wonders off that's fine on the next breath bring it back
  5. Now as you breathe out (Exhale) focus your mind on where your jaw connects to your skull (the two joints at the sides of your skull) and as you exhale let your jaw just melt into the ground do this until you notice that your jaw is slightly open, this is your jaw relaxed for the first time. Remember a closed jaw is under tension, and that's not good for singing.
  6. Now start to focus on your shoulders and as you breathe out just let them sink into the ground, do
    this until your shoulders feel really relaxed.
  7. Then concentrate on your neck and then go through your body one part at a time checking for any tension, when you find some use this technique to get rid of it.

When you do this right you will feel really relaxed, I mean REALLY RELAXED, but try to stay awake! This exercise is a great why for you to get in touch with your body, after doing this for a while you will be very aware of any tension in your body, and you will know how to get rid of it.

I think that my voice is too breathy, is there anything I can do to sort it out?

Yes,
first lets try to get you feeling the difference between good vocal fold effort (a focused sound) and an unfocused sound (a breathy tone).Do a nice relaxed yawn, do it until it feels really easy and totally relaxed, you should notice how easy it feels and how open your throat feels, if not keep doing it until you feel it.

Now try aa aa aa! (as in cat) as if you where telling someone off, do this a little louder than your speaking voice, do it until you feel a pinching or closing feeling in your throat, now do the yawn then switch over quickly to aa aa aa! Notice the difference? Now hold that aa and change it to AY, you should notice that its louder than how you normally sing, this is because it's more focused a sound, you must keep the same feeling that you had on aa aa aa! or you will not notice a difference.

Another way is to say mmmmmeeeee really slowly and stop before you get to ee so that your lips are closed and you are humming with your lips vibrating (this will tickle!!) then slowly change this to an EEE (as in me) focusing (aiming the sound in exactly the same place as the vibration) when you do this correctly you will feel that the sound is louder again, also you will not run out of breath so quickly!!!

I have strained my voice from singing to loudly, when will I know when it's safe to sing again?

Firstly have a singing teacher check out your technique, as you are doing something wrong! Then rest totally for a day (24 hours), and by that I mean no talking at all, no grunting and certainly no whispering (as this will do more damage than talking!). Then start talking again, if it still hurts, go and see your Doctor. Once you have been checked out, and as long as everything is fine, do the following.

You need to get in touch with your singing instrument; you will know when you are ready as it will feel fine, a little dull throbbing no probs, any sharp feeling then back off! (You will know what I mean if you feel it!) just take it easy, try vocalizing on NG as in sung, this is a nasal constant, try sliding it gently down your range to start with then up and down, gently going a little higher every time, until you reach the end of your range.

Another good one is to sing in falsetto to start with as this is great for healing the vocal folds as it encourages them to work on the thin edges, again slide it up and down your range in the vowel OO as in you, make sure it's not to breathy. When you do this correctly for a couple of minute your throat should feel great and when you speak it should sound nice and clear without any croakiness. You could add this into your warm up and warm down exercises, if you liked.