Taylor Sappe

BMI affiliated published songwriter since 1979
Private Music Instructor at DeMelfi School of Music and "in-your-home" instruction

Photo by Ken Gallagher

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Vocal Tips

How water affects singing

Dehydration and mucous are the two worst enemies of the voice. When you begin to dehydrate, your mucous membranes will secrete mucous to compensate for the dryness and cause you problems when you try to sing. Even before this happens, your voice may become raspy because of the dryness. If you don't realize that you are dehydrating, it will be evident with the raspiness in your voice. Be sure to get some pure water in you at the first sign of raspiness, but preferably before you begin to sing.

Drinking filtered or bottled water without chemicals is recommended because the chemicals in tap water can irritate the throat and vocal chords and minimize the amount of time you will be able to sing before your voice tires. Different types of bottled water are better than others. The best is distilled water, because it has no chemicals or minerals to cause any digestion activity.

How coffee affects singing

Coffee has a drying effect on the throat and is not recommended during a practice session or performance. However, if you want to get a raspy sound in your voice for a heavier rock or blues sound, coffee can bring this about. It is a good idea to keep a bottle of water with you as well. This way you can control the level of raspiness without blowing out your voice too early in the show.

Tea and honey

Many singers drink tea and honey for their voice. I do not recommend tea because one of the keys to singing is relaxation. If you drink regular tea, the caffeine will hinder the relaxation process. However, if you drink a decaffeinated red tea or herbal tea, it will help to relax you. Putting a teaspoon of honey in the tea will help to break up the phlegm.

How Yoga affects singing

Professional singers function on both nervous energy and relaxation of various parts of the body. This is necessary for independent movement of different muscles involved in the singing process. Relaxation in the face, neck, jaw, tongue, lips, swallowing muscles and larynx is essential for singing. Relaxation of the fingers, hands, wrist and forearm is essential to all instrumentalists. Relaxation of the navel center is essential to both instrumentalists and vocalists.

Balance is also essential to all of the above, and can only be achieved through relaxation. Additionally, muscle and joint aches will affect your performance. The better you feel, the better you can perform.

Here are some of the benefits of yoga:

	The basic breathing technique used in yoga is the same breathing technique used in singing. Stretches the muscles and lubricates the joints to keep out those old age pains. The absence of pain alone will help your performance both vocally and instrumentally. Additionally, if you practice an instrument for long hours every day, tendonitis is bound to get you. Yoga will both relieve existing tendonitis and prevent future tendonitis.
	Helps to achieve relaxation of all parts of the body, and allows you to consciously control what parts of your body you want to focus on for deeper relaxation. In my first semester at Berklee College of Music in Boston, I overheard a conversation between an violinist and another musician. The violinist was explaining how he had trouble playing smoothly until he learned that relaxation is the key to a good performance.
	Helps to achieve balance. Professional dancers and singers make yoga a part of their daily routine for this purpose. The more balanced the muscles are to a singer, the more effortless the process of singing.
	Yoga involves chanting as well as stretching. Chanting is vocalizing, which is beneficial to all singers. The chanting also vibrates the pineal gland and causes it to secrete endorphins, which are the body's natural pain killers, healing chemicals, and mood enhancers. The absence of pain and improvement of mood is essential to all aspects of performing. Someone who is depressed irritable, in pain or stressed in any way will not perform as well as someone who feels good at the time of performance.
	Serious musicians practice for long hours. In addition to tendonitis, practicing for long hours makes you stiff in the back, neck and shoulders. A brief yoga break loosens up that stiffness and enables you to practice for more hours.

If you are serious about your music, go to your nearest yoga instructor and sign up for a class.

Hear yourself

In order to sing on pitch, it is crucial that you hear yourself. If the music is too loud and you can’t hear every note clearly, you will have difficulty singing on key. Practicing a'capella (without music) is helpful in ironing out all of the minor defects in pitch. Using a metronome while practicing a'capella helps to use the energy most efficiently, and the accurate timing helps in the memory process. To perfect a song, it should be practiced first a'capella with a metronome until the feel is just right. Then practice it without the metronome until the feel is right. Then practice it with the music.

Warm up/warm down

Before starting your daily singing chores, be sure to warm up your voice starting at a low volume level. A good instructor will show you the various warm up techniques from beginner to advanced.

After you have been singing for several hours, your voice may begin to get a little raspy. When you are finished singing, it is a good idea to do a warm down exercise, starting at a high volume level and gradually bringing it down to a low volume level. This will prevent vocal blowout and it will take you less time to warm up the next day.

Warming up and warming down is especially important for professional singers who sing for long hours every day. It's like tuning up your instrument. Your body is your instrument and it needs to be tuned. A good warm up will bring your muscles into balance, vibrate and tune your resonance chambers and get your ear in tune with accurate pitches.

For complete music lessons, email me.