How to Protect Your Vocal Cords While Singing
- 1). Stay hydrated. Drink water throughout the day to avoid dehydration and drink room-temperature water before singing. Avoid diuretics like caffeine and alcohol.
- 2). Add olive oil to your diet and use it as your primary cooking oil. Some opera singers even gargle with olive oil before singing to lubricate their vocal cords.
- 3). Drink green tea. The antioxidant it contains may protect your throat from free radicals that damage tissue.
- 4). Use honey in your tea. Honey coats your throat and may protect it from infections, as honey has antimicrobial properties.
- 5). Avoid singing in dry, smoggy, or smoky environments if possible.
- 6). Quit smoking cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. These will harm your vocal cords and your general health.
- 7). Do vocal warm-ups before singing. Begin with easy warm-ups --- at low volume and in the middle of your range --- before attempting strenuous, high-range and high-volume exercises.
- 8). Minimize the use of your vocal cords before a performance. Don't yell, laugh loudly, clear your throat heavily or even talk excessively before singing. Allow your vocal cords to rest.
- 9). Don't sing outside your vocal range. Singing at the extremes of your range can damage your vocal cords. Don't strain your voice by belting out notes or pushing your voice excessively.
- 10
Sing with your diaphragm --- the large muscle at the base of your ribcage. The diaphragm controls the rate of your breathing. When you take a deep breath and then exhale slowly using a firm diaphragm, you can modulate and support the breath that passes through your vocal cords. Some singers, and most speakers in normal conversation, use the small muscles of the throat to project the sound. When a singer does this, it can damage his vocal cords. Singers should inhale deeply before singing a note, then project the sound steadily, using the diaphragm, through a relaxed and open throat to avoid straining the vocal cords.
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