TOPIC 2: MY VOICE IS HORRIBLE TODAY, WHAT DO I DO?

We've all had those moments when your voice just doesn't want to cooperate. After all, unlike instrumentalists, we take our voices everywhere with us. Things like cold weather, smoky bars, talking in a loud club all can lead to a tempermental voice. Part of knowing how to fix the problem is to know what's wrong first, so we ask ourselves the question...

Is it our voice, our throat or both?

What's the difference? Well, your voice makes the actual sound, and your throat amplifies that sound. Think of an acoustic guitar. The string is your vocal cord and the body of the guitar is your throat. Cover the hole in the guitar and the strings don't get volume. Put bad strings on the guitar and it will be loud enough, but sound bad.

If you simply have a sore throat or have cotton mouth, the problem most likely lies with your throat. Hopefully that is the case, because it's easier to remedy.

If you're having trouble getting a single note out, or if your voice sounds raspy or breathy, then your voice is most likely the problem. This will take a little more work to fix, and depending on how much screaming you were doing at the football game the night before, you may not get back to 100%.

Your throat
I'll deal with the throat first because it's the easier of the two. Your throat gets sore because it is dry. When your throat is dry, it doesn't reflect sound. So the idea is to make it moist again. Here is where all the home remedies come in: tea, honey, lemon, cough drops. Depending on how long it is until you have to sing, you can try to take in as much water as possible to rehydrate yourself. Otherwise, basically anything that will help coat the throat will give you some extra volume to your voice.

Your voice
Since the vocal cords are very small (the whole instrument is about the size of a nickel) you have to be careful on how you treat a tired voice. Many people try to force the voice to work by singing louder or with more force. This is a mistake, since it will only tire the voice out more. Instead we have to coax it awake and massage it as much as we can to get it back in working order. So never sing too loud for your voice to handle, especially while trying to recover. If you happen to think of your voice at the end of the day (say after that tense football game you were yelling at) you can do something to minimize the damage. Find the lowest note you can sing and hum some nice long tones for 10-15 minutes. This is a cool down exercise, much like stretching at the end of a marathon. If you have a humidifier, turn it on before you go to sleep to help your voice get moisture through the night. When you wake up, take a bunch of deep breaths and start the humming again. Take your time. As you start to feel more in control of your voice, raise the pitch or get a little louder. Try to hum the note as long as you can through these exercises, since it's hard to strain while humming. Once all the humming feels good, you can change to an "ah" or other sound. Let your voice tell you when you're pushing too hard. Doing these exercises in a hot shower will also help your voice, since you will be breathing in moist air as well.

The main key when trying to revive your voice is to take it easy and slow. Trying to stab at those high notes you think you should be able to hit will only make the problem worse. Do these relaxing exercises for a good 30-45 minutes and then try to sing again. It should feel easier. And if you're not there yet, go back to the relaxing exercises again until you feel in complete control.

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