How Do I Sing With a Sore Throat?
Reading over Monday’s post, I realized that there are some tips I could pass on to you regarding singing with a sore throat, cold or the flu, as I have done it many times before this particular tour.
Due to the international travel and the complete lack of sleep, my resistance was low enough to not fight this flu off as I had been doing for the two previous weeks my wife was fighting it. Everyone in her company came down with it and so we both knew it was a particularly virulent strain. It finally got me after being awake for thirty hours and three plane flights. So here’s what I do:
Drink tons of water, as much as you can stand. This helps to flush out your system and also keep your larynx lubricated. Coughing can wreak havo with your pipes, so the water is really important.
I also mix up different concoctions depending upon whether I have access to a stove or microwave or not. With access to a stove, I cut up a piece of fresh ginger about the size of your thumb, sliced thin and boiled in four cups of water for five minutes of rolling boil. Then I drink that as a tea with honey. Ginger seems to help the body get back in balance. Honey gives you some energy. The Chinese believe ginger to be a panacea.
I also mix a tablespoon of honey with a two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and add a cup of water and drink that along with two aspirins every four hours. That help a lot more than you can believe.
Now to the vocalizing. Even though a cough can tear up your throat, you can still sing if you ease into it. Start with humming in your easiest vocal range, and then after a few minutes, start adding notes to either end of the range you are using. Then start singing a song that you own; one you have sung a million times and your voice knows exactly where to put it.
Yesterday morning at 5 am, after coughing all night, I got up and drove from Chicago to Milwaukee to perform on Mark Concannon’s Fox Morning TV show. It is about ninety miles so, with no traffic, I was looking at 90 minutes of driving. I was scheduled to perform at 8:50, but arrived there at 7 am. I ate a little breakfast because when your throat is sore, a little food will coat it and make it easier to sing (unless you are doing opera and need your complete diaphragm for bel canto). Then I sat in my dressing room and played the song that I was going to sing on the air from 8 am until the sound check and blocking rehearsal. Then once we were all in place, I played the same song until it was time to do the show. It went off flawlessly, even though when I woke up I couldn’t even talk. They then asked me to do another song to play them out. And I could. My voice had shown up.
If you have ever done any jogging, or physical exercise, you know that your muscles can get sore, and it feels like you shouldn’t use them at all til the soreness goes away. But you also know that if you do use them easily at first, the soreness goes away and you can, after a short while, use your muscles just as you always do. It’s the same with your voice, which is also a muscle.
One of the big things is to not get all full of anxiety, because the stress will not let you access your best self. Just relax into the music and don’t worry about the way it sounds at first, it will even out. Getting upset because it doesn’t sound good will only get in your way. Move in faith. Relax and let the music out. It’s always in there.
james lee stanley
in Performing
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Reader Comments (2)
I have to vouch for the effectiveness of whatever measures JLS takes. We had the House Concert of a Lifetime with James yesterday. Despite the fact he was coughing so hard at times that it hurt to hear him, and we questioned whether he would even be able to talk (much less sing), he was amazing as always.
Having said that, I hope you can get home and take care of yourself soon! Ginger tea is great, but that vinegar concoction makes me shudder...
cindi, your house concert was one of my favorite shows i've done. i dont' know where my voice came from but it was sure there, tho it was gone soon thereafter and still hasn't come back. must be that show must go on mindset, hey? your home was wonderful, your audience was truly special and when can i come back?
james lee