A Hoarse Voice? Don't Panic!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010 at 09:40AM I just did three shows in a row. Two of them were house concerts and sound systems were not provided. That means that you end up doing some serious projection singing to be heard and to fill the room with music.
Doing one show like that really isn’t that big a deal, but doing several of them in a row can be daunting, particularly if you sing a little too hard on the first or second gig.
You wake up in the morning with this basso profundo for a voice, which is wonderful for voice over, but unless you are paul Robeson singing Old Man River, can be cause for serious anxiety.
You try to sing your songs and discover that your voice is stiff and simply cannot dieliver the bel canto you usually rely upon. More anxiety sets in and this simply makes it worse.
If you have ever worked out at a gym, or gone for a long run after not doing any activity like that, you will invariably notice the next day how very sore you are; how stiff you are; how difficult moving is as opposed to the simple poetry in motion that is you on a regular basis, you gazelle, you.
If you go back to the gym and work out, you find it difficult at first and then as your muscles begin to warm up, you find it easier until finally your old painless self is back.
Your muscles have warmed up and you are fine. Well guess what?
Your voice is also a muscle. You should warm it up properly and you should know that when it is stiff that this is a temporary condition that you can alleviate by remaining calm and doing easy warm ups until you have it back.
Do not let anxiety create a problem for you when your voice is hoarse. Try humming for a bit and don’t push the range or the notes. Just let it flow out of you easy like. Slowly go up and down your range and slowly increase the range. And drink lots of water as you neeed to be really hydrated when you sing and afterwards.
Don’t panic. You will be fine and so will your voice.
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A cool down after a performance is also a good idea...basically you do your warm ups but do them in a lower falsetto range...and lip trills are good as well as working in your lower register...humming yes also very good...if you are hoarse you have increased blood flow and for athletes when they have an injury they ice it to lessen the blood flow and take down the swelling as well as preventing as much swelling from occurring as possible...so they say cold compresses for the first 24hrs...and hot compresses for the next 24..to get the blood moving...I had a voice pathologist tell me when you have vocal fatigue chug a glass of cold water and dont sing anymore for the day...the next day after the hoarseness has really set in drink herbal tea hot(NOT SCALDING!)...this will get the blood moving...and yes do your warm ups EASILY...work your way back...by by the voice pathologist also told me that he didnt believe in vocal rest(in most cases)so the next day go easy but do use your voice becos you will rebound faster that way...