More vocal tips — from me, myself and I

Eventually, any performing singer-songwriter probably comes up with his/her own bag of tricks when it comes to vocals — but there are tried-and-true tactics that can work for everyone when comes to taking care of your voice, strengthening it and warming it up (remember what vocal coach Siobhan Quinn had to say about that in a recent post?)

Well, I’ve got my own bag o’ stuff that I think helps me when I’m singing, that I’ve developed over the past 10-15 years of getting my song on. In fact, I think my voice has improved a great deal over the years, which I think is fabulous considering I have moved past the big 4-0!

Here are some ways I think anyone can some va-va-voom to their vocals and let their songwriting sound even better:

1) Meow.

Yes, that’s what I said. Meow. Like a cat. Did you know that any song can be meowed? Try it, it works. And it’s a great warmup to get the feeling of resonance in your nose and sinuses and an easy, fun way to get your voice warmed up in the car or in the bathroom or even on stage. If anyone looks at you strangely, just tell them you’re channeling your inner kitty.

2) Get in touch with your pelvic floor.

I will pinky-swear that my voice has improved since I started doing serious Pilates work a couple of years back. Of course, I’m not doing Pilates to get buff or make my voice strong; it’s actually to combat some of the muscle pain issues and hypermobility of my joints I’ve struggled with for the past few years. But a great side effect is a stronger pelvic floor, which helps support my neck, head, and throat, creating an opening for a stronger, more powerful voice. What’s the pelvic floor, you ask (especially you guys)? To be blunt, it’s the muscles you use to hold in your pee. Weak pelvic floor muscles equal weak core muscles in your pelvis, abdomen and trunk. Strong pelvic floor muscles send power right up to where you need it when you sing. Want stronger pelvic floor muscles? Just do your Kegel exercises. Even the guys. Seriously. I’m no Kegel-ologist but I think it really works.

3) Do what Jon Bon Jovi does.

I used to take voice lessons from Jon Bon Jovi’s voice teacher, Katie Agresta, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (she used to teach Cyndi Lauper, too!). He used to actually fly her out to his concerts around the world so he could get a lesson in before going on stage. Katie always had some simple, good vocal strengthening exercises that I still do — things like singing “La-Ga-La” up and down the scale. But it was really visualizing Jon Bon Jovi doing the same exact exercises “La-Ga-La…Living on a Prayer!” that I was doing that got me motivated and practicing.

4) Get enough sleep.

There is nothing I can possibly do to bother my voice more than not sleep. They say you shouldn’t eat cheese before you sing, or alcoholic beverages, or anything sugar-y. But for me, none of that matters if I haven’t slept. Getting my Zzzzz’s keeps my voice in shape — so if I get my 8 hours, I can eat that piece of pizza right before a gig. Sort of.

Any vocal tips in your own performing bag of tricks you can share? Anything that works for you on a consistent basis?

Tagged as: performing, singer-songwriter, vocals

  • http://www.cerebellumblues.com Jeff Shattuck

    Love this post, though I will never be a singer!

    One add: get behind the lyric. Seriously, make sure your delivery matches the words, makes them better, makes them sing.

  • http://www.helenaustin.com Helen Austin

    Love this!!! I will be meowing from now on!!

    Another great one if your voice is feeling ropey but want to warm up is to BRRR up an down scales… you will be surprised how much air you need to do this (and possibly how little are using normally!). It protects your vocal chords.

  • http://www.leapinglulu.com Kent Braddy

    Great article! I say in addition to sleep: stay hydrated. When I’m drying out, I completely lose my lower register and sound like an asthmatic. Drink plenty of water the day of your gig. The extra trips to the bathroom are worth the vocal health. (Not to mention you can practice those—whaddya call ‘em—Kegel things, too!)

    Also—a tried and true gimmick—eat Lay’s potato chips. I’m talking the original greasy, salty kind. Not as a regular part of your diet, mind you, but rather just before you perform or record. For some reason that combination of grease and salt seem to keep things less gummed up in the throat. For the same effect, some folks like to down an ounce or two of olive oil, but that really gags me. Do what works for you, but I’ll stick with the chips!

  • http://www.sharongoldmanmusic.com Sharon Goldman

    Wow! I have never heard the potato chip idea…how fabulous if that really works, an excuse to eat greasy chips!

  • Bryan

    @Kent Braddy… I’ve never heard of that before. It’s an interesting hypothesis, although from my understanding of vocal chord protection, I don’t think it would work. I believe the salt would scratch up the throat and the grease would coat it, making it more difficult to sing distinctly.

    I don’t know for sure that you’re wrong, but I would probably advise strongly against it; if everything I’ve heard about different types of food (cheese, meat, etc.) are correct, then eating just about anything directly before putting a lot of strain on your voice is not a good idea! I’ve heard over and over again that the best thing you can do is just drink luke-warm water. Not hot or cold, and definitely nothing else besides water, because tea or milk or anything else will affect your vocal chords in a variety of different ways… all of them bad!

    Carbonated water (club soda, sparkling water, etc.), however, is also good. There is no sugar or flavoring to mess things up… just water with a little bit of bubbly to titillate the vocal chords. It does wonders for my voice!!

    Hope that helps. :-)

  • http://www.uniquefrequencies.org Miriam

    This is a great blog, thanks for sharing the extra tips Sharon and everyone else! I do find that if I eat too much, meaning the quantity of food consumed, before performing, it really affects my breathing! So I try to limit my portion size and I will agree with the dairy products affecting what’s going on in the throat. I tend to drink room temperature water but sometimes bow to a small coffee if I am really tempted.
    As far as tips are concerned, I think really enjoying what I am doing makes a big difference, regardless of whether I manage to warm up properly or not. If I am feeling tense or stressed; if I’ve had a bad start to the day or am totally overtired, I find it much harder to relax.
    But if I am feeling confident, knowing that the best thing I can do whilst performing is really enjoy the moment, my voice seems to really come to the party and my whole body seems to relax right into it.
    I hope this helps too!