A Lemon Drop is Not a Magic Elixir A while back I received a phone call from a panicked music director who was very concerned with keeping his choir members and soloists healthy during the final week of preparation for a major musical performance. He was fielding questions regarding vocal health and he had no clue as to how to answer them. I was flattered he called and I was glad to help. Since I spent quite a bit of time with him, I thought the readers of this column might benefit from this information. These dedicated choral singers were being very responsible when it came to their performance. They were diligently working on their performance and it would have been a sad thing to know that all of a sudden they could not depend on their instruments. These singers, waking up with a cold or allergy problem, could not be blamed for searching for a magic elixir that would bring their voice back. Let us take a few minutes and consider some things that might restore some function. Most of what is available is precautionary. Foremost of all is a good attitude. A singer will never feel 100% healthy and ready to sing. This imagined state of nirvana never existed and never will. It will never happen! We live in an imperfect world. First of all, most of the measures used by singers to stay healthy are dubious. They just don’t work. For example, throat lozenges have little effect on your voice because they go down the esophagus and never enter the larynx. The green tea with honey or lemon, gargles, nasal sprays, or even gargling with vinegar, bear witness to the extreme measures some singers try in an effort to attain what they consider maximum performance. Some time ago, a multiple Dove Award winner was in my vocal studio and shared this story with me. The singer stated that at some concerts, they did not feel like singing. Their desire was to be at home being a spouse, a parent, or just relaxing. When you wake up in a hotel room and do not know where you are, who is going to pick you up, or whether the program is Christmas music or last year’s album or this year’s album, ministry ceases to be fun. What this singer did, knowing that they were not 100% into it physically, was to go ahead and perform, and let the Holy Spirit 16
JUL/AUG 2013
take care of the rest. The spirit was willing, respond negatively to pollen at a count of but the flesh was weak. 60. Also, during this time in Atlanta, your car A second point to focus on when trying will be completely covered in yellow pollen to keep the voice functioning is hydration. similar to a snowfall. This is what people Watering restrictions may apply to your are breathing up their noses. Try the saline lawns, but they do not apply to singers. solution. It is inexpensive and effective. While a person is under the stage lights performing, the body temperature will rise slightly, dehydrating the body. The U.S. Army did a study on soldiers setting up a tent site for training. They did the study during the summer with temperatures well above 80 degrees. The results showed that the blood flowing through their livers reached an average temperature of 112 degrees Fahrenheit even though their bodies’ temperature measured by an oral thermometer was 99 degrees Fahrenheit. The study also revealed the amount of water soldiers had to drink to keep from feeling thirsty. Each soldier required 3 to 4 gallons of water to make it through the day!
I mention the study not to get you to drink 3 gallons of water a day. I mention it to get your attention regarding hydration. Singers have some things working against them in regards to water intake. They are colas, coffee, air conditioning, and chocolate. These all act as dehydrating agents. Here is a simple formula to remember: for every 12 ounces of caffeinated cola or two cups of coffee, you need to drink 24 ounces of water to counter the dehydrating effects of the caffeine. Hydration is critical to good singing.
The fourth thing I told the music director was to tell his singers not to do something stupid right before the performance. Please don’t be offended by this statement. Let me explain it by giving you an example. Several years ago, one of my students had an important role in his church’s Easter musical production. He felt less than 100% on the Tuesday before the weekend performances. An illness was coming on. Well take a guess what this person did on Wednesday afternoon. He played golf! During that evening’s rehearsal, his voice cracked profusely on the high C that he was so proud of. By performance time on Saturday, he had a nice case of bronchitis. The singer gamely performed his part, but the experience wasn’t pleasant for him or the audience. Obviously, playing golf was not smart. Also consider not working in your yard the week prior to a major performance! That might be a stupid thing to do. The music director called me back after his program and reported on his choir members. He had given them all of the four points. The final tally – all were fine for the performance, but one singer came down with an illness the Monday following the program.
Try these simple suggestions. They may The third tip I passed on to this music work for you. Right now, I’m going to go find director was saline solution. This is a little a lemon drop! bottle of 0.65% salt-water solution that you Now go sing well! can purchase at the grocery or drug store for less than $5.00. You bring it home, unpack it, and squirt it up your nose. This solution Roger Beale is one of the nation’s moisturizes your nasal cavity, washes the foremost vocal coaches. He bacteria and debris out of your nasal cavity, presently works with professional thins your nasal mucus, and hopefully keeps a singers in all areas of musical cold from becoming a sinus infection. performance. His teaching and coaching facility, The Voice House, Here in Atlanta, Georgia, this is an utter is involved in the management necessity during the last days of March and and care of the professional voice. the first weeks of April. At this time, the pollen Roger can be contacted at: The count from all the trees in the area soars to a whopping 4,000+ count. To put that into Voice House, 1029 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 276, perspective, some allergy sufferers start to Peachtree City, GA 30269, (404) 822-5097, e-mail:
CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM
voicehouse@mindspring.com.