If you’re familiar with Sojourn recordings or worship services, you’ve no doubt heard the vocals of Rebecca Dennison. Rebecca is an amazing singer, featured on Before The Throne (check out the “My Maker And My King” mp3 on our Before The Throne page), These Things I Remember (listen to “Faithful” and “Of Psalm 51″ from that page) and our upcoming Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One. Now, Rebecca begins a series for worship team vocalists and singers of all stripes, focusing on principles and techniques for taking care of your voice. She begins with the first of two articles on How NOT To Lose Your Voice:
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I used to lose my voice at least twice a year – once in the fall and once in the spring. And when I lost it, it was lost for a month – at least as far as singing was concerned.
Here are a few products/treatments I’ve found useful to treat a stressed or ailing voice. Use these things when you can feel that your voice is strained, when you feel a cold coming on (ah, congestion), or when you know that you are or will be stressing your voice (screaming, belting out tunes for hours, singing with a head cold, etc.). Experiment and see which works for you:
Luden’s Throat Drops – I love Luden’s. They are great for soothing a throat that feels a little sore. I had a voice teacher once tell me to never use menthol cough drops. I’m not sure if her reason was right (menthol inflames the throat), but I have found Luden’s to be more helpful than cough drops.
Singer’s Saving Grace Throat Spray - It tastes terrible but it’s great for clearing a coated throat. Mr. Barnes suffers from allergies and he introduced me to Singer’s.
Hot tea (with honey and with lemon if you can come by it) – Living in the Ohio Valley, congestion is a way of life. Honey soothes the throat, the hot tea relieves my congestion without leaving my throat feeling mucous-y (like coffee and sodas do), and lemon helps clear the throat. I know the results better than I know the science :}.
Netti Pot – If you aren’t familiar with the Netti pot you can find all kinds of instructional videos on YouTube. Don’t let them scare you off :}. I bought one this year to kill a cold (which I blame on failing to follow #1 in the article to come next week) that was affecting my voice with congestion. My bandmate, Amber Estes, swears by the Netti pot as a preventative against sinus infections.
Rebecca tells no lies – the Singer’s spray is putrid, but works like gangbusters. Allergy sufferers have to be very careful. A lot of folks assume an anti-hystamine would do the trick, but drying you up isn’t always the best thing for the muscles in your throat. A tea that does good work is one called “Throat Coat”. Once again – not a tasty treat by any means…but it works.
How could I forget Throat Coat tea?! Thanks Jamie.