Changes of season are a time we are susceptible to vocal issues due to colds, allergies, flu, etc.

Here are a few tips for maintaining good vocal health:

-Eat well and exercise. Your overall health impacts your vocal health. Take care of yourself!

-Stay hydrated. Drinking lots of water acts like lubrication to help your vocal cords vibrate efficiently. This borders on too much information but, if you’re doing hydration right you’ll have to pee more often. If you’re performing a demanding role work pee breaks in as part of your track. If you’re shooting, pee right before you go on set.

– Get adequate rest. Sleep is the great healer! Don’t underestimate its power.

-For obvious reasons, please don’t smoke.

-Try to avoid alcohol; it swells your vocal cords. Minimize caffeine too. (I know!)

-If you’re using your voice a lot, take vocal breaks whenever possible. For instance, try not to talk during rehearsal breaks or on your lunch break. If you must talk, speak normally. Don’t whisper!

-Make sure your vocal technique is tension free. No pushing, straining, squeezing or reaching for high notes or that emotional climax to your scene. Tension is Public Enemy #1 for performers. Find a good coach to help you identify and release your habitual tensions. I know a good one if you need a recommendation.

-Please don’t clear your throat. It’s like grinding your vocal cords together. Swallow or sip water instead.

-If you’re sick and your voice is sore, irritated or hoarse, use common sense. Don’t talk. If you must sing with minor throat irritations avoid using antiseptic sprays that numb your throat while performing. Pain is the body’s mechanism that alerts you when there is a problem. Just stay within your limits vocally while keeping your physical energy up. Better to feel the discomfort than risk injuring yourself because you felt fine singing or speaking on the spray.

-Use a cool mist humidifier in your home and/or dressing room. The moisture is great for the voice and the cool mist (vs. warm mist) will not encourage the growth of bacteria.

-Warm up slowly. Start with a physical warm up first to energize and loosen up your body. Yoga, full body stretching, running whatever gets you going. Be literal. When you start to sweat, you’re warm. Your voice will respond faster after exercise allowing you to use your voice less during warm up. Warm up slowly not going too high too fast. Humming is great. Whenever you start to feel tension creeping in come back down in pitch (spoken or sung) then approach again, relaxing as you go. Lots of buzz in your nasal passages and sinus cavity will amplify your sound and help it cut through.

-Lastly, please forgive my being a dad for a moment but, stay warm. Don’t expose yourself to the elements unnecessarily. Wear a coat, a hat, a scarf. Spring will really be here to stay soon enough.

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All my best,

Philip

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Philip Hernandez is a respected acting teacher and singing coach in NYC. He is also the only actor in Broadway history to play both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. He created principal roles in Broadway’s Kiss of the Spiderwoman and Paul Simon’s The Capeman. You may also know him from his many television appearances: The Blacklist, Gotham, Blue Bloods, The Path, Bull, Nurse Jackie, Elementary, Person of Interest, Law and Order, Hostages and Damages to name a few. For information about acting lessons CLICK HERE or singing lessons CLICK HERE. 

Follow him on twitter @philip24601, on Instagram @philip24601 and on Facebook at @philip24601.