How to Keep Your Voice Healthy as an Actor
There’s a lot out there about voice warm-ups and exercises to improve your vocal range, flexibility and strength but I’ve noticed a gap in the market. Maintaining good vocal health isn’t as simple as doing a warmup every day, and it’s particularly important when you’re performing every night. Here’s how to keep your vocal folds healthy.
Warmup. Every Day.
A daily voice warmup alone isn’t enough to maintain vocal health, but it cannot be skipped. It’s the same with exercise: before you lift a hundred kilograms, you need to stretch, otherwise you’ll hurt yourself. You should already be doing a warmup every day, even five minutes is enough. You can check out a bunch of our articles with tips for warming up your voice, but here’s my routine.
I use an app called Warm Me Up which creates a new vocal warmup every day. It runs you through a bunch of singing exercises and it’s great for improving your vocal range and flexibility, as well as getting you warmed up. I pair this with some tongue-strengthening exercises and a jaw massage.
How to Steam your Voice
This is one of my favourites because it feels like you’re having a spa day when and you’re doing wonders for your voice. You will need the following:
- A large mixing bowl
- A towel
- A kettle
- Optionally, eucalyptus drops
Step One: Boil some water.
Step Two: Pour boiling water into the bowl.
Step Three: Add a drop of eucalyptus oil (optional, also really intense on the eyes).
Step Four: Cover your head with the towel and drape it over the bowl.
Step Five: Relax and breathe in the steam. Do this for ten minutes and don’t speak for at least an hour once you’re done.
If you’d like a portable option, pay a visit to your local chemist or check out Amazon. Steaming does a bunch of great things for your voice including increasing the flexibility of your vocal folds, decreases hoarseness and roughness, moisturises your vocal tract, thins out mucus in your lungs and reduces overall tension.
How To Use a Nebuliser for Vocal Health
Contrary to what I thought when I first heard about them, a nebuliser isn’t a space-age device designed to break matter down into particles… well, it kind of is, actually. It’s a handheld machine that turns saline solution into gas and gives your vocal folds a salt bath.
Nebulising decreases something called phonation threshold pressure (PTP) which determines how much effort is required to make sound. It’s great to do before and after every performance, however, make sure you wash your nebuliser every day and sterilise weekly to prevent bacteria build up. You can buy a good quality nebuliser for less than $100.
How to Hydrate Your Voice
Water, in all its many forms, is wonderful for your voice. The simplest, best way to consume it is a good old-fashioned glass of the stuff. Stay hydrated throughout rehearsals, shows and every other moment of day-to-day life.
Vocal Rest
Quick anecdote for you: the night before we opened the musical, I foolishly attended an AFL game and spent all night shouting at the top of my lungs; unsurprisingly, my voice was completely shot the next day. To give myself the best chance of rehabilitation, I went on total vocal rest: I steamed my vocal folds and didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Miraculously, my voice was in much better shape by the time the house lights went down.
I got really lucky here, vocal rest isn’t a miracle elixir but it’s great for when your voice is starting to sound a bit rough around the edges. Rest as much as you can throughout the days; you don’t have to be completely silent all day but certainly don’t do what I did and go to any football games. Your voice is a muscle and needs proper rest between shows to recover.
Should Actors Avoid Menthol?
At the time of writing, there are packets of Fisherman’s Friends scattered all over the venue. They’re a menthol-based mint that taste horrendous but are strangely addictive and provide temporary relief of inflammation or soreness in the throat. Some singers swear by them, but menthol acts as an analgesic that numbs your throat, dries out your vocal folds and can lead to accidental overuse or straining. If you’re in need of a lozenge, find some that contain pectin or glycerine which coat and lubricate your throat, rather than drying it out.
Should Actors Avoid Smoking?
While we’re talking about things to avoid, it should go without saying that smoking is a killer. Yes, there are plenty of brilliant singers who smoke but it doesn’t mean you can get away with it, too.
Vocal folds are delicate things, even spending an hour in a theatre with haze, which you’re doing almost every night during a run, leaves them dry and inflamed. Imagine then what inhaling hot smoke does to them.
I know I’m sounding like a parent here, but the simple truth is that smoking isn’t good for you and it isn’t good for your voice. If you’re thinking about quitting and you live in Australia, consider getting in touch with Quitline; it’s free and confidential.
Final Thoughts on Keeping Your Voice Healthy
Your voice is a muscle. In fact, it’s a lot of different muscles working together to produce sound. Like with regular exercise, by taking care of your voice, not only will you be able to do more with it, but you’ll also come to understand it better. You’ll be able to tell when you’re pushing it too hard and hopefully this article has given you some tools to know what to do when that happens. Treat your voice with respect, it’s yours for life and it’s one of the most powerful things you have.
Hope this helps. See you around the traps!
