Your singing voice is affected by your speaking voice By taking good care of your voice when speaking, you are improving your vocal health. Try making your speaking habits more healthy by: When you’re at parties, clubs, or sporting events and want to be heard, speak at full volume without screaming. If you tend to speak loudly all the time, turn down the volume. Noticing the articulation as you speak to prevent tension – not speaking with tension, such as jaw tension or tongue tension. Applying your knowledge of breathing while talking on the phone and avoid talking on the phone until your voice hurts due to lack of breath support.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Though it may not be your personal issue, a body that is too lean may have trouble finding the stamina to sing and sustain the higher pitches. To improve your stamina, make sure you’re giving your body the nourishment it needs. While some singers like to eat late in the day, this isn’t a good idea since your body needs fuel to get started. To prevent snacking late at night, get in the habit of eating earlier in the day.

Keep Yourself Properly Hydrated

Your body is 50% to 65% water. Your lungs depend on water to keep the tissue moving easily. Muscle tissue is made up of 75% water. Therefore, keeping your body properly hydrated helps your singing voice.

Some people get bored just drinking water. You can balance out your hydration with other liquids as long as you realize that sugar content in most drinks doesn’t help your waistline and that caffeine actually dries you out. Since caffeine is a diuretic it makes your body shed any excess water which means that cup of coffee in the morning isn’t going to help your voice.

Getting plenty of shut-eye

When you don’t get enough sleep, your throat tissue has no time to heal. Depriving yourself of sleep only makes your voice feel sluggish. You have to give your voice a chance to regenerate and recoup at night. Try getting more sleep for a few nights and see if it makes a difference in your singing.

Be Sure You’re Well Nourished

You need to maintain a balanced diet. Adhering to the guidelines of basic nutrition means your getting the right amounts of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and meats. You should also ensure that your getting the right amounts of fats, protein, and carbohydrates. Because singing often requires extra energy, you may want to add some extra protein to your diet to enhance your ability to last through long rehearsals.

Prevent Infections and Sore Throat

Keeping a few basic remedies on hand can make a huge difference for the times you feel a bit of a tickly coming on. One staple that many singers swear by is a bottle of saline nasal spray which is nothing more than water and salt. When you spray the solution up your nose you effectively wash away germs that may be waiting around, ready to attack your immune system.

You can also gargle with warm salt water. You can dislodge any germs from the back of your mouth when you gargle with a half a cup of warm water and a few teaspoons of salt. If you are prone to infections around your tonsils, you will likely discover that saltwater is one of your best friends. When you swish the saltwater around in your mouth, you can stop any painful canker sores in their tracks.

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Avoid most nose sprays to maintain your vocal health

Certain nasal sprays will cause more problems than they fix by far. If you must use these sprays, then only use them in emergencies.

Drink plenty of water with your medications.

Most of the over-the-counter medications cause you to dry out. As long as you're prepared for that and compensate with extra fluids, you won't be shocked.

Keep some nasal saline spray handy

As your body tries to wash out the germs (runny nose), you can use a nasal saline solution to help fight against the infection. If you use the spray when you are sick, be careful to keep the lid on it. You don't want the bottle to get the cold germs, so make sure you keep it slightly away from your nose when you spray.

Steam it up with a humidifier

The winter heater may dry out your home, so keep the humidifier running, especially at night. To keep it from growing mold, rinse it out every day. You should keep it running as much as possible, but it would be best to turn it off if you find too much condensation on your windows.

Thin out your mucus

You may be suffering from postnasal drip, and this will cause your mucus to thicken. Us a nasal saline solution or other medications from your doctor to help dry up the drip without drying out your throat.

Throat lozenges without sugar are better for your vocal health

Use throat lozenges to help with those coughs from a dry throat. Most lozenges are just comforting candy on the same aisle with cold medicines. If you can find lozenges without sugar then you will be much better off because you won't have as many dental problems. Beware of lozenges with menthol, which can dry out your throat.

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Alcohol and your voice

Alcohol dilates blood vessels in your body, which is not a good thing for your vocal cords if you plan to sing. When your vessels dilate, the blood moves closer to the surface and this increases the risk of a hemorrhage on your vocal cords when you are singing. Do not drink alcohol on days when you will be singing, either performing or practicing, and on the days when you do drink alcoholic beverages, drink lots of water to counteract alcohol's dehydrating effects.

Cigarette smoke affects your voice

Cigarette smoke causes the tissue in your throat to become irritated and inflamed and this makes it more difficult for you to sing well. If you want to sing well, don't smoke and avoid secondhand smoke as well. You especially want to avoid smoke several days before a lesson or performance.

Throat clearing

If you are a habitual throat clearer, now is the time to break the habit and find the root of the problem. Constantly clearing your throat could be an indication of a medical condition like acid reflux or postnasal drip. Try to develop the habit of swallowing rather than throat clearing and discuss the problem with your doctor to find out the cause. Many times, singers develop a habit of throat clearing because of frequently clearing the cords for singing. A little mucus on your vocal cords should not be too much of an interference with your voice.

Food and your vocal health

You'll discover that certain foods cause vocal irritation. Dairy foods in particular are noted for causing mucus to buildup and that makes you clear your throat more often. Some people may be affected by spicy foods while others are not. You'll have to discover which foods bother you so you can avoid them for a few days prior to a big performance.

Pollen, dust and your vocal health

Being allergic to dust or pollen can cause your vocal folds and throat to become irritated and swollen. Your doctor may be able to prescribe medication to help you overcome your allergy problems. There are a few things you can do at home to limit your exposure to allergens. Maintain a clean home so dust doesn't have the chance to settle and cause your problems and select allergy-free bedding to sleep on at night. Pay attention to your local news and weather for pollen count updates. Usually, pollen counts are the highest in the early evening or early morning hours. If you limit outdoor activities to the middle of the day, you're less likely to encounter the highest levels of pollen.

Medications and your vocal health

Many of the medications that you take to treat a runny nose or watery eyes will dry out your throat too. If you have to take the medication, then drink lots of water before you sing so your throat won't become too dry. You may also want to avoid the medications on the days that you have to do plenty of singing.

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