Vocal Myth Busting

Earlier this week, I had a question from a confused student. She wanted to know that since it was bad to sing in the morning, why was her school having her sing from 9 in the morning till noon? I was curious where she'd heard that it was bad to sing before noon. Turns out that a previous teacher had told her that it was bad to try and sing before you'd been awake for 4 hours, as the voice needed that time to warm up.

It's always hard to know what to do when confronted with that kind of statement. Do I laugh? Get angry? Tell her that her last teacher was an ignorant idiot with no idea of what they were doing? What I ended up doing was telling her that I'd never heard that one before, but I personally had experience that proved it false. For over 10 years, I had church services that began at 8:00 on Sunday mornings. I had to be there at 7:15. I'd get up at 6:00, rush around getting ready, and be singing by 7:30. I never had any problems, other than being sleepy. My voice, in fact, was far more awake than I was. It's just a matter of what you are used to. 


This got me thinking: what other vocal myths are there out there? I've run into many of them through the years. Perhaps I can dispel some of them. Some of them might even be true! But in the end: Who you gonna call?


(By the way, according to legend, Ray Parker Jr. did not like the song "Ghostbusters" even though it became his biggest hit. He had the word "Ghostbusters" shouted because he didn't want to sing it!)


I've been visiting a lot of the "vocal myths" sites to research this blog. Many of them are trying to sell you something; usually their book or dvd of vocal instruction. A surprising number of them are very poorly written. And none of them were directed at what I'm going to write about. Of course, you are allowed to dismiss what I'm writing, the same way that I dismissed them. (But, the difference is that I'm right, and they aren't. So there!)


Myth 1) Standing up on tiptoe will help you hit the high notes. This one is false. Actually, standing flatfooted is the bast way to get the proper support for singing those pesky high notes. Men have something of an advantage over women on this one. Fashion does not currently dictate that men wear high heels. Standing on tippee-toes only succeeds in making you easier to tip over. Myth: False.

This is surprised for a Vulcan

Myth 2) Raising your eyebrows will help you hit the high notes. Not really. For the most part, all that raising your eyebrows will accomplish is making you look surprised. Sometimes, it goes hand in hand with trying to squeeze the notes out - very bad. But, sometimes it can be used as a way to trick singers into better placement, if it can encourage raising the soft palate. Myth: Barely Plausible.


Myth 3) Cold air is bad for your throat, and to protect against this you must wear scarves at all times. Yes, cold air is not good for the voice. It tightens up the vocal cords and throat muscles. Even more important, cold dry air can be worse, as it dries up the moisture in the throat. And, yes, in the winter, scarves are a great way of protecting your throat. But not all the time. I've known several tenors (it's always the tenors!) who wouldn't go outside without a scarf even when the temperature was above 90°! Myth: (which was about wearing scarves all the time) Busted. 

Myth 4) You should never drink liquid that's too hot or too cold. The thinking is that the cold liquids may shock the vocal folds, or freeze them. Personally, I drink ice water and ice tea all the time, and all it does is quench my thirst. Hot liquids, like hot tea, help to sooth my throat and relax it when I've been working too long. But, I know people that swear either one will damage their singing. I guess that this is one you have to figure out for yourself. Myth: Plausible.


Myth 5) You should never drink anything with caffeine or alcohol. The thinking with caffeine is that it is a diuretic, and will strip moisture from your throat and the vocal folds. Once again, I've never found that to be a problem. Even a little lemon doesn't seem to be a problem, and I've read that anything acidic should also be avoided. But, notice that I said "a little lemon". I have noticed that too much lemon can leave my throat feeling dry. Too much caffeine, and my stomach gets upset with me. Too much alcohol and, well, you probably know what will happen if you drink too much booze. So, I'm coming back to "too much" of anything is bad. Which, hopefully, you already knew. Oh, and never, never perform when you've had too much alcohol. This has nothing to do with what it'll do to your voice, but what it'll do to your ability to control yourself in any way. It'd just be nasty. Myth: Busted.

Myth 6) You should avoid dairy products on days when you will be singing. This one I've told many a student. The idea on this one is that the dairy products cause the body to create more phlegm. That part is not true. What milk and other dairy products do is to make the existing phlegm thicker. This thicker phlegm stays on the vocal folds, and makes it difficult to sing clearly. While I still try and limit my dairy on days that I'll be singing, I know a bass who can eat anything and still sing beautifully. So, I've been experimenting, and a little bit doesn't seem to bother me. Once again, it's all about moderation! But, I'll still say: Myth: True.


Myth 7) You should always warm up your voice before singing. For the most part, I am in complete agreement with this. Just as you should warm up your body before doing a work-out, you should warm up the muscles in your throat. Without a good, careful warm up you risk doing damage to your vocal cords. I stress 'good and careful' in that statement. I knew a soprano who would wake up, have a cup of tepid water, and begin to warm up  by screeching out high notes. This inevitably led her to panic that her voice was gone, and she would not be able to sing the performances we had scheduled. (Somehow, she always could.) I led her in a warm up once, and she had no problems gradually reaching the rafters of her voice. Having said all that; if you are singing properly, and singing daily, then the voice never really cools down, and a warm up becomes redundant. But, please note: there are a lot of qualifiers in that statement. "Singing properly," "singing daily." Otherwise: warm up! Myth: True.

So there you have it. I'd hoped to discuss the top 10 myths, but these are the only ones that have come to mind this week. If you have some, let me know.


Aloha!