I thought i was a goner THIS time! I had three gigs in two days and my allergies had my vocal cords all stiff and swollen. Of course this happens to me from time to time but never this suddenly with such a challenging weekend ahead. What to do! Cancel? NEVER! Brush up on some instrumentals? ALWAYS! But my calling card is my vocal delivery so I need to be able to sing. So here’s what I did and what you can do:
- No talking, no whispering
- Drink warm water, or throat-soothing tea
- Gargled with salt water to shrink vocal cords
- Don’t yell at the kids!
- Nap a lot! You have my permission! :-)
- Use a vaporizer. You can also take a hot bath or shower to let the steam moisten and loosen your vocal cords.
- Eat Lays original potato chips right before singing. Maybe this helps, maybe it doesn’t, but i sure enjoyed it!
- I was supposed to ditch coffee only I didn’t. Whatever.
- Pitch songs a step or so lower.
- On the way to the gig, enjoy some low, gently humming.
- Don’t PUSH cause that snaps your vocal cords together and really shuts you down.
- Discover and revel in your low register.
I got through my weekend and I don’t think anyone was the wiser. Folks just said how they liked my low, laid-back Lucinda-like delivery. And you know what? Laid-back takes a lot less energy than my usual Here I Am! approach.