HEALTHY

VOICE
By Dan Vasc

www.danvasc.com
 Warning!
This e-book and the information in it contained does not substitute the
reader's regular consultations with a doctor. If experiencing any pain,
discomfort, or unusual sensation while singing or speaking, the reader
must consult a doctor immediately. The correct interpretation and
application of the information in this e-book contained is the reader's
responsibility only.
Introduction

Hi! Welcome and thank

you for downloading this
e-book. Here you will learn
about the basics of
maintaining a healthy voice
with some of my best tips
and personal habits, which I
only disclose to my
Author
Dan Vasc
Professional singer, digital
entrepreneur and co-founder of the
band Fearless. Records session
vocals for dozens of artists from USA,
Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, UK,
Greece, Poland, Chile, Paraguay and
Brazil. Teaches singing in his
hometown Juiz de Fora in Brazil.

face-to-face students… until now!

This information will be very useful for aspiring singers

beginning their studies and also for already experienced
singers wanting to bring more longevity and quality to their art.
However, the desirability of the benefits brought by a healthy
voice is not exclusive to singers at all. The orientations found
in this e-book can help all kinds of professionals who use their
voices to work in any way, such as teachers, lecturers,
seminarians, preachers, coaches, call-center clerks,
telemarketers, actors, radio show hosts, youtubers, streamers,
and the list goes on and on.

The simple and effective steps to achieve a better vocal

health will be presented to you separated in two categories:

➔ First we are going to make sure that you – yes, YOU – stop
hurting your voice. There are many apparently innocent habits
which we have no idea that are damaging our vocal chords,
but they are. We are going to take care of it on the section of
DON'Ts.

➔ Then, with the bad habits out of the way, we are going to
get you new healthy habits to replace them. Actions that will
contribute to not only keep your voice fine, but also to help the
healing process of damage possibly already taken. That will
be addressed on the section of DOs.

But before diving in, let me tell you a very quick story
about my voice and what can we learn from it on the
importance of vocal health.

My Story

When I first decided that I wanted to be a singer, I knew

nothing about any vocal technique and surely nothing about
vocal health. I used to lock myself in my room for hours
singing my favorite hard rock and heavy metal albums. My
voice was gone in the first hour, but I pushed through, even
with pain. My reasoning was “If I keep doing this, eventually
my voice will become stronger. The longer you do something,
the better you become at it, right?” Wrong. Well, certainly this
perseverance helped me to develop a strong work ethic,
which was useful later when I started my actual studies on
vocal technique, but it did me no favors regarding noticeable
progress on the quality of my singing. Mainly for two reasons:

1. I was using my voice randomly, trying to achieve the

sounds I wanted in a trial-and-error basis, not using vocal
technique to produce exactly what was in my mind. (Which we
can address in another book.)

2. My vocal chords were literally weak and unable to take

such stress, due to my lack of knowledge on how to maintain
my voice healthy and strong.

After some time, frustrated with the lack of results, I

decided to start taking vocal lessons and courses, and I was
mind-blown by all the information I was lacking. I discovered
that I was actually damaging more and more my vocal
apparatus with lots of bad habits and lack of good ones. I
started to change my actions and take care of my voice
immediately and diligently. Soon my fragile and cringey voice
started to change...

First thing I noticed was that I was being able to sing and
talk for a lot longer. One hour practice sessions turned into
two, then tree, then four, with the strength in my voice intact
and no pain. Then I started to hear more volume with less
effort. Then it was followed by an enhanced control over
nuances and details that I have never been even capable of
noticing before.
 Now, numerous artists from all over the corners of the
world are willing to pay me money to have my voice on their
records. I'm not saying this to brag or to be arrogant, but for
you to see what are the results of persistent application of the
right knowledge. That's why I don't take down the first video I
ever made for my Youtube channel (youtube.com/danvasc). Go
check that first video. Then check out the last. THAT'S what I
mean.

Why Vocal Health Is Important?

If you are here reading this, I can assume your voice is

important to the lifestyle you have. Maybe it's your tool of
work, an important element of your main source of income.
Maybe you already experienced to some degree the effects of
a weak/damaged voice like pain, discomfort or even going
hoarse to the point of being aphonic (not being able to
produce any sound with the vocal chords). Can you imagine
how would your life be if you lose partially or entirely your
vocal capacities?

Well, the bad news is that it happens. Not in a day,

though. Not in a month and maybe not in a year. But slowly,
mostly unnoticed until it's too late. It's not rare seeing famous
singers and speakers having to submit themselves to invasive
surgeries and long treatments to take care of nodules, polyps
and slits on the vocal folds.

But the good news is that you're able to not only prevent
this, but also to actually improve your vocal strength, stamina
and longevity through the tips I'm gonna give you here. Now
you don't have any excuse to let this happen to you and to not
have a brilliant healthy voice that fills you with pride.

So now, let's get to business!

 DON'Ts
Here you will learn which habits you should avoid to
the best of your ability to get a healthier voice.
 Smoking

Let's get the obvious out of the way. Come on, even if
you know nothing about vocal health, you saw that coming.
Besides all the obvious reasons smoking is bad for you that
we all well know, here's a few more. Smokers develop
swelling on the area of the vocal chords, diminishing their
control over the voice and decreasing tonal range. Also the
degrading lung function caused by smoking decreases airflow
power that is necessary to make the vocal chords vibrate,
therefore decreasing vocal strength. Smokers also have more
chances of suffering from acid reflux, which is basically
stomach acid going up your throat. And believe me when I say
that acid is the last thing you want on your vocal chords.
 Alcohol & Mint

Those are grouped together because their problem is

basically the same: They numb the pain on your throat. You
may be thinking now: “But pain is bad, therefore numbing it is
good, right?” Wrong. Pain is a warning from your body that
you're doing something you were not supposed to. With pain
you will stop it. Without pain you keep doing whatever it is that
you're doing that is harming yourself. You don't need to stop
drinking or stop eating mint candy forever, just don't do it right
before using your voice extensively. And for God's sake, not
WHILE you're using your voice. I'm tired of seeing singers
with terrible voices on the middle of a show going like: “My
throat hurts, I need a beer!” No wonder why their voices are
terrible! This can make the job a little bit easier on the short
run, but it absolutely KILLS your voice on the long run.
 Air Conditioning

Air conditioning reduces ambient moisture, drying your

larynx and upper airways. This causes irritation on the vocal
folds and injuries if you use them extensively in such
conditions. It can also trigger sinus infection and respiratory
allergies. So put on some lighter clothes, open up the
windows and turn on the fans. If you happen to have no
choice on the use of air conditioning, make sure you have with
you a bottle of water and take a sip every half an hour at least.
Also getting an air humidifier would be a great
countermeasure. But if you can, avoid air conditioning.
 Fried Food & Sugar

The same way as the alcohol and mint, you don't need to
completely eliminate fried food and sugar from your life, but at
least avoid them a few hours before singing or speaking.
What they do is to get your saliva thicker, making your vocal
chords having to work harder to vibrate properly through
excessive mucus. It will also make you want to constantly
clear your throat, which puts the vocal cords through an
immense stress. You will not notice the damage immediately,
but on the long run it will make your voice weaker and weaker.
 Caffeine

Not just coffee, but caffeine in general. So we are also

talking about sodas, energy drinks, etc. Caffeine will act as a
drying agent, even though it comes mostly in the form of
liquids. It will deplete your vocal chords from the needed
lubrication as it pulls water out of your system. Your voice will
feel tightened, harming your tonal range and stamina. Try to
have better sleep and have your workplace well lit so you
won't feel like needing caffeine. If you keep yourself
constantly hydrated you won't need to quit your usual cup of
coffee completely, but keep it at minimum. I would
recommend a limit of one daily cup (8 oz). However, avoid it
completely right before – or during – extensive use of the
voice.
 Yelling

Don't put your vocal folds under unnecessary stress.

Acquire the habit of not competing for volume with ambient
noise, high volume instruments on stage or other people. If it
is a nature of your job that you have to raise your voice to
compete for volume – like if you're an actor or work in a
factory – search for a vocal coach or a speech therapist, who
will teach you to project your voice without stressing it. But
when playing with a loud instrument band, ask for the volume
of your microphone to be raised or for the instruments to be
turned down a little. When debating passionately with
someone and trying to get a point across, use intelligence.
Not volume.
 Cold Drinks

Like every other set of muscles in your body, the vocal

chords tend to contract when cold. Contraction leads to
tension. Drinking cold water or any cold beverage before or
while using your voice extensively can leave you hoarse on a
short term and diminish your voice volume and range on the
long term. When singing or making a speech give preference
to having room temperature drinks, preferentially water.
 DOs
Here you will learn about the healthy habits that you
should pursue to get a healthier voice.
 Water

Again, let's get the obvious common sense (but not

always common practice) out of the way. Drink water. Lots of
it. All the time. Your vocal folds need lubrication to vibrate
efficiently and you need to keep yourself well hydrated so your
body will be able to produce that lubrication in good quantity.
Water will also make your saliva less thick, giving you a
cleaner tone and preventing you to feel like cleaning your
throat, which is highly harmful to the vocal chords. Have
distributed through your day at least 2 liters (67 ounces) for
you to drink constantly.
 Citrus Fruit

Besides being another good healthy source of hydration

for your system and having tons of vitamin C, the tart flavor of
the citrus fruits and their natural juices stimulate the
production of abundant thin saliva by the glands right above
the vocal chords, moisturizing and cleaning them almost
instantly. Replace your sodas for those and you will be on the
right path to not only a healthier voice, but an entire healthier
life as well.
 Vitamin A Foods

Vitamin A can be found in dark leafy greens, like spinach

and kale. Also in orange and yellow fruits and vegetables,
such as carrots, cantaloupe, apricots, orange sweet peppers,
etc. It's present in high quantities as well in meat and eggs.
What it does is to aid the health of the mucous membranes,
skin and soft tissue. Having healthy mucous membranes on
your throat will give your vocal folds more resistance and
stamina.
 Cold Showers

Wait a minute, is this on the right section? You bet it is.

Cold showers stimulate the production of white blood cells in
your body, improving your immune system to fight things like
the common cold. We all know how catching a cold harms our
vocal abilities and it can be disastrous depending on how you
have to use your voice in your job. But by the time I'm writing
this e-book I've been taking daily cold showers for over one
year and through all that time I did not get sick once. It is also
said that cold showers are anti-depressant and raise
testosterone levels in men, but it is ultimately a powerful self-
discipline builder.
 Voice Warm Ups

The muscles on your vocal apparatus need to be

warmed up before being submitted to effort and, just like any
other muscle in your body, they can suffer a strain if not
loosen up properly. The repetitive and progressive
movements of stretching and relaxing your inner larynx
muscles – which control the vocal chords closing – helps to
develop their flexibility, as well as strengthening such
muscles, giving you more volume with less effort, better vocal
stamina, better agility, better tone control and many other
benefits. Ask for help from your vocal coach or check my
website www.danvasc.com for future articles concerning vocal
warm ups.
Conclusion
It is truth that the path towards a healthy voice can look
somewhat toilsome, because it implicates change.
Abandoning a lot of core habits and introducing new ones.
But, like with everything that is worth having, persistence and
self-discipline are the key to open this door. Now that you
have the knowledge, apply it and you will be successful.

Remember that making mistakes here and there is

normal. We can learn with them. But don't let the same
mistakes become a habit, because, if you let that happen, you
will face serious problems and your vocal career will be short.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed reading this e-book as much as I
enjoyed writing it. I would love to keep in touch with you. Feel
free to follow me in all my social medias below:

Copyright © 2017 Dan Vasc. All rights reserved