Vocal Heath

A few things to think about regarding vocal health and stamina

1) Hydrate - there is no hard and fast rule as to how much you should drink, it varies
according to many di erent factors. It good guide is to start the day hydrated and
then aim to drink 2/2.5l spread out over the day. If you are rehearsing or performing,
you should add in 100-150ml per hour worked. It takes between 3 and 4 hours for that
moisture to get into the vocal folds so start o hydrated and think of thirst as a
warning system - If you if you are thirsty, it’s too late!

2) the very best exercises to do if you are either vocally tired or concerned about
stamina are SOVT. Semi - Occluded Vocal Tract exercises include lip trills, tongue trills,
siren (NG of ‘sing’), pu y cheeks and straw work (and many more!).
- I would advise between 5 and 15 mins of SOVT daily - especially during the times when
you aren’t able to sing every day. They are also a great way to warm up and cool down on
a singing day (or a day with lots of talking).
1-5-1 slides, 1-5-1-8-1 slides, even sing the piece you are working on through your
chosen form of SOVT.

Straw work - nd a straw size that works best for you - it isn’t a case of one size ts all.
You may also nd that it changes according to the pitch you are singing (That’s ne). I
would suggest starting o with a wider straw (think Milkshake rather than martini!). You
can also put the straw into water - put it no more that 2cm deep into the water. The water
gives you some great visual feedback (too much air - too many big bubbles!). The water
also has a lovely e ect of giving your vocal folds a massage - as some of the sound
waves bounce back from the water and create a second oscillation of the vocal folds and
also brings some moisture with it - bonus!
If you want to know more about SOVT and, in particular, straw work I highly recommend
having a look at www.rayvox.co.uk and SOVT straw channel on You Tube.
You can do this with plastic (or preferably paper) straws but if you want to buy one of
Oren’s lovely metal Singer straws, use VOCALPROCESS for a discount!

3) Along with the straw work, I would recommend a siren a day. The Siren is the NG from
‘sing’, not ‘sung’ - try them both and feel the di erence in tongue position. You are
looking for a soft, unpressurised sound. Start at your speech range and siren up to the
top and back down.
Try these variations -
-catherine wheel - do pitch rotations at the top of the siren
-siren with your tongue out
-siren whilst doing a gure of 8 with your hips
* make sure you are not using too much air by blowing out before your siren

The siren is a really good way of resetting yourself vocally.

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