music people!

[some_stars]

I'm apparently singing a song with a trio for this concert on May 6, which involves some solo bits and also the harmony is basically a solo because I'm the only one doing it, so I will be quite audible. This means I need to practice, and my throat has started getting worryingly sore at/after rehearsal--moreso each week--which means I also need to practice singing in a way that won't break my throat.

SO, does anyone have or know where I can get any recorded voice exercises? Just the kind of thing we do at the beginning of rehearsal to warm up, but in mp3 form because my piano skills are not. I would like to do these before practicing the actual music so I don't end up inconveniently mute. I don't really know where to get this kind of thing--I'm going to look for podcasts, I guess, but I was hoping that any of y'all might have something along these lines, or know someone who does, because I know when I used to take voice lessons I got a tape of exercises to take home (long gone now), and that was over ten years ago so possibly technology has moved on.

I am also pretty sure I nabbed the second ensemble part ("six") from Cell Block Tango! But that's not distressing news.

Comments

singingspam

[vass]

I don't have any online resources, because I just had RL teachers. But I do have a lot of general advice for nursing a voice.

Some lifestyle things that help: lots of water, adequate sleep, meditation, yoga, massage, swimming, vegetables, warm drinks
Some lifestyle things that do not help: stress, muscle tension, shouting or screaming, whispering (it's harder on your larynx than just talking quietly), cigarette smoke, pot smoke (it burns hotter than tobacco, so it does more damage in a single session), aspirin (it dilates your blood vessels. Guess where you have a lot of very little blood vessels? So if you need to take it, try to time it so it's not right before you have to sing), caffeine (yeah, I always ignored this one) and, believe it or not, huge amounts of background noise (your vocal folds have a sympathetic response to what you hear. So you can get mildly hoarse just from standing silent in a crowd of people screaming.)

Getting sore every rehearsal suggests to me that you're overdoing it. Are you maybe one of the 20% of the choir making 80% of the volume? Don't be. If the conductor keeps yelling or coaxing the choir to sing louder, louder, louder, and you know you're already singing as loud as is healthy for you, then take a step back. You are only responsible for your own voice, not that of the whole choir. Furthermore, if you do take a step back, the people not singing as loudly will actually sing louder. It's a psychological underfunctioning/overfunctioning cycle. It took me way, way, way too long to learn that one.

On days when you're not rehearsing, you don't need to practise too long. Even professional opera singers don't do long hours of practice every day. At the peak of their training, they'd maybe do a total of one hour singing practice per non-performing/rehearsing day. Lots more time learning music, but only that long actually singing. For a singing student or a chorister, think more like 15 minutes to maybe half an hour at most (and work up to that, don't start at the maximum.) Spend all the time you want listening to recordings of the music you're learning and going over the music and the lyrics, but do not spend too much time per day actually physically singing.

The more physically tense you are, the more vocal strain. In particular, your throat should be relaxed and open when you sing.

When you're looking for singing exercises online, 'bel canto' is a good keyword to look for. Bel canto is the Italian classical tradition of vocal technique. It's musically unlike what you're doing in choir, but the physical technique might be helpful. The focus is on what's healthy and natural, avoiding strain as much as possible.