Why is water so important especially for a vocalist? Kind of a silly question….but then why do so many singers NOT drink nearly enough?! Watch my video and then you’ll know why its so necessary, it will motivate you to actually drink more water and take your vocals to the next level!
0:00 Intro
0:16 Why?
0:36 Cord Hydration
1:44 Dealing with Phlegm
2:37 Brain Fog
2:45 Physical Show
3:14 Vocal Recovery
4:28 Immune System
6:15 How Much?
6:30 Matt Walst – 3 Days Grace, Stefan Babcock – PUP, Luna Li
6:59 Coffee? Beer? Energy Drinks?
7:25 Water and Lemon
8:03 Ice
8:43 The Goal – Every Day!
9:44 Age
9:55 Singers Issues can Disappear
10:14 Chug!
Transcription
hi I’m Mitch Seekins the vocal coach welcome to my singer survival tips Series this episode is all about water oh and if you like this and learn something hit that subscribe button and forward this on to your friends I got a lot more stuff to come.
Why is water so important ….and particularly for a vocalist? I know this may sound like a ridiculous question…but there are numerous reasons beyond just a parched throat. And if you understand why it’s so important to drink way more than you think, you will be much more inclined to actually do it!
Some of the benefits of drinking water are:
Vocal Cord Hydration – the one major point you need to understand, is that anything you drink, takes at least 20 minutes to actually benefit your vocal cords. Anatomy wise, in the esophagus there is a flap of tissue that covers the larynx and the vocal cords when you drink or eat.
So, it is really only an illusion that you have water flowing through the cords soothing and clearing them. Yes, it does feel good in the moment and does help, but the benefit isn’t quite what you think. As far as the brain is concerned, the voice is a nonessential part of the body and if you start from an even slightly dehydrated state, when you finally provide your body water, your brain will make sure that the water is distributed where it’s needed most. Getting water to the kidneys, liver or stomach, to flush out toxins from your system or aid digestion is far more important than making sure that your vocal cords are well hydrated. If you are a vocalist or speaker, your brain doesn’t really care! So, the goal is to keep your entire system hydrated at all times, not just when you sing or speak.
Another benefit of good hydration is that it will keep any phlegm build up, thin and runny as opposed to thick and cement like (at least that’s what it feels like!). This is one of the reasons why they say, when you have a cold, get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids. With good hydration, the phlegm stays thin, and it’s moved fairly easily out of the sinus cavities and lungs and off the vocal cords. As a result, you have a much better chance of completing the session or gig.
But if you don’t stay hydrated, the phlegm begins to thicken and becomes heavy. Once that happens, it’s very difficult for the phlegm to be moved… And if you’re a singer and the phlegm is on the vocal cords, this limits your range and endurance. Which makes your job VERY difficult to do.
So drinking lots of water gives a much better chance of performing while you are sick or suffering from allergies.
It’s really important for brain function and there’s nothing worse than being on stage in somewhat of a fog.
If you are in a show that’s very physical, in terms of dancing or stage movement (e.g. being in a metal, punk or rock band), that means you’re going to be using a lot more water than usual through sweat, coupled with rapid breathing and of course, using your voice.You will need to replenish that water as quick as you can. And if you hit the stage in a dehydrated state already, there’s a good chance that things won’t work well for you… or at least limit the level you could be performing at.
It’s also essential for vocal recovery. I will be doing another, more complete, video all about vocal recovery, but essentially it’s all about getting your vocal cords back to a healthy state after a solid vocal workout, which happens when you perform. The muscles get tired and dry and if you are not well hydrated, recovery is much slower and can take days. Not a good thing if you are on tour. On top of that after the show, if you go and rest in a very dry room which is heated by forced air gas or cooled by air conditioning, or get into a car to travel, the air that you are breathing is extremely dry… And the way the body responds to this, is to produce mucus in order to protect the areas in your sinuses and your vocal cords. (If you have a chance, please watch my episode on humidifiers) So if that’s what happens, after you finish a gig, it really, really hampers the vocal recovery. Which means that you might be going into the next gig in a vocally fatigued state. Then you use the cords again and they get hammered even more, which makes you even more fatigued. This becomes a vicious cycle that requires more and more time to fully recover or heal… and in the worst case scenarios, over time, can lead to vocal damage.
Another very important fact is, that it also helps the immune system work effectively, to fight off colds and flues, etc. In order to be a successful, consistent artist you need to have a robust immune system, and it’s not just all about the shows. It’s the travel and the people that you interact with. As you work, you are constantly being exposed to different micro ecosystems. The germs that are in Toronto, are not the same germs in New York, which are not the same germs that are in LA…and if you’re flying, the planes themselves are full of germs from all over the world! If you’re doing gigs in different locations, that are even just an hour apart, you could be looking at slight variations on germs that are going around…and it’s not just the shows. Meet and greets, interviews, different production companies whose people, at every gig, are touching your mic and equipment. I realize I totally sound like a germaphobe (which I am not) but it is important to understand the scope of the issue particularly, as a vocalist. Any other musician can suffer through a cold or sickness and not have it affect their instrument. It’s not going to be fun but they can get by. As a vocalist it can be quite devastating.
This means your immune system is constantly being challenged. In order to be a successful, consistent artist, you need to have a very healthy immune system in order to deal with it all…and water plays an essential role in keeping your immune system as robust as possible.
So to perform at a consistent level whether it’s professionally or not, you want to maintain a high level of hydration at all times… for all of those reasons!
How much should you drink? Of course, this can depend on body size. But why not listen to some of the pros that I teach, who travel the world and do huge gigs night after night have to say about how much water they drink? Matt Walst (Three Days Grace), Stephen Babcock (PUP), Ali Gatie, Ian Thornley (Big Wreck) and Luna Li, all drink at least 3 to 4 liters of water a day.
Drinking coffee or alcohol is not hydration! Even though it might feel like you’re getting the same benefits at the time, unfortunately, it’s not true. Same is true for energy drinks. Water is the best thing. I toured for 37 years in total and I always had water on stage with me to stay as hydrated as I could. Of course it’s a lot easier to say than it is to do. What I found is that I didn’t like just plain water. So, what I did to compensate for this was take a little slice, and I mean, little slice of lemon and just couple ice cubes to keep the water cool but not cold. It just seemed to be something a little more substantial than just water. The added benefit beyond a little flavor, is that the citrus from the lemon keeps the saliva glands going as well as helps cut phlegm and gunk off the cords. So doing that is beneficial in other ways as well. Avoid heavy flavoring laced with sugar or sweeteners. Your body will use excess water to flush those toxins. As much pure water is the key. Honestly I just can’t stress it enough.
Some people will fill their glass with ice, but if you look at that from an athletic standpoint (I have always thought of singing as an athletic event, as it is a very complex coordination between muscles) no athlete would ever, in the middle of a competition, jump into an ice cold bath. It is not beneficial or helpful to your muscles whatsoever! If you think of it from that angle, cooling the muscles down just a little bit is okay but not so cold that they could possibly stiffen up on you! Room temperature water is absolutely the best, but I always preferred just a couple of small ice cubes to cool it.
So the goal is to maintain a constant high level of hydration. Thinking that you can just drink a couple liters of water the day of a show, although helpful, is not the right approach. The best method is just to stay hydrated all the time…and that means constantly drinking water every single day, even when you are not doing shows or sessions or practicing. Your body will thank you immensely and you will stay much more vocally consistent and healthy.
One thing to note is that it does take a little bit of practice to get into that hydrated state. When you begin this process, just be aware that you may feel overfull on water. But you can ramp up and if you keep at it, that feeling will go away and your natural thirst will kick back in. When you are dehydrated the natural thirst seriously decreases, which doesn’t really make sense, but that is the way that it works.
Age plays a role as well. Thirst can decline with age making it harder to stay hydrated. You just forget to drink! It takes effort and determination to stay hydrated.
So once again, staying healthy is the goal and keeping the vocal cords hydrated. It’s amazing how many vocalists begin doing this and then report back to me that issues that may have been consistent with them are minimized or just simply disappear! It really is something you need to do at all times.
I will be shooting a video version of this shortly and I will post it as well once it is done. In the meantime grab your water bottles and glasses and start chugging!!
Welcome to my “Singers Survival Tips Series”! Want to know more about doing a proper vocal warm up and why you should do it? Watch this Part 1 video on why and how to do it right! Shortcuts! 0:00 – Welcome 0:37 – Why? 1:03 – What Matt Walst (3 Days Grace) Does! 1:11 – The Key Factor 2:15 – What Stefan Babcock (PUP) Knows! 3:25 – Important! 3:43 – Questions I get asked #1 4:03 – #2 – Best Warmup Exercise? 4:32 – Why Lip Trills Are So Effective 5:57 – #3 – Can You Do Them Wrong? 6:19 – How To?
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Mitch Seekins – The Vocal Coach. Welcome to my “Singer Survival Tips Series! Want to learn more about how to warm up the voice? This video is the first in a series on the importance of warming up and I’ll answer some questions about how and why you should warm up before a gig a rehearsal or a recording session. If you understand the reasons why you need to warm up, you’ll be much more motivated to do it… oh and if you find this video useful and that you’ve learned something please share and hit that subscribe button. I have much more to come.
I’ve been teaching recording artists, touring artists, and regular people how to sing maintain and even repair damaged voices so they can look forward to a less stressful, way more enjoyable and a much longer career. I performed and toured myself singing many different genres of music for 37 years, so I was able to develop and test all kinds of warm-up methods and this is what I teach my students.
Matt Walst (3 Days Grace) – “Vocally well, I do your warm-up, every… before every show. I do about 15 minutes of your warm-up every time.”
Warming up is a key factor for a vocalist before any kind of a performance. I have always viewed singing like an athletic event. Any athlete who is serious about what they do warms up before a practice or a competition. In terms of singing, getting the muscles moving and the warmth flowing into the area and knocking the phlegm and gunk off the cords is the best way to ensure your top performance and lessen the chance of hurting the voice. As a vocal coach I guide singers how not only to develop and strengthen their voices, but also how to maximize what they have at any given time. This includes being at the top of their game and healthy, as well as… not being at the top of their game and dealing with vocal fatigue or swollen cords or just being plain sick! I do get questions regarding how to warm up properly. As a student of mine, once the fundamentals are established, I create warm-up files for each individual student. This includes warm-up exercises that pertain to the level that they’re at, as well as their specific vocal range and abilities.
Stefan Babcock (PUP) – “I’d been doing warm-ups for maybe like, before shows, for maybe a year or so, before we started working together. you know like the warm ups that we do, uh, are a bit different. They’re much more gentle. It’s like about kind of really.. it’s not a it’s not five minutes like let’s go… it’s like really gentle, ease back into it. Spend 20 minutes or half an hour to get yourself going. I will not miss a warm up under any circumstances! There’s no circumstances that I’ll go on stage without warming up, because I know that that could lead to really big issues! So, yeah that means like it’s a bit different now like now that we, you know, always have like uh decent green rooms and stuff like that but there was a point four or five years ago where we were playing really small shows and we didn’t have a backstage and it was just like, well, I guess i’m.. it’s you know it’s negative 20.. I’m still gonna sit in the car or go for a walk and do this, because I won’t get on stage without doing the warm-ups!”
It is important that you do these exercises properly to get the most bang for your buck so to speak and obviously I can’t exactly monitor that here for you but I will be sharing in an upcoming video, some simple exercises for common ranges and at least get you started on the right track.
An example of some of the questions I get are:
What do I need to warm up? Chest voice, Head voice or Falsetto…. or all of it?
All of it.
All parts of the voice are used in producing a good quality sound for a show or a session. Therefore, you need to stretch all aspects of your voice out!
Is there one exercise that does it all for me?
No.
But there is one that comes close! It’s called “Lip Trills”. These exercises have been around for a VERY long time. I have the very first book ever written on vocal technique by Pier Francesco Tosi…in 1743! He talks about them in the book… but who knows how long they were around before that? He doesn’t claim to have invented them, he just says that they are an integral part to a vocal warm up for any voice type.
Lip Trills are a fantastic exercise that works through all the registers of the voice (chest and head or falsetto), and it forces you to relax while doing it… because if you get any tongue, jaw, throat or torso tension, the exercise stops working!
It begins to move any phlegm or gunk off of the vocal cords
It begins the process of learning to properly negotiate the passagio, or that “crack” we all have between the chest voice and the head voice. It’s not the be all and end all of learning how to do that, but it a great way to start.
It stretches out all the registers (Chest and Head) from the very bottom to the very top of your range, working the muscles and getting the blood and warmth to flow.
It begins the process, over time, of strengthening whichever register is weakest. One of the things I teach is something called blending which is all about mixing or blending the 2 registers together and learning to stretch through the passagio or “crack” that we all have. As opposed to flipping or cracking through it. It’s how you can increase your range and have full control of your sound without killing your voice! It’s a very important part to ANY voice but in order to do it you have to have an equal amount of strength in each register. Lip trills are a great way to begin this.
It establishes good vocal placement, as you can’t do them in the back of the throat
Overall they are a great way to start a warmup!
Can you do them wrong?
Yes.
However, they are very easy to learn to do right…to the point that afterwards, it’s difficult to do them wrong! If you don’t get them right immediately, have no fear. It’s only a matter of a little time for the chords to shift into the proper position… and in the meanwhile, as a warmup, they still work great!
I will be filming and posting examples of how to approach them shortly…so stay tuned!
So once again if you found this video useful and you have learned something…. please share and hit that subscribe button…I have much more to come!
Letting everyone know about the upcoming Singers Survival Tips episode due to be posted shortly! This one is all about the importance of drinking water and keeping hydrated. Plus there is lots of new content coming…
Transcript:
“Singers Survival Tips” New episode -Water, Water, Water coming soon!
How important is it really for a vocalist to drink water? And how much? Check out what some of the pro’s, who tour the world have to say
Hi, Im Mitch Seekins The Vocal Coach
It is so nice to see everyone finally heading back out on tour and doing shows. I doing a series of Singer survival tips to help out! The next upcoming singer’s survival tip is on the importance of drinking water and staying hydrated …there is a link in my bio to my blog where everything is posted. Oh, and if you find this series helpful share and follow me… I’ll let you know when each episode is uploaded!
Keeping you updated on some interviews I will be posting over the next few weeks. Luna Li – on her approach to songwriting and of course singing! Also a couple interviews with 2 major producers and their insights for singers and how to prep for the studio….check it out. If you are a serious vocalist you wont want to miss it!
Transcript
Hi, Im Mitch Seekins The Vocal Coach
Just wanted to give you all an update on what’s coming up. I’m doing a series of interviews to let you know firsthand what it takes to become a truly pro vocalist…. from the people who are actually doing it!
This week I’ll be posting an interview I did with Singer Songwriter and amazing multi-instrumentalist – Luna Li who is beginning to make a big splash in the scene, selling out shows in LA, San Francisco, and New York (those are the ones I know about) …and she is another student of mine who is playing at Coachella! That makes 3 this year! She is playing a private afterparty, not one of the main stages…. Who knows…perhaps next year? Fingers crossed!
I am also doing series of interviews with a couple of award winning Producers….to give you insights on what you can do as a vocalist to prepare for the studio…the first is, the last week of April, with renown Canadian Producer Gavin Brown, who has worked with such people as the bare-naked ladies, Three Days Grace, The Tragically Hip, New Kids On The Block, Metric…even some stuff with Lady Gaga! Going to be very cool!
Then the 1st week of May I’m talking with LA producer Howard Benson who’s is not only an overall producer but is also known as a great vocal producer! He has worked with people like Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Cornell, Motorhead, Rascal Flatts, Santana and again my guys 3 Days Grace…. Stuff he has produced has sold more that 100 million albums and over 20 billion streams!
These guys are going to have amazing insights to share! I’m really looking forward to talking with them!
If you like this and are excited about what’s coming up (I am!) hit that subscribe button! I’ve got lots of stuff to come.
The 1st Episode of my “Singer Survival Tips Series” . I am creating these for those vocalists heading out on the road or even just doing local gigs. This is one of THE BEST tips I share with all my students about staying healthy. Its the fist thing you’ll want to have in you “Survival Kit”!
Transcript:
Hi I’m Mitch Seekins – The Vocal Coach it is so nice to see everyone finally heading back out on tour and doing shows, so I decided to do this series of singer survival tips to help out. This is stuff that I share with all of my students – from the ones launching world and national tours to those beginning to do local gigs again.
It’s so very important for a vocalist to stay as healthy as possible to get through the shows. These tried and true tips will be things that I’ve picked up over my 38 years of touring and gigging and have used myself… oh and if you find these helpful please share and hit the subscribe button there’s more stuff coming
This is the beginning of April which is a season change and what comes with that are colds and flues as well as the beginning of the allergy season… yay ….you are constantly exposed to different varieties of germs wherever you go as each place has its own micro climate so to speak. The germs in New York are not the same germs that are in LA which are not the same germs in Chicago or Toronto my first tip is zinc and vitamin c. I personally have used this for years as well as my students grab a bottle of 10 or 20 milligram zinc tablets any brand will do it doesn’t have to be fancy and a bottle of at least 500 milligram time release vitamin c that is really important the time release aspect of the vitamin c allows the body to absorb the vitamin c as efficiently as possible if you slam it with too much vitamin c the body will just purge it and you don’t get the full benefit so the time release is actually really important depending on your stature more vitamin c is perfectly okay I’m six foot three and i take a thousand milligrams of time release vitamin c every day so if you’re of a smaller stature 500 milligrams will be just fine as well how to use this combination depending on your size I’m once again a big guy so i’ll take between you know 30 or 40 milligrams of zinc you really don’t need to go much higher than that if you’re smaller you can go 10 or 20 milligrams that’s totally fine but you take that once a day with the time release vitamin c and then you can use the vitamin c again later on in that day but not the zinc a good rule of thumb is when you take this take it with a little bit of food as the zinc may upset your stomach you want to take this right as you begin to feel something coming on you know that funny feeling in the throat where you start to feel like there’s something not quite right that’s when you want to do this you don’t want to leave that feeling for 8 or 10 hours or 24 hours and then try to do this you want to nail it right at the beginning. What this combination does is it kick-starts the body into producing massive amounts of white blood cells which is your immune system the white blood cells fight colds and flus and what have you and you don’t want to take this more than four days in a row because if you begin to develop the cold your body is going to be producing as many white blood cells as it can – it’s that kickstart that really gives you an edge on kicking the cold before it really takes hold. Now this doesn’t work a hundred percent of the time but you know, it works about eighty percent of the time! uh for example I began to have a cold that my son brought home from school on Tuesday it’s Saturday today and I started to feel it in my throat at about midnight so i actually got out of bed took my zinc and vitamin c went back to bed and then i took it again in the morning and then hit it with vitamin c that night and because I’m so big it’s a thousand milligrams and then i did it again on Thursday morning Friday morning I did it today is Saturday there’s no cold there through that time there was no point where I wouldn’t have been able to do a show if i had to so you might think well why don’t I just take the zinc all the time the problem with that is, is that even though it’ll say it on the bottle because their job of course, is to sell tablets, your body will get accustomed to it and it won’t provide that jump start that boost that’s so important in combating a cold when it’s trying to take hold so I don’t recommend taking it more than three or four days at a time the vitamin c like I said I take it every day vitamin c is a good supplement to take every day for immune health.
So the major takeaway of this is to know that to be a successful singer you need to have a strong and robust immune system. There you go that’s my first Singer Survival Tip! Once again if you like this and found it helpful, please share and hit that subscribe button … I have more stuff to come
This is a file that you can download or stream and use to help or begin a warm-up cycle.
Okay! Just a couple things to touch on before we start. If you haven’t watched the how to do lip trills video, just go back and do that it’s really, really short. Use your hands when you need to, if you need to… if you can do without it that’s great but if not, use your hands and gently lift the cheeks up. The Passaggio, the crack… don’t allow the crack to happen too early. You want to stretch the chest voice up a little bit you don’t want to ram it but you do want to want to stretch it and when you go up into head voice or falsetto make sure you come back down into chest. You want to work that Passaggio, that crack. That’s an important part of the exercise.
This is the arpeggio that I’m going to use and I’ll go up and semi-tones and that’s about it!
