Healthy Body, Mind, Spirit AND Voice!

by Cari Cole

Staying vocally fit and healthy is the key factor in a great voice and a long career. When a guitarist breaks a string they replace it. However a singer’s vocal cords cannot be replaced. Vocal health and care is the key to strength and longevity for a professional career. Nothing is more frustrating than a voice that is straining and cracking or singing off pitch. Nothing is more dissonant than listening to a singer not quite making a note or a voice that could be better with just a few tweaks. As a singer, there will be many times when you will be under stress, or struggling to sing with colds or flu’s or a lack of rest or dehydration. Understanding your instrument and vocal health can save countless hours, canceled concerts and vocal loss & fatigue. Improving your vocal health in general will result in a better voice and sound.

Singing and vocal health became a passion of mine when I was still quite young. I’ve been singing since I was 7 and performing all my life. I’ve also been very interested in health from early on. I turned vegetarian at 15 and started studying herbs and massage. I couldn’t get enough of it and read everything I could get my hands on. I started doing hatha yoga at 16 and practiced pranayama breathing exercises. With my insatiable interest in health alongside my own vocal studies as a professional singer and my 25 year teaching career, I have come to realize that vocal health is a result of overall health. I’ve never met a singer who had serious vocal health problems who was physically and emotionally healthy. The two go hand in hand. I would say that the X factor in the high level function of the singing voice is the health of the body. And not only the body, but add to that the mind and the spirit.