Have I knackered my voice?

[bladeola]

I've got two words for you mate:

BAD TECHNIQUE

That's the only reason for your voice being f*cked, but I suspect you know this already. You have had some good advice here; do you mind if I throw some things in too?

• Sing scales while humming (very gentle exercise)
  
• Pant like a dog. I'm serious! It's good exercise for the diaphragm
  
• Do some stretches before you sing. Your body is your instrument and if it isn't warmed up then your voice won't be either.
  
• Play it safe. If you feel the first twinge of something being wrong with your throat, don't sing for at least a week and become best mates with throat lozenges.
  
• If you are truly serious about singing, cut back on caffeine, drink more water, get more sleep and absolutely no drugs whatsoever.
  

This will stand you in good stead. If you want to take things further, I know a couple of singing teachers in Aberdeen who could help you.

Cheers

Jayne

Cracking post!

The panting thing is good. Your diaphragm is what it is all about. In a similar vein suck in through the nose quite quickly and try and fill your diaphragm as much and as low down your body as possible. You want to start feeling the side of your body fill up as well. Then let out as if blowing out a candle. Dont do this too much as you'll get dizzy.

[Hog]

I've got two words for you mate:

BAD TECHNIQUE

That's the only reason for your voice being f*cked, but I suspect you know this already. You have had some good advice here; do you mind if I throw some things in too?

• Sing scales while humming (very gentle exercise)
  
• Pant like a dog. I'm serious! It's good exercise for the diaphragm
  
• Do some stretches before you sing. Your body is your instrument and if it isn't warmed up then your voice won't be either.
  
• Play it safe. If you feel the first twinge of something being wrong with your throat, don't sing for at least a week and become best mates with throat lozenges.
  
• If you are truly serious about singing, cut back on caffeine, drink more water, get more sleep and absolutely no drugs whatsoever.
  

This will stand you in good stead. If you want to take things further, I know a couple of singing teachers in Aberdeen who could help you.

Cheers

Jayne

Dunno about bad technique, my throat never hurts and I dont lose my voice. It is surely just because I carried on singing with a cold?

[jcn]

Dunno about bad technique, my throat never hurts and I dont lose my voice. It is surely just because I carried on singing with a cold?

I know that I sometimes push my vox a bit too far (sometimes sound a bit hoarse) but after Elements last gig I totally lost my voice. I have never lost my voice ever. I think I also had some kind of throat infection at the time because I was coughing up yucky stuff in the mornings. This gig was last week and my throat is a lot better but my voice is still knackered (If I try a falsetto no sound comes out of my gob)

When you said that you sound a bit hoarse and you then lost your voice, that immediately made me think that you were straining your voice. The main culprit of a singer straining their voice is not using your diaphragm. You are right though, I get the suspicion that your gigs start off with good intentions but when you really get into the set the discipline goes out the window. It is understandable but it is also very risky. Better to nip it in the bud before you end up with nodules on your vocal chords or something similarly nasty.

Your throat doesn't necessarily need to hurt in order for you to have bad technique. I'm talking long term strategies here; there are some little pointers that can put you in the right direction but there is no quick fix.