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Here are some tips for
taking care of a tired, overworked, and disappearing voice!
- Keep your throat lubricated as
much as possible. Drink lots of water, and get in the habit of
always having a water bottle nearby.
- Breathe steam!- use a
humidifier or vaporizer, especially during the winter months,
and especially at night.
This can work miracles for both treatment and prevention of
problems.
- If you do feel like you’re
losing your voice, try wrapping a hot towel, or heating pad
around your neck, while sipping ice water. Do this for 15-30
minutes several times a day if you can. Even once will help
enormously. The idea is that the heat relaxes the muscles,
while the cold reduces the inflammation on your vocal folds.
- Drink hot lemon juice or tea
with honey. (Throat Coat tea is available at most drug stores,
and
is a nice treat!)
- Avoid clearing your throat,
and whispering .Both are very hard on vocal folds.
- Gargle with warm salt water.
- If you suffer from allergies,
stay on top of them. Once they grab hold, you are wide open
for
catching a cold, and losing your voice.
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What If I'm
Not Comfortable Singing?
Some adults are not
comfortable singing, but there are many other ways you can
bring music and rhythm into the classroom.
- Use recordings with
instructions, that the children can sing along with, or
follow activities. There are many such recordings
available.
- A lot of music training is
actually listening skills. You can put items in a box,
make a sound, and let children guess what the sound is.
- Go on a “sound” hunt. Take
a walk and stop along the way. Have children close their
eyes and listen to the sounds around. Some sounds will
make a rhythm, such as hammers, bird songs, machinery.
Have children try to imitate those rhythms.
- Spend some time by
yourself listening to a variety of recordings by different
artists. Try to find songs sung simply, without harmonies
or a lot of instrumentation. It may be that there are some
singers you can more easily sing with than others. Explore
your own voice, and conduct your
own listening exercises.
- Chant, rather than sing
song lyrics. Keep a steady rhythm by slapping your thighs,
and use different voices (whisper, loud, soft, sad, mad,
silly).
- Have a parent come into
the classroom and sing with the children, or combine with
another class for a special music time, if there is
another teacher who is more comfortable singing
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