Hello...Anybody home? Quiet here. Question about vocals.

[Bonhomme Richard]

Wondering if anyone knows of a regimen which will help me get my voice back? Something beyond the tea and honey routine.
Went to a party Friday a week ago (that's another story) and lost my voice. I got enough of my voice back (basics were good but when I try falsetto zero sound comes out) for a gig I did the 29th. The problem is my voice is shot again and I have another gig on the 3rd. Does anyone know of some sort of concoction that might help?
Any suggestions or should I just stick with the tea and honey bit?
By the way...the gig went great. Packed house and people responded like they were at a concert and not a bar. Really wierd. We finished the second set with Jessica and began the third set with Layla. As soon as the keyboard player started playing the piano part everyone started clapping. Really Strange but fun.

[Bonhomme Richard]

1. Help....

[leftofthedial]

2. it depends on the cause of your laryngitis

for best results, have a doctor look at your throat.

is this due to vocal strain?

is it due to a viral or bacterial infection?

do you have post-nasal drip? do you have a sore throat?

if it is vocal strain, only rest will help. that means no talking or singing and definitely no whispering for at least two weeks.

if it is due to mucous in your throat, take a good decongestant--Mucinex is good--and take 1200 mg (usually that's two pills) twice a day for a few days.

if it's not due to excess mucous, tea is probably not good due to the acid in the tea. Warm water with honey is good. Also, steam is your friend. Take steamy showers. Boil water on the stove, put a towel over your head and lean over the steamy water (NOT TOO CLOSE! don't burn your face or your delicate mucosa) Breathe the steam slowly, gently in and out of your mouth and nose.

Gently gargling with warm salt water a few times a day can help reduce inflamation.

Also, if it's a cold or flu, do nasal irrigation. make a simple saline solution and rinse your nasal passages. (google "nasal irrigation" for details) Gently blow your nose regularly to get as much mucous out of the "pipes" as possible. Try to avoid sleep situations conducive to apnea or excessive snoring.

Drink more water than you can possibly stand. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and carbonation.

There are throat sprays that basically numb and lubricate your throat to allow you to sing even when your throat is sore and/or hoarse. I highly DO NOT recommend them. You can do more serious and permanent damage to your throat and not even know it. They also can cause further strain because you change your vocal technique due to the numbness they induce.

No good for your gig tomorrow, but rest is the only certain requirement for vocal healing.


I just went through an allergy-induced two-and-a-half-month cycle of recurring laryngitis. Cost me about 20 gigs and about a quarter of my annual gigging income. After the first couple of weeks, I tried to rush coming back and made things worse. It just drug on and on. I was virtually silent for a four-week stretch in the middle and STILL couldn't sing. My GP doc and a good throat doctor I know in Nashville really saved me, but it took time and figuring out the cause. I got a sinus infection in the middle of it all that masked the allergy problem.

Singing when your throat is compromised is extremely risky. I've done it doxens of times in a thirty-plus-year singing career. I was stupid, but lucky.

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. Thanks for the advice.

I suspect it is strained vocal chords that is the main problem but I also have some sinus problems too. I'll lay off singing at practice tonight and try to be smart about what I sing at the gig tomorrow. Then I'll get 2 weeks to recoup before the next gig. I'm leary about sinus medicine before I sing because I thought it dried out my throat. Anyway I think water and steam will be my friends for a while.
I hate to admit it but smoking probably isn't helping much either.

[leftofthedial]

4. if you take decongestants, drink copious amounts of water

good luck.

don't sing low, don't sing high, don't sing loud, don't use falsetto, don't sing long phrases where you run out of breath. just stay right in the middle with everything if you have to sing.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. A Couple Of Points

I think most throat doctors have decided that the honey thing is a myth. Warm liquids certainly help, but the honey can actually coat the vocal chords, requiring even more effort to get the sound you expect to hear. That can make things worse. So, lay off the honey.

DO NOT drink anything cold when you've got voice fatigue. Even water should be room temperature. It's way better for the muscles around the vocal chords!

Lastly, be careful not to look down while singing. I've been hearing for many years, that the muscles around the throat get out of position and the air flow is restricted when your chin is down, so don't overstress your voice by singing with your chin down.

BTW: Congrats on the gig!
The Professor

[Bonhomme Richard]

7. Looking down. You are right.

I realized this year (about 30 years too late) that my range and clarity was much better when I stretch my throat up to the microphone. I found it much easier to sing.
Well, I have to sing tonight but then I will have until the 17th to rest things up. I'm sure my son, he plays bass, will help me cover the tunes tonight. LOL, he had to jump in and cover me last friday doing American Girl by Petty.
Whatever works.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Weenie!

Your son had to cover for you! Oh the shame! It's hell gettin' old, ain't it?
The Professor

[Bonhomme Richard]

9. LOL, It is a blow to my ego.

Yeah, getting old but then again my son is 30. I covered his butt for years so I guess it's his turn.

[leftofthedial]

10. I hope all went well

It's also not good to stretch too high.

hold your head up, push your chest out and shoulders slightly back, but don't stretch your neck.

avoiding cold liquids is good advice.

honey has no therapeutic benefit. it feels good though.

the vocal cords naturally have a coating of mucous. Honey can add asecond coating. Good if your throat is dry. Maybe not if it's clogged with too much mucous.

Also avoid dair products, which promote phlegm production.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Dupe

.

[Bonhomme Richard]

11. Well, I got through last night.

I was very picky about what songs I sang and stayed more with Gordon Lightfoot type vocals all night. It's easier to do at the acoustic gig. I also mixed the vocals up a lot more with the other two guys. So now I get to rest up the voice and really put all your advice to the test. It's strange that the primary thing I seem to have lost is the ability to do a high note or any kind of falsetto. When I try it absolutly nothing comes out. The other guitar palyer in the group will sometimes play Homeward Bound and I would lay on the high Garfunkel harmony vocal. When the part came up in the tune I tried it (away from the mike) and nada came out.
Looking forward to the rest.
Thanks again for the help.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. That Sounds Like. . .

. . .like a light rupture of the vocal chord. If the tissue is slightly torn, it swells up until it heals. When it's swollen, you can't get enough air through the channel to move at high frequency. I've had this happen too! I went to the doctor for it, because when that happened to me, we were gigging 4 nights a week. (Good per night fee, too!) So, it was imperative that i knew what was going on.

What i told you is what he told me. So, just rest your voice as much as you can (even from talking), stay hydrated, and be patient. We canceled one week of jobs, so i went about 11 days between gigs. It came back for me in that amount of time.

Like you, i have almost always done the high part in harmonies. The only time i don't is when our drummer hears that part so clearly in his head, that it's better for him to sing a part he can clearly pick out. Then i'll sing a lower part. But, on songs i didn't sing the lead on, i would guess that 95% of the time i take the high harmony. So, our maladies are that similar!
The Professor

[Bonhomme Richard]

14. Thanks, I'll talk to my keyboard player (doctor) about it.

I have had it happen before and eventually it came back but I didn't know what caused it.
Like I said before, smoking doesn't help but that's what I do. Oh well.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. That Sounds Like. . .

. . .like a light rupture of the vocal chord. If the tissue is slightly torn, it swells up until it heals. When it's swollen, you can't get enough air through the channel to move at high frequency. I've had this happen too! I went to the doctor for it, because when that happened to me, we were gigging 4 nights a week. (Good per night fee, too!) So, it was imperative that i knew what was going on.

What i told you is what he told me. So, just rest your voice as much as you can (even from talking), stay hydrated, and be patient. We canceled one week of jobs, so i went about 11 days between gigs. It came back for me in that amount of time.

Like you, i have almost always done the high part in harmonies. The only time i don't is when our drummer hears that part so clearly in his head, that it's better for him to sing a part he can clearly pick out. Then i'll sing a lower part. But, on songs i didn't sing the lead on, i would guess that 95% of the time i take the high harmony. So, our maladies are that similar!
The Professor