For example, when I sang in church the morning of Oct. 17, 2010, I was phlegm-free at both 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services, notoriously early hours for singing. (There is a reason traditional curtain time is 8 p.m., you see: phlegm.) Here is what I did to prepare.
- The day before, I avoided any activities that involved stirring up dust and pollen. I went shopping instead and spent a relaxing morning and early afternoon at the outlet mall near us.
- Around noon that day--Saturday--I took a Mucinex DM. My singing teacher cautions against taking antihistamines that can dry the mucus membranes in the throat, but Mucinex really seems to help me. I know there might be a psychological boost here, but I also know my throat feels cleaner and sounds clearer after I have taken one of these. Mucinex promised to "thin mucus," and I truly believe that it does.
- I drank plenty of water that Saturday and had wine in moderation with dinner that evening--two small glasses with a wine glass full of water in between.
- I took another Mucinex before bed at 10 p.m. that night.
- I made sure to hydrate during the night. When I got up at midnight to pee, I drank half of a 12 oz. glass of water. When I got up to pee at 2 a.m., I drank the other half. When I got up at 4 a.m., I drank another half glass. When I got up at 5:30 to shower, dress and vocalize, I drank a full glass of water with the baby aspirin I routinely take first thing. I drank coffee in moderation that morning--one cup with Silk creamer.
- I vocalized for a solid hour before my performance, singing through the song I was to perform four times by myself and once with my accompanist when I arrived at church.
- Most important, I vocalized again before my 10 a.m. performance. I could feel some phlegm in my throat and popped another Mucinex around 9:45. It was probably too late to work by the time I sang at 10:10, but there's that psychological boost again. I do think the vocalizing before the second performance was the most important thing I did to keep my voice phlegm-free that morning. I also had one Ricola lozenge immediately before I sang, and another glass of water.
The above regimen might sound a little compulsive, but when you face the prospect of singing in front of 100+ people--strangers, good friends and everyone in between--it's amazing the lengths you will go to to ensure you do well. In addition, many in the audience were bona fide musicians, including a former Indigo Girl. I didn't want to screw up Bernstein! And knowing I would be singing twice that morning added to the nerves. I knew if I broke or wobbled at 8 a.m., I would be doubly troubled about the 10 a.m. performance. Fortunately, I didn't have to go there.
What is your pre-performance regimen? I would love to hear your thoughts.
Back to Basics, Oct. 25, 2010
At my lesson today, I worked on the four classical pieces I am preparing for NATS in February 2011. It was the first time I had run all of them with Lilly, and there is a long way to go. On Luke Havergal, I broke on the line "Our of the grave I come." (How is this for a great Halloween song, by the way?) Lilly reminded me of one of the first rules of singing: Hold the vowel, carry that word's ending consonants to the beginning of the next word. Thus "grave I come" becomes "grah veye come." Simple lesson, but I had forgotten it, and as soon as I sang it this way I didn't have any troubles. Lesson learned, yes. Lesson remembered? Time will tell.
