Tips For Singers and Public Speakers: Throat Lubrication
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Let me start this by saying I'm a professional blues singer with a four octave range. I have been gigging for 14 years and have been recording for record labels for almost as long. I have a bit of a raspy lower register and it's extremely important that I keep my voice in good shape, or I would lose it. Few things can screw a singer’s voice – and a concert – up more quickly than singing with a dry throat or mouth. There are several reasons for this, but I’ll skip most of them and just say the main reason is it’ll force you to overcompensate. If you know your voice well, you can pull it off if you absolutely have to. If you know your voice like you’re God incarnate, you can pull it off for 3 hours straight, in a smokey environment, without anything to drink, whilst suffering a cold – and still be able to do it all over again 16 hours later.
The latter category is cool, to a degree, but it comes with very high pricetag. You see, the only way you can know for sure how much your voice can take, is to actually lose it in its entirety for a few week’s time. Losing it for a day doesn’t count, not even a little bit. You have to lose it to the point you actually start to cry, wondering if you’ve lost an entire octave forever.
The good news is, unless you were a complete moron about your technique, the voice usually does recover. But it’s not something a professional should endeavor to experience. Just take it from me, and others like me, when we tell you maintaining your vocal chords from the start is an absolute must. There are a number of ways to do this, and I’m not talking about things like vocal exercises.
Nor am I talking about not smoking, which is something anyone with a brain already knows. I’ll get into the other aspects eventually, but the most basic requirement here is lubrication. And I’m going to tell you the best, and worst things that will affect this. I base this on 12 years of professional singing, in all settings. This includes festivals of 10,000 or more people, small clubs of 50 people, poorly mic’ed settings and well-mic’ed settings.
Me Singing Live
The Worst:
- Water
The biggest lie of them all, what a friggin joke this is. There is nothing worse than water, and that’s exactly why you see people drinking lots of it – it doesn’t make anything slick, it only moistens for the amount of time it’s in your mouth. In fact, nothing makes you more aware of a dry throat than water that’s just gone down it. A good lubricant LASTS. It’s not something you have to repeat several times a song. And it's not something you should even need to be thinking about more than a couple of times a set.
- Tea
This one makes me laugh. People who take tea onstage, especially people who take silly crap like throat coat tea onstage, are just wasting money. Tea is no different than water (unless worse counts), and nothing in throat coat tea is any more helpful than regular water. The warm temp can help a little, but you might as well just be taking hot water up there if that’s what it’s doing for you. And yes, I’ve done the hot water thing when there nothing else I could get my hands on. It works, if only somewhat.
- Beer
Beer is about the same as milk – do not drink this within 5 hours of going onstage. If you’re a lush and can’t face the crowd (you can probably guess from my tone I don't approve of this), take ONE shot of liquor, and then take pineapple juice up there with you. No beer, it makes you sound like crap whether you know it or not.
The Best:
- Pineapple juice
Far and away, the best choice available. Doesn’t matter if it’s room temp or a bit chilled, but nothing cold. And nothing with chunks in it, those can make you cough. Pineapple juice is slick, it will instantly moisten your throat, wet your tongue – and cause you to salivate, which is the best lubrication you can find. 1 glass per 45 minute set, a sip or two between songs, that’s all you need. Remember, you’re just lubricating, not quenching thirst. Do not go overboard with pineapple juice, you will spend the next morning in the bathroom. Crazy as pineapple juice sounds, it’s the best thing you can use, and I’ve converted every opera singer I’ve ever mentioned it to.
- Strawberry Juice
I don’t go out of my way to get this one, but if I can’t get my hands on pineapple juice this will do for a one off. It can be grainy, so just sip. SIP. It will also cause you to salivate, and it will make your mouth very slick. Again, don’t overdo it.
- Honey
And by this, I mean pure honey. Not honey mixed in with some silly tea. If your throat really gets it, you can carry a small squeezable tube of honey around with you and use a tiny bit as needed. Salivation is instant and that’s what it’s all about.
- Olives
Again, the real olive, not olive oil, though I suppose that would work in a pinch. Olives are readily available in most bars, just nibble (NIBBLE) at one until your throat feels nice and wet.
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Comments
How about oily snacks? Would they work?
Good hub! I've been hanging around in the music scene for years (harmonica and some vocals) and I've never heard of using pineapple juice. Honey, yes. And lemon. And Jack Daniels (which doesn't work). I do swear by water, but you're right, a lubricant it's not. Now if I can keep the olive pieces from getting caught in the reeds ...
Isabella, Good information to share. keep going
Good to share and noted for the future.
Would never have guessed water was a bad choice. Thanks!
Roxy - Thanks!
Aspirenow - Well, I have hypohidrosis, so I doubt you run hotter than myself. ;-) Water's fine for hydration but it's still useless for lubrication if its the last think you drink. I have no idea what pineapple juice does to reads, you may be right.
Kenny - No, you shouldn't be eating anything before you sing, things can get stuck in your throat and make you crack a note.
Eric - Lemon is another myth, they say to use it to cut phlegm. Personally I think it does more harm than good and can definitely make someone crack because its too much. Phlegm is manageable if you know how to close your throat off, Id rather do that than use lemon!
Sukritha - Thank you!
MrMarmalade - Thank you, too!
FaceNatural - For lubrication, yes, its a very bad choice. :)
Great hub. I had no idea about water and tea, but I can't say I'm surprised, and looking back it makes complete sense to me!
However, what would you say about mixing (not together, but using both interchangeably) water and honey, as in water to keep hydrated (something my experience tells me is eternally helpful and underrated in the singing world, if not everywhere) and the honey to lubricate? I'd do the pineapple juice thing, but I'm allergic.
awesome hub. i've actually never heard of threat lubrication thats pretty crazy. I'm thinking mariah carey with her beautiful voice probably does something like that.
Sadly I have the proof that water doesn't (quite) work. The thing is that I have a condition that at first sight resembles asthma (don't worry, I'm not a singer), but in reality is something else. Just by chance I realized that gargling with water provides some relief... for a very short time! If I really want to see a difference, I have to do that 50-100 times a day - literally! So guess what I'll drink from now on...
i still say lemon is one of MY best remedies.....so it is not a myth for me and my experience ...since i have been in my 40's my voice has been going through slight changes.....i suck a lemon at night before bed and eat nothing after that....i go straight to sleep and let the acid do the work...in the morning i my throat feels great....my morning voice sometimes needs a lil' help.....but lemon has been great for me.......i will try the pineapple juice a try as well......at times i have been taking mineral oil for personal reasons before bed some nights......and now that throat lubrication has been mentioned.....i have noticed some strenghening in my voice the next day.......but the pineapple juice ....i will try it.....thanks
I'm going to give the pineapple juice a try, but I can definitely vouch for water and tea doing NOTHING! My throat tends to be dry fairly often, and it definitely affects my singing. I could drink a gallon of water throughout the day and it won't help (though water does still serve a purpose for general throat health). I notice my throat feels good right after I eat, but as mentioned, eating before singing is not ideal, and it also doesn't last long enough.
One thing I know that helps me with my general dry throat condition is honey lemon lozenges. Nothing fancy, a HALLS will do. Note - I dont' have a sore throat, just dry, but that can also have an affect throughout the day leading up to a performance. I've noticed I feel better when suckin on a few lozenges in the hours leading up to singing. Looking forward to seeing the results of the pineapple juice.
I will try pineapple juice, i've been try drinks like water and lemon tea in a long run of singing but it doesn't help much sometimes i sounded scratchy and sometimes a hoarse voice even i have enough sleep though..i think pineapple juice will clear up my voice better and i think this is the right time to try it! Thanks for the tips!
I have chronic voice problems from childhood illness, I use honey to help but yesterday the pineapple juice seemed to do much better for me and I had not read here until now. Not singing, I just like to be able to talk now and again.
Thanks for your info! I lead the worship at our church nearly every sunday and love to sing, play the guitar and keyboard and a few other instruments. Every Sunday I vocalize on the way to our facility and have for the last seven years. I've been leading worship and singing for over 20 years and have tried lots of things to lubricate my throat. Water has never worked for me, but would still recommend a full glass of water about 1 hour before. I stumbled upon this site and picked up some pineapple juice on the way to church and gave it a shot. I was absolutely amazed!!! I have about a 3 1/2 octive range and was able to reach the top notes effortlessly. I was sold after singing the very first song and so was my worship team. In fact, two of them called their spouses to get them some on the way to the service. Thanks again!!!!!!
I hope that the pineapple juice can make me sound as good as you!
Wow, I hear so many people rant on about how water is the best thing. Even most recording engineers during vocal recording sessions will say "have a glass of water" if my voice cracks. I've always argued that water just strips away the thin mucus coating that a voice needs to work well. The best thing I've found (but I'm really excited about trying pineapple juice) is a couple of shots of jagermeister, along with warm ups before singing. Wow, thanks so much for sharing your story and tips. You rock!!
J.T. says:
2 years ago
great hub isabella.
yours
J.T