Every year I attend a couple of tours with my band and an orchestra. I’m a lead singer and as you can imagine the normal musicians life – late night gigs, party’s, travelling, alcohol …not enough sleep – can be most challenging for a singer. Vocal cords and the whole body needs enough rest to perform at the highest level.
Body and soul need enought rest for optimal vocal performace!
Juliette Kylo
However, usually on tour enough rest is seldom possible. I struggled with this for several years but now found an efficient way to handle it and so to speak eat my cake and have it too. Have fun, party, and be in to vocal shape. I devised a couple of strategies which work perfectly for me. They do not depend of gender, age etc. I hope they work for you too.
Tip 1 – Drink a lot of water
Drink a lot of water. Really a lot. Your body should never be dehydrated, not even in the first phases of dehydration. This is crucial. Vocal cords as well as other muscles tend to under perform when lacking water. It might be better to limit the intake of diuretics like coffee which draw water from the body.
Tip 2 – Use steam inhalation by taking hot showers or steam inhalers
It proved to be very beneficial to have at least one long hot steamy shower a day. The inhalation of steam is crucial because it re-hydrates the vocal cords and throat. If a shower is not accessible you can use also a typical steam inhaler. If you don’t have that use a simple cup of tea and cover yourself with a towel when inhaling. The main goal is to soak the vocal cords and mouth with steam to keep it fresh, flexible and performing.
Tip 3 – Eat diverse and healthy food
This doesn’t mean you should focus only on salads and fruit. Eat diverse. I usually don’t complicate and eat actually anything from fruit to fish & meat. It is best to maintain a good, nice and healthy diverse nutrition. We touring in Spain a couple of years ago we stayed in a hotel that served really awful food. You could taste it’s made from the truly the cheapest fake ingredients. After a few days staying there the signs of fatigue when singing started appearing which were an unknown for me till then. Well the solution was simply good food, so I focus on this more now. I have been using this approach since and love it.
Tip 4 – Take mineral and vitamin supplements
Staying up late or not resting enough your body gets depleted of vitamins and minerals. They are important for the micro-functions of the body. You can get them in form of supplements, pills powders etc. This way it is easier to transport when touring.
Tip 5 – Eat dried plums or any quality herbal pastilles daily
Dried plums are magical, believe me. The rejuvenate the voice.
Juliette Kylo
While on tour I eat a few dried plums every day and also just before the performance. A great alternative if you do not want to carry bags of plums around are herbal pastilles available in various shapes by numerous brands worldwide these days.
Tip 6 – Be physically and vocally active. Train every day!
Train every day. The body has to be in optimal shape for optimal vocal performance. For physical exercise you can do whatever, swim, run, play volleyball. With that I usually also do 15 mins of singing exercises, warming up, scales etc. Even shower singing works.
Tip 7 Visualize your performance as vividly as possible
I have come to realize that a successful completion of any project is also dependent on the visualization of a desired outcome. Every day take a couple of minutes to visualize yourself performing on your next event, visualize yourself singing in full voice, hear the people, see the hall, feel the vibe… Psyche is quite and important part of a successful performer – but I might cover that in another post.
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…well, my new friend. before you click away
I hope this tips help you. They have been invaluable for me and had saved me hours of worrying. They work perfectly and I hope you experience the confidence they gave me too!
I would love to get your feedback or try your tips for securing an optimal vocal performance while also enjoining fully.
Have fun! I prepared also 3 bonus tips, but I’m sure you already knew that!
Kjuliette
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3 Bonus Tips
What to do when drinking alcohol?
On tour it usually happens that you go out exploring the city you perform in and it easily ends up in clubbing, drinking and partying till the morning. And this is great. However singers have to be a bit prepared for this situations.
In the morning after that kind of night I drink a rehydration powder solution. It can be mixed with water or any other beverage you like. It provides a sufficient amount of minerals you lost the last night.
WTD when smoking too much last night?
Short term negative effects of smoking on a singers performance can be best mitigated by inhalation, drinking teas and hot steamy showers.
How to stay in good physical shape on tour?
I suggest to get at least 5 hours of sleep or I should say 5 hours of deep rest a day. It doesn’t have to be a block of time, and can be distributed throughout the day in smaller chunks, a couple of hours of sleep and then an afternoon nap. Or many shorter naps throughout the day.
Juliette Kylo Music 