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Vocal Health Tips
- Stay hydrated! Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake. Check if your medicine dehydrates.
- Be mindful of how much speaking or singing you do, and stop when you feel fatigued.
- Avoid competing with a noisy environment, e.g. restaurants, noisy machinery. Never yell!
- Smoking, including vaping, is particularly irritating to the vocal folds.
- Avoid excessive throat clearing or coughing.
- Avoid excessively acidic foods.
- Pain, hoarseness, loss of control or range, and rapid vocal fatigue are all warning signs. Seek a competent voice health professional.
Become an advocate for healthy singing!
Download and share the Vocal Health Tips and Benefits handout.
For more information about taking care of your voice, please see this resource from the online speech pathology program from Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.
Vocal Health Blog
Apply your vocal health knowledge to the barbershop style
Our blog features articles from members of the Music Education team at the Barbershop Harmony Society and other experts in the field, including Kim Newcomb, Steve Tramack, Jim DeBusman, and Patty Mills.
Learn about voice production and resonance, how to breathe life into your singing, taking care of your voice as you age, how singing strengthens the immune system, and more.
Healthy Barbershop Singing
Listen to Healthy Singing
The best way to learn what healthy singing sounds like is to, well, listen!
Check out our playlists below -- we’ve assembled some of our best quartets and choruses to model how healthy and vibrant barbershop singing can be.
