As a singer, you can’t allow common cold or cough make you miss a concert or ministration. Imagine putting in time and energy rehearsing for a particular gig, and the day before the show, you are stuck with a terrible cough such that you can’t open your mouth to produce a note without bending down to cough. Sickening yeah? Let’s look at how you can save your singing voice in seconds when you are stuck in such situation.

But there is a solution, a better solution even. Instead of swallowing tablets and smoking syrups that will take days to be effective, this is a better, natural and faster saver, one which can be a fast way to save your voice in seconds: Ginger, Lemon, and Honey.

Before we analyze how these natural substances help us as singers, lets clear some myths. Chewing okra, swallowing banana finger, drinking raw egg, etcetera, is a scam. A musicologist/laryngologist will tell you this is wrong, because, eating and singing (producing sound) are two different businesses, involving different pipes.

In the throat, we have two pipes: esophagus and trachea. The esophagus is where every food substance we eat pass through. It has no business with speech and singing. Our instrument as singers is the trachea, this is where air(oxygen) passes into and out of the lungs. The larynx(voice box) leads to the trachea. In the larynx, we have the vocal folds which vibrate when we systematically push air through it to produce sound.

Armed with this knowledge, you see why those myths are stupid? The banana and okra you eat do not pass through the larynx that produces sound to make you voice beautiful. The epiglottis (that thing you see dangling when you open your mouth wide, below the soft palate) blocks the larynx when you eat so that food particles pass straight to the esophagus. This is why we are warned not to eat and talk, for the epiglottis then raises from the larynx and food particles enters it and we start coughing.

In the next article, we’ll discuss how food can help the voice and the science behind it.

Now, how can ginger, lemon and honey help?

Ginger contains gingerol which is a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory chemical. It helps clear off the mucus around the pharynx and nasal cavity. Lemon promotes hydration (which is extremely important for singers). Honey is notorious for its antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, plus it heals wounds and soothes sore throat.

READ ALSO: How to Maintain Vocal Health & Hygiene

These three mighty natural goodness in hot water does wonders. The mixture clears your cough in seconds (I kid you not!), treats sore throat, heals your flu (extensively), and makes the note you produce clean and virgin – as there is no thin line of mucus affecting the quality of tone.

Aside from it’s benefit to the voice and health, can we talk of the heavenly taste? My god! It could replace soda and all those sugar we swallow daily. It tastes natural, romances the tongue, and does something to the entire mouth only a new bride can do to her husband.

Also, this mixture helps to: fight cancer, lower cholesterol level, reduce menstrual pain, prevent kidney stone, freshen the breath, aid digestion, and improve your skin quality.

Do not add excess honey though, unless you want to make the toilet a second home.

Sadly, I don’t have proper measurements, I just go with my intuition.

How to Save Your Voice

<-> chop some wished and pealed garlic (blending helps to extract most juice)

<-> add into a pot of clean water.

<-> cut the lemons into quarters and add (with the skin, s’il vous plait)

<-> when the mixture boils, sieve into a cup

<-> add honey and stir

<-> drink while hot for optimal effect.

I know what you’re thinking at this point. But we just talked about how nothing eaten passes through the larynx to help the voice right, so how does this mixture work?

Remember this is to be drunk while hot, yeah? It is this hot steam that will carry the healing properties of the ginger, honey and lemon to the voice box where it works it magic. Plus even when you drink the mixture, you’ll feel the hot ginger sensation around you throat after the gulped liquid most have gone down. This is because honey makes it lurk around the throat like the ears of a nosy gossip around people’s windows. This help it work best, too.

Alright, there you go. You now have a method on how to save your voice in seconds. This when done, will help you become an exceptional singer.

John Onah Otroyin

John is a Nigerian Baritone, Falsettist, and a Writer. He is the first runner up for the Kingsley Inuope Idegun Memorial Award for Countertenors. His literary works have been published on online magazines like KalahariReview, PraxisOnline, AfroAnthologySeries, et al. He blogs stories on nighttalesng.wordpress.com