- What is the purpose of a vocal cool down?
- How long should your cool down be?
- Best exercised for a cool down.
Imagine this; you’ve just come home from the Christmas concert that you’re community choir puts on every year. You loved singing along to all the songs. Joy to the World, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Silent Night, etc! You notice that while you’re talking on the phone on the way home your voice feels tired. Almost as if you’d been yelling instead of singing enthusiastically. You wonder why that’s happening?
You took breaks between the songs to listen to the narration of the Christmas story. The director even had everyone warm up before singing!
Purpose of a vocal Cool Down
There can be several reasons for the strain that you feel after the performing in concert, but the most likely culprit is the fact that you didn’t get to do a vocal cool down after your concert. As crucial as warming up is before a strenuous use of your vocal muscles, so is cooling down. It allows your vocal chords to return to a comfortable register for your regular speaking voice. It also keeps the lactic acid that can be found in the muscles in the throat from pooling which can cause post performance injuries (Backstage.com). You might be worried because cooling down is never something you thought about after singing. But rest assured, by remembering the few techniques discussed in this post you can more confidently cool your voice down and protect your vocal muscles from damage.
Length for a cool down
Before we discuss the tips for proper cool down, it is important to note that your routine doesn’t need to be long. A 2-5 minute cool down will help you bring you’re voice to a comfortable range that will allow you to continue your day without strain.
You should complete you’re cool down not long after you finish your singing or speaking performance; so within the following 5 minutes if possible.
Best practices for a cool down
- The first exercise that is great for a cool down is to do some light and unforced humming. You can gently hum the Voicercise practice song if you know it. Or just hum scales in descending order. This gives your vocal chords a light and comfortable vibration to start relaxing them.
- The second exercise you can do is tongue trills. This is when you put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth slightly behind your front teeth and trill. If its hard to imagine what that means, say any word that begins with the letter ‘R’ and try to hold and roll the R with your tongue for 5 seconds.
- The third exercise is to simply take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. This helps the muscles in the neck & throat to relax. You can even gently massage your throat area to help with the relaxation.
- A bonus tip (rather than an exercise) is to stay hydrated before and after your performance. Drinking water before you perform keeps your vocal chords hydrated so that you have the moisture you need to move more easily into different registers. And drinking water post performance helps to restore that moisture that has been lost from all the vocal muscle movements.
Remember these exercises and you can ensure that you’re voice will be healthy, strong, and ready for your next big performance! Happy singing!
