Getting the ‘Frog’ Out of Your Voice

Judy Rodman

There are lots of things blooming in this area of the world (Nashville). Beautiful, but for a singer sensitive to those particular flowers – scary.

What do you do when you greet the morning sounding like a frog? Well, because many allergy and cold medications dry the throat and vocal cords out, I recommend trying these non-medical suggestions first (but if in doubt, check all this out with your medical professional).

Nutrify
Start with a drink of lemon juice and water, then I would really recommend a freshly juiced ‘green drink’… put in (as long as you are not allergic to them and can digest them) things like lettuce, carrots, celery, beets, tomatoes, apples, pineapple, asparagus…you get the picture.

Then eat a light, non-mucous forming, protein-rich breakfast. What is non-mucous forming? It varies with the individual, so start to keep a journal of how foods affect your mucous thickness. Should you drink coffee? Observe its effects on you. Even black tea can feel dehydrating to some. Watch how much dairy you consume; this usually encourages excess mucous, as do rich and heavily sugared foods.

Here are breakfasts I eat that my voice likes:

• A fruit smoothie. To a frozen fruit mixture I add soy, rice or whey protein, or a supplement I particularly love called “UltraInflamX.” I add a little orange or other 100% juice and water to cover before I blend.
• Oatmeal with vanilla soymilk, nuts and seeds (especially pomegranate) , raisins and bananas. I sometimes add half an avocado.
• Fresh avocado, pineapple and orange slices, plus fresh nuts and seeds.
• Eggs scrambled with loads of sauteed veggies. I’d call it an omelet but I use more veggies than eggs. Instead of heavy bread, I accompany it with a rice cake with tamari sauce.

Then, I like to:

• Steam…I like to take a hot bath or shower and really breathe in the steam. Then using my Neti Pot helps get rid of whatever is irritating my tissues.
• Exercise…This is a morning you seriously need to warm your vocal cords up if you are singing that day. Warm up slower and longer than usual, and don’t forget… form is everything when doing vocal exercises if you want to make your voice better and not worse! Your vocal exercises should be stretching your sinus openings so they drain… a sign that you are doing it right. I also like to do a physical workout to get the junk in my chest moving out.
• Hydrate heal…I add cayenne pepper and lemon juice to a glass carafe of water and drink it throughout the day, or my ginger tea concoction. I definitely up my water intake, and even bring a shaker of cayenne with me if I need to eat out. This may sound strange, but cayenne is a healing herb for the mucous membranes!

What about you? What’s your favorite way to wake up a thick voice?

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.