Coughing while singing...

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4ever

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A while back there was a proposal about creating a seperate discussion section for vocal but I still don't see it so let me post my problem here.

How do you prevent from coughing while singing? Once it started the fun disappears so it's a big social/professional(?) problem for me... Thanks in advance.
 
Stop smoking and drink lots of water. If the coughing persists you may need to go see a doctor as you could have some life altering disease.

Rusty
 
And get the book "Set Your Voice Free" by Roger Love,
which includes a CD with vocal warm-ups and exercises on it.
Some singers, like myself do MUCH better on high notes after singing an hour or more, others are vice versa, so make sure ALL the keys you sing in are comfortable.
Cutting down on drinking milk and/or consuming other dairy products like cheese also helps.

Feel free to "reactivate" the "Singer's Forum" thread in the
Recording forum I started way back when too.
There were a number of other singers with good input on it
besides myself.

Chris
 
I start coughing when I try to sing out of my register and close my throat. Sometimes I have to transpose and sing in a different key.
 
Try about 2 tsp of Robitussin DM- available at any drugstore. This is your friendly neighborhood vocalist/RN talking. If you smoke, quit. If you don't, and the problem persists, see a doctor.-Richie
 
Acid reflux can also srew with your voice bad. I should know. But it needs to be diagnosed by a specialist (ear, nose & throat).




f.S.
 
Thank you guys for the advices. Actually I don't drink and don't smoke. I don't think mine is weather related problem either because I start coughing only when I sing higer notes. Or should I still experiment with Robitussin DM eventhough I feel fine? I don't think Acid reflux is a problem for me.

Hmmmm, so I just have to cut down on dairy products. I do drink coffee and milk occasionally but not everyday. Mostly on weekends when I drive by 7-11 stores :D I wonder if there's more I should do other than cutting down milk consumption.

Matty_boy, what do you mean by singing out of your register? I could hit the upper G note for 2-3 times before I started coughing. Is that called "out of register"? :o

How often do you sing to be in good shape vocally? I want to know because my vocal chord gets tired easily after a few songs.

Thanks.
 
As long as you're in good general health and not suffering a bad
cold or flu, you should be able to sing for HOURS every day.
Charlotte Church, for example spends 4+ hours each day keeping in shape! If you're not planning on singing grand opera, 15 or
more minutes practicing exercises, along with a suitable amount
of warming up (in my case 30+ minutes+!) will lead to a steady
improvement in your technical ability and endurance.

Of course, a tenor friend of mine tells me he can practically roll out
of bed and he's warmed up... (show off!) :)

Chris
 
Try this .... For the next four days, do two periods of about 20 minutes singing per day. Make sure that you keep within the set of notes that don't trigger the coughing.

Reason: Give yourself the change to build up a habit of cough-free singing for a few days. Also you will be building up some stamina.... it's a case of you getting to experience singing for long periods of time without coughing.


Next step, work on getting to know how you get notes well within that cough-free register.

When that is familiar, begin to go towards some of those notes tat previously had you coughing. But this time, creep pu on them so that t feels like you are blending what you have been getting familiar with .... taking some of the learnings of your cough-free practice into those notes.

Then give feedback on this thread. I will keep an eye out for this.

NB ... this is not 'the answer' .... it's an experement. Kind of first stages in trouble-shooting which may sort some stuff out and will also pinpoint some of the other things that might need to be taken into account.

:)
 
4ever:

My understanding of "your register" is that it is the notes that you can comfortably hit when warmed up that do not hurt, make you cough, or lose tone. I don't think that it cannot be built on. I am working on getting comfortable in the keys that are not problematic for me now before I try yo expand my range.

My cousin is a professional vocal coach (I know the P word gets used a lot here, but she does it for a living), and she warms up and sings every day to keep in shape.
 
here to boost what cheese-parov says... drink more water... drink more water... DRINK MORE WATER...

and get Roger Love's book :D

Seriously, with the correct technique, you shouldn't be coughing. Your vocal chords should vibrate... it should be a pleasant sensation, and you should be able to sing extremely high without discomfort... if you're using the correct technique. Doesn't matter who you are.

Without hearing you, I'd have to guess you're 1) pushing air by clenching your stomach 2) trying to have the high notes resonate in your chest, instead of the roof of your mouth... this will cause you to raise your larynx, which in turn closes up your throat. It's likely that THIS is what's making you cough.

You can hit the high notes by keeping your adams apple down gently, and allowing the notes to resonate on your hard palate. This will keep your throat open and relaxed, and should keep you from pushing air with your stomach muscles.

This is better explained, and in better detail in Roger's book.


Chad
 
Ya the wrong technique can kill you throat. You adams apple should remain down (like when your yawning) to the top of your range. Actually not quite as low as when you yawn for me, but close. This is against all normal reflexes, and is a bitch to learn but oh the difference it makes.. there is a whole lot more to it though.

Ya see these raspy blues guys like B.B. King can turn it out for hours with out killing thier throat. They know something. They know thier sweet spot. some call it being in your voice set.



Later

F.S.
 
One thing someone told me once (and I think it's right) is that if you let yourself react to the urge to cough, and hack away strongly, you can severly risk your vocal cords!
I think you can actually tear the skin off your throat, and/or vocal cords while coughing loudly, ie draw blood.
So, if this were true, you might actually have a scab on your throat, that you keep tearing open, so try stop singing for
a week to let it heal and see if it gets better.
As well, try to hold back on the cough as much as possible (usually impossible to fight the urge) but at least don't tempt yourself to hack away to scratch the itch.
It's just a pet theory, so feel free to ignore, ridicule what have you!
Perhaps someone has info to credit/discredit this theory, fire away!
PS red wine really screws up my vocal cords too!.
Also, the advice someone gave about making sure you drink LOTS of water a few hours before you sing works wonders for me!
Gord Wait
 
Great thread, and I'm for a singers forum too!

I agree on getting Rogers book. That explained so much for me. I'm relearning how to sing and it's been a great experience. Before I read the book, I would sing all chest and kill my throat. I used to dread singing in the upper part of my range. Now after discovering 'middle voice' it's actually easier to sing my high notes than it is to sing in the upper part of chest - where the transition to middle begins.

One more comment about drinking water. You have to be drinking all the time - not just when you are singing. Drinking water while singing won't have much of an immediate effect. The water doesn't pass the vocal chords... unless you're inhalling it!

:-)
 
My daily minimum intake of room tempature water is at least
six full glasses in ADDITION to anything else (coffee/tea, etc.).
On days like today where I'll be singing 2+ hours tonight it
will be a minimum of 8+ glasses of water.
It really has helped me to sound much "cleaner" on high notes.

High notes BTW, are to be "allowed" by your voice not HIT.
Big psychological difference...
One mental technique is to imagine a keyboard where the
high notes are to the right, not "higher".
It's mental intent rather than altitude.
You're much less likely to strain your voice that way.
Proper use of the vocal chords resemble gynastics due to the
coordination issues instead of weight lifting!

Chris
 
Lactose/Milk problem....

Funny you say that about dairy. I've always struggled with cough/cold...that turned into a dry lingering cough every year...and slowly tapered off but causes a lot of problems for me vocally.

That's why I was on here. I was doing research.

I've recently found this to undoubtedly be the cause of major stomach problems in my life and after much research I am starting to think it is the problem with my lingering dry cough (i have been tested for allergies many times, and for acid reflux, next is an endoscopy for pallops but I doubt it is this since it gos away every year). My guess is that even though I take Lactaid pills, etc. this only solves my stomach cramps and my guess is that since the dairy is technically still in my stomach it comes back up when running or singing causing me to cough. Also in the summer we tend to eat more dairy (ice cream etc.), and this is when it happens to me.


4ever said:
Thank you guys for the advices. Actually I don't drink and don't smoke. I don't think mine is weather related problem either because I start coughing only when I sing higer notes. Or should I still experiment with Robitussin DM eventhough I feel fine? I don't think Acid reflux is a problem for me.

Hmmmm, so I just have to cut down on dairy products. I do drink coffee and milk occasionally but not everyday. Mostly on weekends when I drive by 7-11 stores :D I wonder if there's more I should do other than cutting down milk consumption.

Matty_boy, what do you mean by singing out of your register? I could hit the upper G note for 2-3 times before I started coughing. Is that called "out of register"? :o

How often do you sing to be in good shape vocally? I want to know because my vocal chord gets tired easily after a few songs.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Just so you know, this thread is about 7 1/2 years old. Not that the conversation isn't any less valid, I just haven't seen most of these people around. :p

And now that we finally have a Singing/Vocal forum, I'll move this thread over there.

peace,
 
Chili- just to mess with you I'm gonna start posting in the wrong area... over.. and over.. and over.. and over.. :)
 
Rip Van Winkel

Wow ....

I opened an email account I look at about twice a year,

Then find a thread and post from 8 years ago!


HOKAY. I've updated my account here with my present email address and hopefully I'll be back a LOT sooner than the next ... 8 years!



OK .. Back to the topic: [!!!!]

That sweet spot which allows the bluesmen to sing and bellow for hours IS the register I refer to. That spot where it is all easy. The trick is to identify the structure of the 'Sweetness' of the spot ... one can then extend the 'diameter' of the spot itself.

'normal', 'sub-pharyngeal' and 'falsetto', I find each have their specific sweet spot.


There is a further modifier I elicited during the time I have been away ... in the context of singing for musicals, where 'character' is allowed to modify the voice more than in, say classical opera, where there are stricter conventions of production, then the 'feeling' of the sweetness can change slightly according to the type of character one is playing.



An umbrella under which the route for achievement lies, is to make ones Feelings into the primary referent. How one looks, along with specifics of posture are essential for 'taking the horse to the water', the drinking, however, is when it is 'in the blood'. Another way of putting it is that those externally perceptible benchmarks should be considered not as 'causes' but as 'evidence'.

EG: to refer to a post above .. the correct positioning of the adam's apple WILL accompany the 'correctly sung note', and is therefore one of a series of benchmarks or points to check and consider.

There are singers who have been so fixed on the 'outside' that they are operating 'at second hand' - their notes are well produced, but they are not holding the actual 'keys'

The 'keys' are the unique internal feelings which represent the successful balance of the gestalt, the balanced operation of 'the bits'.



ANALOGY: I once needed to drive to Chessington in the South of England. as I approached, the signs guided me .. but I kept getting lost .... I followed the signs, but each time failed to find the town and had to reverse my direction whereupon I would again find signs to Chessington.

There were NO SIGNS to say 'YOU've Arrived! You're HERE NOW'. Walking, it was big enough to 'be' in. Driving ... I was 'beyond' a moment after I had arrived ... it was that small, when viewed from the outside.


Everything had been looking good, but I had kept on missing the place. I had needed the vigilance and sensitivity needed to appreciate the 'strange place' when OFF the map ... away from the simple following of the signs.

Without the signs .... details of the adam's apple and associated posture, I would never have reached the 'ball park' With them, however, I felt Very Secure .. which was right but Only up to a point .. and beyond that point, the very 'signs needed' were actually Distracting me for arriving.

When the 'sweet spot' is recognized from within ... ie begins to feel right to describe it with 'I know it when I'm thre and I know how to get to it', or 'it's a feeling', Then it becomes a great bridgehead for further expansion, if we are thinking developmentally.

If we are thinking remedially, then it is a great place on which to rebuild principles of 'correct technique' and to begin to move away from 'cough-producing' habits.


That's it.

Before closing this post, I will quote GordWait when sh/e says:

"Perhaps someone has info to credit/discredit this theory, fire away!"

I will also refer to my previous post [of 81/2 years ago .. ROFTL] where I emphasize that my advice is in the nature of an ongoing experiment ... to be tested and appreciated for where it works, and to be corrected and improved on in areas where it is lacking.

Very best wishes
Glyn Powell.
 
then there's farting while singing... hurling while singing...blowing chunks while singing... :)
 
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