<![CDATA[Vocal Artz Studioz - Artz Thoughts]]>Thu, 02 May 2024 18:46:57 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Healthly vocal habits to live by]]>Thu, 25 May 2023 22:41:03 GMThttp://vocalartzstudioz.com/artz-thoughts/healthly-vocal-habits-to-live-byHealthy habits to take care of your voice
  • Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, especially when exercising.
  • If you drink caffeinated beverages or alcohol, balance your intake with plenty of water.
  • Take vocal naps—rest your voice throughout the day.
  • Use a humidifier in your home. This is especially important in winter or in dry climates. Thirty percent humidity is recommended.
  • Avoid or limit use of medications that may dry out the vocal folds, including some common cold and allergy medications. If you have voice problems, ask your doctor which medications would be safest for you to use.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet:
  • Don't smoke, and avoid second-hand smoke. Smoke irritates the vocal folds. Also, cancer of the vocal folds is seen most often in individuals who smoke.
  • Avoid eating spicy foods. Spicy foods can cause stomach acid to move into the throat or esophagus, causing heartburn or GERD.
  • Include plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables in your diet. These foods contain vitamins A, E, and C. They also help keep the mucus membranes that line the throat healthy.
  • Wash your hands often to prevent getting a cold or the flu.
  • Get enough rest. Physical fatigue has a negative effect on voice.
  • Exercise regularly. Exercise increases stamina and muscle tone. This helps provide good posture and breathing, which are necessary for proper speaking.
  • If you have persistent heartburn or GERD, talk to your doctor about diet changes or medications that can help reduce flare-ups.
  • Avoid mouthwash or gargles that contain alcohol or irritating chemicals.
  • Avoid using mouthwash to treat persistent bad breath. Halitosis (bad breath) may be the result of a problem that mouthwash can't cure, such as low grade infections in the nose, sinuses, tonsils, gums, or lungs, as well as from gastric acid reflux from the stomach.
Use your voice wisely:
  • Try not to overuse your voice. Avoid speaking or singing when your voice is hoarse or tired.
  • Rest your voice when you are sick. Illness puts extra stress on your voice.
  • Avoid using the extremes of your vocal range, such as screaming or whispering. Talking too loudly and too softly can both stress your voice.
  • Practice good breathing techniques when singing or talking. Support your voice with deep breaths from the chest, and don't rely on your throat alone. Singers and speakers are often taught exercises that improve this kind of breath control. Talking from the throat, without supporting breath, puts a great strain on the voice.
  • Avoid cradling the phone when talking. Cradling the phone between the head and shoulder for extended periods of time can cause muscle tension in the neck.
  • Consider using a microphone when appropriate. In relatively static environments such as exhibit areas, classrooms, or exercise rooms, a lightweight microphone and an amplifier-speaker system can be of great help.
  • Avoid talking in noisy places. Trying to talk above noise causes strain on the voice.
  • Consider voice therapy. A speech-language pathologist who is experienced in treating voice problems can teach you how to use your voice in a healthy way.

a look into the voice: 

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Let's keep ourselves healthy!  
]]><![CDATA[15 Reasons to Take Singing Lessons]]>Wed, 15 Mar 2017 20:34:14 GMThttp://vocalartzstudioz.com/artz-thoughts/15-reasons-to-take-singing-lessonsWith summer coming up  -  are you looking for things to keep the kids busy? 
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Do you need a good reason before you make room among the ballet, soccer, karate, scouts, baseball and reading club to enroll your child in singing lessons? Here are 15:

1. Develop a Valuable Musical Talent:
Shinichi Suzuki, the "grandfather" of child music education and creator of the world-renown "Suzuki method" strongly advocated that children are not born with musical talents, but rather they are developed just like learning a native language through early-age training. By giving your child voice lessons, you will be giving the gift singing and music appreciation that will become a valuable and cherished asset for a lifetime as a medium for satisfying personal achievement and entertainment.

 
2. Build Self-Esteem:
In addition to the morale that the student gains from working diligently at a skill and succeeding, the positive individual attention given in private and small-group lessons and parent practice sessions fosters self-esteem and self-worth in the student by showing them that they are worthy of personal attention and that others believe in their success.

 
3. Learn Study Skills:
In the course of singing lessons, students learn many study and memorization skills that easily transfer over to other subject areas to help them succeed in school and life. Studying music will help students discover their own best individual learning styles, giving them a head start on the independent learning skills they will need in more advanced academics.

 
4. Learn Focus:
Regular voice lessons and practice sessions help students develop advanced levels of concentration, determination, self-discipline and responsibility to regularly practice and work at skills to reach near and far-distant goals. These are the rare personality traits that more than any else will ensure success in all other areas of life.

 
5. Increase Brain Function:
Many studies have shown that music instruction helps students develop advanced complex hand-eye, hand-to-hand and right-left brain coordination that greatly increases their ability for multi-task and complex brain activity, spatial cognition and fine motor skilled activities such as typing and writing. Many of the world's greatest minds were honed by their classical music playing and education.

 
6. Increase Mathematical Skills:
Studies have also shown that music instruction helps students develop practical science and mathematical skills such as counting, pattern recognition and recall, geometry, ratios and proportions, fractions, sequences, time keeping and pacing, acoustics, etc.

 
7. Build Character:
Studies have shown that students who study classical music develop stronger moral character, are much more likely to score high in their classes and standardized tests, and much less likely to engage in substance abuse or criminal behavior. (Columbus Parent)

 
8. Increase Intelligence:
Studies have shown that children who take private piano or voice lessons develop higher IQ scores than those who do not. (Forbes)

 
9. Increase Listening Skills:
Studies have shown that trained musicians are much better at discerning subtle speech inflections and thereby "reading between the lines" of what a person says than those without musical training. (Fox News: Live Science)

 
10. Improve Speaking and Communication:
Singing lessons has also been shown to cause significant improvement of the quality of the speaking voice including improving clarity, tone, diction, and expression. Singing students also work on improving their facial and body expression, eye contact and confidence, and become accustomed to singing in foreign languages.

 
11. Develop Presentation and Leadership Skills
Face-to-face performance training and experience gained from singing lessons teach children strategies for preparing and confidently delivering presentations in front of strangers, peers and critics. Poise and confidence in front of others fosters leadership and social skills.

 
12. Develop Creativity and Artistic Awareness:
Creativity and ability to "think outside the box" have been praised as important characteristics of successful professionals in all areas. Singing lessons help children develop and use their creativity and artistic skills in a structured, universally-appreciated way. As students are pushed to conform and "put away childish things" as thy get older, singing and music will remain a legitimate and appreciated medium to keep their creative mind and open outlook alive.

 
13. Connect with Others Through Music:
Music has often been called a "universal language" for it's incredible ability to transcend language, cultural and time constraints to communicate thoughts, ideas, emotions and impressions. Learning the "language" of fine music opens the door to an endless library of musical stories, portraits, essays, manifestos and poetry that has provided inspiration for centuries to our world's greatest minds. More than any other medium, vocal music excels in communicating to and touching the souls of men and women and is a manifestation of humanity's collective conscience and social heritage.

 
14. Express Yourself Through Music:
Learning to sing opens a new and deeply powerful medium of emotional education and expression as the child learns to "give voice" to the emotions of the composers and their own. When the student participates in the production of quality music and really understands and connects with it, the intellect and the emotion are profoundly stimulated and the student comes away from the experience with an enriched and more meaningful life.

 
15. Heal Yourself With Music:
Music has long been a considered soothing and healing practice. While not all popular music available today can be said to contribute to peace of mind and body, studies have shown that Classical and modern art music helps in a number of ways including lowering blood pressure, soothing stress and chronic pain, and promoting healthy breathing. Fine Music gives the student a forum to cope with life's challenging emotions and promotes healthy and balanced thought and body. (Music Therapy as a medical treatment is a legitimate and growing profession used for improving the quality of life of people on all levels, improving social skills and treating a variety of conditions from physical and speech disorders to depression, behavior problems and psychiatric conditions.)

Reprinted from Little Singers Info
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