How to Clear Your Raspy, Hoarse Throat

Raspiness plagues many singers. Some get a raspy voice because they are suffering from a cold or sinuses. Others have raspy voices from short term vocal fatigue and long term overuse. There are things you can do to help preserve and strengthen your voice when it is hoarse. This article will discuss how to clear your raspiness in singing. The activity that yields the most immediate results is breathing in steam. The great thing about steam is that it immediately reaches the vocal cords when you breathe it in. A few ways you can breathe in steam is by drinking hot tea, taking a hot shower or wrapping a hot wet towel around your neck. Steam paired with lemon and honey, hydrates the vocal cords and clears phlegm to make your voice much clearer and easy to use. Another way to overcome raspiness is to monitor how much you talk.

Singers need to realize that the vocal cords they use to speak are the same vocal cords they use to sing.

If you talk loudly or often throughout the day your voice will not be at full capacity when it’s time to sing. Take note of how loudly you speak. You may find that you talk with the windows down or over mucous while riding in your car. You may also find that you talk over loud cafeteria noise at work or school. All of these things wear on your voice. Lastly, a way to overcome raspiness is to sing off the voice. There is a technique called singing in the mask, singing in mixed voice or singing in the ‘middle voice' that helps you to overcome raspiness. This technique allows you to place your voice in a highly resonant area of our face so that you are using natural acoustics which is your skull, to project the sound. The technique makes you feel a ‘buzz' in your lips, nose and eyes. You are essentially singing ‘over' the raspiness to produce a clearer sound. Raspiness or hoarseness can happen for many reasons. Very few voices are naturally raspy. Most voices have become raspy due to illness or misuse. In any case, these are some great ways to overcome raspiness. Hot steam, monitoring your speech and singing in the mask will help you speak or sing with a clearer, more resonant voice.

Dileesa Hunter is an international vocal coach and consultant based in Atlanta, GA. She also records and tours with several recording artists and performs in various stage plays. Born in Manchester, England, she has always been exposed to different music styles. Dileesa’s vocal repertoire includes Gospel, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Barbershop Quartet and Opera.

Share on Google Plus

About Airplay 360

AIRPLAY 360 is a monthly published digital magazine designed to inform, empower and motivate independent inspirational musical artists by offering a soundboard of information provided by artists, producers, label executives and other industry professionals.