Vocal Advice

I’m in chorus in high school and I love to sing.    Almost every year I do this solo & ensemble contest but my nerves never get any better.  For a little bit, before I go up to sing I don’t feel nervous at all but then once I start then the whole shaky voice and leg shaking starts.  In 6th grade and freshman year I got a 3rd.  Last year I got a 1st.  I’ve always been the type of person that is really insecure and no matter how many people say I sing well, I always doubt it.  It’s kind of hard to know who to believe when your own choir teacher says you’re not good enough for a solo and everyone else says you sing well.  So please help me with my nerves, the competition is in a week.  Thanks

Answer: Hi Esther,

Great question!

I’ve written another post on “dry mouth” nerves, so my answer will only serve to expand on that very slightly.

Nerves are normal.  What you described very well, 98% of the all performers also experience.  Part of the answer is to learn to balance the “adrenaline dump” with oxygen in your body.

You’ll recognize the feelings …  at a time very shortly before you are to perform your heart rate increases - anywhere from double to triple the normal speed.  (Adrenaline has been dumped into your blood stream.)  It’s important AT THAT TIME to breathe very deeply and slowly repeatedly.  This helps to accomplish two things: a) slow down the heart rate and b) increase the oxygen to your brain.  When the two are not in balance nerves tend to “take over” and “shaky voice” and “shaky legs” also known as “tetanic flutter” seem uncontrollable.

Nervousness isn’t going to go away - but you can get it under control - so that your nerves (the added adrenaline) actually serve to enhance the performance.

Go ahead and practice ahead of time what you are going to do when you feel the heart-rate rise - so that when the time comes, you’ll be doing something familiar and something you’re prepared to do.  (Sit tall, stand or walk and breathe deeply - slowly and fully - several times.)

Then, when it’s time to walk on stage, look confident and secure (you’ll be amazed how feelings of the same will follow) and you’ll also set your audience at ease.  Then enjoy expressing the song.

Best wishes to you!

Hi, I’m singing I Dreamed a Dream for my acting class final, and I have a really good voice, I really do, but my mouth always dries to the point where I can’t sing as well as I’d like to because I can’t hit the notes I want. I don’t think it’s a case of bad breathing or anything as much as it is nerves because I can sing fine at home, but it never happened to me until now. How can I stop this?

Answer: You hit it on the nose: dryness in the mouth is due to nerves. We sometimes refer to it as “cotton mouth.”  Performance nerves are things all performing singers have to reckon with.  Let me suggest a couple of things to help ‘keep things moist.’

1. Avoid caffeinated drinks just before singing, because they are mild diuretics - they actually help to ‘dry out’ membranes, affecting vocal cords that need to stay lubricated and saliva glands that need to provide moisture in the mouth.

2. Keep a bottle of water handy to swish around in your mouth just before singing.

3. Swish your tongue around the outside of your teeth and up by your upper gums to stimulate your saliva glands. This will add moisture to your mouth even in interludes between vocal phrases. Practice doing this first so you know what you’re up to.

4. Be sure you’ve breathed deeply and slowly several times when you feel the adrenaline kick in, so that your heart rate comes back down to a manageable tempo.

5. When you’re singing, “lose yourself” in the song, that is, express it from the heart. “Knock e’m dead.”  Thinking and expressing the song–instead of thinking of technique or your audience–will also help maintain normalcy in your mouth.

Hope you find this helps. Best wishes.