Hydration!
Hydration is key for singing. Nothing is worse than singing up on stage with your mouth so dry you have to bite your tongue a little bit or pretend you’re chewing something to create saliva – especially when it is only the beginning of the show!
Many teachers say to avoid carbonated beverages, coffee, tea, alcohol, etc, and to just drink a lot of water. But, did you know that there are foods you can eat to also help make sure you’re hydrated? Foods like watermelon, strawberries, celery, cucumber, and lettuce. You can also make a smoothie, buy a sports drink, and more recently some of my friends have found success drinking coconut water.
Teachers also suggest staying away from dairy products before singing as it is believed to create extra mucous. While that can be true, in my experience dairy and coffee doesn’t effect my singing any more. I think it just comes to a point where once you know your voice well enough, it doesn’t matter. It used to not be like that for me when I was just starting my vocal studies. I remember in undergrad being upset that I never got solos in choir, so before rehearsal my friend and I would purposely go drink milk, eat some ice cream, or going to the local coffee shop to bring back a huge mocha or latte into rehearsal. We were such rebels!
