I’ve never exactly been a chatty type, but in the past several years in particular, I’ve done much less speaking. And now I find that if I stress my vocal chords, by trying to shout, or sing for a while, I go hoarse very fast indeed.
But the vocal cords are just muscles, right? So I should be able to exercise them to get them back to their old state, right? I’m not looking to improve the quality of my voice, just the quantity. So how do I do it? Google produces some results which I’m not sure are appropriate, more aimed at those with normal voices looking to improve the quality, or those who are ill.
When a person comes off of a fast, they have to adjust their bodies to little bits of food at a time, building up gradually as you go, as not to make yourself sick.
My thinking is this is, why couldn’t this be the same case?
Here’s what you do:
Invent your own exercises to workout your throat, voice, and everything else involved, SLOWLY and at your comfort level. Push yourself to make it louder and less sore a little more everyday. When you get pressed and start hoarse-ing out, take note of how long you made it, and give yourself a cup of like hot lemon and honey, or a tea that’s good for throat.
If you want to step it up after that, just grab some halls or your ricola and your favorite music, (not punk or anything too hard on your first try!) and start humming an’ singin’ away. Singing is an excellent way to stretch your voice and can be therapeutic, just don’t strain anything.
I’d recommend methods like this. Weening combined with a reward system, you’ll be shouting as loud as you ever did. After all, you’re not even try to quit anything, that’s a lot harder. Prove it you can do it, and go as far as you want at a time, and you can do anything.
From practical experience, aawilson’s right. I too spoke very little for a few years, and after a couple of months where I only said about ten words, I found my voice was a little strangled all the time and I’d go hoarse after just a few minutes of load, drunken singing
Sing along whenever you’re listening to music and hum whenever you’re not. Start off quieter if it gets uncomfortable, and try and exercise your range a little. That’ll sort you out pretty quickly.
