ageing voices

As sports people age, they are less agile: their performance levels reduce; their bodies are more likely to be injured, or niggling past injuries come to haunt them. They become slower and lose some strength.

However this description can also be used to describe using the voice; after all it is a physical process. As we get older, our voices reflect this. Not only is there 'wear and tear' on our vocal folds but our body loses strength to make the vocal sound so strong. The clear tone is sometimes lost and the power in our voices reduces. Our voices therefore become weaker, more shaky and make us sound older. The same happens when we are ill.

Interestingly, opera singers, when their vocal folds are examined, have very healthy folds because they take such care with their voices.

So if we wish to maintain a youthful, fresh voice, what do we need to do. Here are some tips to make yourself aware of your voice and aging.

• It might be fun to shout and scream at concerts or at Adventure parks, but you would be surprised at the number of people that strain their voices by shouting and screaming. This can lead to genuine damage, making your voice husky and reducing the volume in your voice. If you do strain your voice and it doesn't recover, see your GP.
• Remember to drink plenty of water; if you are dehydrated, the body produces mucus to protect the larynx making it sound husky and foggy.
• Look at how you stand and your posture. Your voice will sound better if you are in an upright position (sitting or standing) when your chest is open and shoulders down.
• Remember to keep up your breathing exercises! Much of the strength of your voice comes from breathing from your abdominal area and supporting your diaphragm.
• Keep practising; if you regularly speak to other people, whether on the telephone, in meetings or even at public events, you will maintain your confidence.
• Smile and enjoy; just because you are getting older doesn't mean you don't have a voice or anything of interest to say - you certainly do!

Adele's vocal problems have resulted in her cancelling her upcoming tour. The BBC article has explained the problems Adele has been experiencing and sadly, she has revealed that she first suffered problems when recording her first album. Although I am sure she has some vocal advice, I'm surprised she did not have frequent training: i.e. at least twice a week, to develop a secure technique.

It is tough being a singer: as the article says, opera singers are the Olympians of singers, HAVING to know how to use their voices correctly. However, they do not perform every day, for this very reason BUT they have trained for years to ensure they don't damage their vocal cords. The BBC article does say that opera singers don't perform for 280 days of the year - but then they perform without microphones and over an orchestra which is FAR more physically tiring than singing (or miming) over a backing track with a microphone.

For young singers who have the pressure of a management or record company wanting them to promote themselves all the time, it can lead to pressure to perform when they are tired or when the voice is slightly damaged. 

Footballers and athletes do not perform when they have an injury yet singers are performing and being interviewed when clearly their voices are tired. (Listen to singers being interviewed: often their speaking voices are husky - a bad sign).

In the case of Adele, whilst she has listened to advice, has had vocal training and is careful, I'm afraid there is a fundamental problem in her vocal technique: she is not using enough 'head voice' and putting pressure on her larynx as a result - leading to vocal damage. When you listen to her latest single, she drives the sound in the middle of her voice and then the melody goes higher: this is straining the voice. This will affect her speaking and singing voice.

She has been very brave - and sensible - to cancel the tour. I have no doubt she had a lot of pressure to go ahead. She now needs to rest the voice and then do some serious training and I wish her well.

As to what we can all learn from this: singing, like speaking is something natural. We can all do it. But if we have to speak or sing regularly we need to ensure we have a good technique and are relaxed to ensure we maintain healthy and fresh vocal cords.