food
Food for singers, advice on what not to eat, and some recipes to try
One of the greatest loves of my life is food. I love reading about it, growing it, making it, and of course eating it. This is not unusual among singers either! I have had part time jobs in cafes and restaurants to make some money to help pay for singing lessons - I’m sure you know or have been served by people working between music or acting jobs.
When I travel I love trying out new dishes and dream of coming home to recreate them, even if they never quite taste the same! I will greedily ask you what you ate on holiday, in a restaurant, or made for your dinner party.
This month which is often associated with summer holidays (for those of us in Europe), I thought it might be fun to talk about food and singing - what foods do famous singers eat? What is advised for singers to eat/avoid? And of course some recipes to try that are associated with some of our operatic heroes.
What should I avoid eating when singing?
Well, this escalated quickly - and the truth is… that there are no hard and fast rules! Know your own body, and respond to what works for you. There is no evidence that certain foods will be good or bad, only general advice linked to reflux and heartburn.
I recently ate ice cream just before singing, and it was delicious. Dairy is not an issue for me personally, but if you notice any extra phlegm that inhibits your singing, you might want to time it so you don’t have it right before singing. But don’t presume or deny yourself certain foods if they don’t cause you issues.
Reflux
Reflux can affect the quality of the voice, causing irritation and inflammation. There have been studies that link singing/professional singers and reflux, the link is not entirely clear, the linked study was with a small number of singers. You can read it here:
If you work with and are generally more aware of your body and small day-to-day differences, you may be sensitive to changes others may not notice.
If you are experiencing problems like waking with a scratchy throat, feeling burning in your throat, hoarse voice, bad breath, bloating/heartburn, you should speak to your pharmacist or doctor for advice.
Some of the causes of reflux can be:
Eating certain foods/drinks (coffee, tomatoes, fatty foods, alcohol, spicy food, chocolate)
Eating late at night
Certain medicines
Pregnancy
Smoking
Being overweight
Stress and Anxiety
So to try and reduce symptoms it is suggested you:
Lose Weight if overweight
Find ways to relax/destress
raise the head of your bed when asleep by a couple of inches to use gravity to help
Avoid food/drink that exacerbates your personal symptoms
Don’t smoke
Don’t drink alcohol
Wear clothes that are loose around your middle
You can find more information here:
Anecdotes
We’ve covered the science, we’ve discussed what should be sensible, so now we can enjoy the stories and the recipes!
It is said Pavarotti asked for three roast chickens to be available at all times where he sang. He was also famed for cooking certain pasta dishes for his friends for which there are recipes online
San Francisco opera published a recipe book called “What Aria Cooking” published by SF Opera Guild in 1974, with favourite recipes of the stars including Leontyne Price’s ‘Crabmeat Imperial Casserole’, and Tito Gobbi’s ‘Pasta alla Tito Gobbi’. I feel I need to hunt this down! There are several other cookbooks around with recipes from opera singers
Callas would collect recipes from famous cooks and hotels when she travelled, but was said to rarely if ever cook them. She ate mainly steak and salad to maintain her slimmer figure after her weight loss
Remember that what you eat will power you through your work - so balance the good and the not so good, and consult a personal trainer/nutritionalist if you wish specific personalised guidance to help you improve your fitness or lose weight.Always consult your doctor if you have any concerns and before making radical changes to your fitness and diet.I hope you enjoy trying one of the recipes below - a cocktail, pasta dish, and classic pudding for your enjoyment.
Please comment and let me know if you try one of them!
-
1 and a 1/2 ounces of gin
1/2 and ounce of Dubonnet (the red version)
1/4 of an ounce of maraschino liqueur
Dash of orange bitters (optional)
Twist of orange or lemon peel, or slice of orange to garnish
Method:
Shake together the gin, Dubonnet, maraschino liqueur and bitters (if using) in a cocktail shaker with ice, until the cocktail is mixed and chilled.
Strain the mixture into your choice of glass, and garnish. Serve with a name drop of the last famous singer you made the drink for at one of your many soirées.
-
This recipe is also called ‘pasta con le melanzane’ (pasta with aubergine/eggplant)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 Aubergines cut into pieces of about 3cm
1sp salt
4tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of chilli flakes
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
350g spaghetti
small bunch of basil, shredded, plus extra to decorate
1 heaped tbsp capers
ricotta cheese or finely grated parmesan to serve
Method:
Add the salt to the aubergine chunks and set them in a colander over a bowl to remove excess moisture.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a casserole dish or saucepan. Fry the onion with a pinch of salt on a low heat for 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and chilli for 1 minute, before adding the tomatoes and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
Cook uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Heat the oven to gas mark 7/220C fan/200 C.
Pat the aubergine dry with a clean tea towel/kitchen roll. Stir in the remaining 2 tbsp of oil, and spread it out on a baking tray and roast for 25-30 minutes until golden around the edges.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions, and reserve 100ml of the pasta water.
Stir the aubergine into the sauce with the basil and capers. Season to taste.
Stir the cooked pasta into the sauce, with some of the pasta water.
Divide between 4 bowls and top with ricotta/parmesan and extra basil for decoration.
-
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Choose 4 ripe peaches, the best seasonal ripe peaches you can find.
200g Fresh raspberries
Lemon Juice (optional)
some sugar
100g icing sugar
Vanilla ice cream - home made or bought
Fresh almonds/flaked almonds to serve
Method:
Blanch the peaches for 2 seconds in boiling water, remove them with a slotted spoon and place in iced water for a few seconds. Peel them when cold.
Optional- to reduce the peaches browning, place them in water with a little lemon juice. This helps if you are preparing the dessert in advance.
Sprinkle the peaches with a little sugar, and place them in the fridge.
Puree 200g of raspberries and pass them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Mix with the icing sugar, and refrigerate.
When ready to serve, either prepare one large celebratory dish or plate into 4 bowls.
Add a bed of ice cream with the peach on top, covered in the raspberry sauce.
Use almond flakes to decorate - Escoffier suggest only fresh and in season, but shhhh, we don’t need to tell him!
breathe
Breath control in singing
“Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I
but when the trees bow down their heads,
the wind is passing by.”
Christina Rossetti
We breathe and take breath every second, minute, and hour of hour lives. Yet when it comes to singing, we must breathe and use our bodies to regulate air in a slightly different way. Breathing should feel easy, use our whole body, feel relaxed, and aid our music making and communicating. But how often have we truly felt that?
As always, my blog today is not here to teach you the one and only amazing technique to fix your problems or follow for perfect singing. For that you need to work with a trained and trusted teacher who can work with you, your body, your health, and your voice. Every singer will need a different balance of the individual elements.
Instead, I will describe what breathing well does, give some guidance for better breathing, ways to balance the different things that might be going against your goals, and talk about techniques to calm anxiety. I hope I might guide you to improve your knowledge and ability to assess your own breathing needs. If you have health concerns, consult your Doctor before trying any new exercises.
The Body
Breathing is part of what is known as the autonomic nervous system, or ANS. These automatic body functions are mostly involuntary, and include things like:
Digestion
Speed of breathing
Body Temperature
Regulating blood pressure
By regulating your breathing through exercise or for instance singing, you can regulate your your ANS, which in turn has the following benefits:
Lowers heart rate
Relaxes the body and mind
Regulates blood pressure
Lowers the release of the hormone cortisol, known as the stress hormone
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Pupils and fans of tv singing shows all know that diaphragmatic breathing is needed in singing. But what does that actually mean? And why is it good for singing?
The diaphragm is just one of the many muscles that we need to use to breathe.
Our bodies need to feel loose and relaxed when we sing both for good breathing and resonance, so try to include some stretches that feel like they relax and lengthen your body so you start in a neutral state without tension.
Your intercostal muscles between your ribs help expand your rib cage to allow your lungs to fill with air. The diaphragm is below the lungs and contracts on inhalation to make extra space for the lungs to fill and move into.
In order to breathe well, we need to breathe deeply with movement and expansion around the 360 degrees of the trunk of our body.
Deep breaths should be slower, without tension, and more relaxed. Shallow breaths are often made higher the body, and tend to be more tense, sometimes faster. You can experiment with this and feel the difference for yourself. We know we want as little tension as possible when we sing, so deep, slow, low breaths using the diaphragm and filling our lungs more fully is preferable.
For some people, focussed breathing or breathing exercises might increase their anxiety or be bad for their health- so take care to pay attention to your own body and mind, and only continue if you feel happy to do so.
Breath Control
Once that breathe has been taken, it is important not to let it out without control. Good imagery to explain this is the bellow taking in air and expelling it with focus through the small opening. Or a balloon being filled with air, and being let go to produce a long sound as it expels the air slowly through the small neck of the balloon.
We’ve noted how to expand our ‘bellows’ or ‘balloon’ by expanding around the trunk of our body, and we must now think of the air when expelled . It travels up the trachea (wind pipe) and out through the mouth, first meeting resistance in the larynx through the vocal folds. The vocal folds meet together in a waving/pulsing motion at great speed to make sound as the air passes through. We use our bodies to gently support the voice, and regulate the expulsion of air so that it is is gentle, not tense or forced, and the correct speed. Each singer will will find their body works slightly differently and needs different elements tweaked through their lives to support the sound they wish to make.
These are the basic concepts of breathing and breath control in singing that are needed to make sound that is healthy and sustainable. Not all types of singing, emotions, repertoire or voice production will need the same levels of breath support or the same breath, so at all times ask yourself questions about your voice:
Does is feel comfortable?
Is it sustainable?
Do I like the sound I am making?
Can I make the sound more sustainable/comfortable by changing something?
As ever, let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts or feelings about this months blog, and if you would like to read about some more exercises for anxiety or better breathing click on the link below.
bloom
Adding colour to the voice and your performance is often seen as the last step in preparation to perform - however it is an intrinsic part of the formation of sound and communication.
So how and why should we add colour to the voice?
Singing is the simple balance of phonation, and resonation.
Phonation is ‘the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration’ (Wikipedia) whilst resonation can include amplification and filtering the sound.
It is possible to tell the age of someone and what emotion they are communicating through sound alone of their voice, without sight of their facial features or physical gestures - so we know that the voice is a powerful and intricate communicator, and the brain adept at understanding very subtle differences in tone.
A study Read Here published online in American Psychologist recorded 24 separate human emotions in brief human vocalisation. This does not include the longer passages of speech etc, just short noises. 24. I still find this number incredible despite having read it several times!
These noises are created by instinctual things we do when talking/responding to situations. If I explain technically that they can be made by creating more inward space around the vocal tract, raising our soft palate, increasing or decreasing nasality, that helps in technical terms to describe what might be happening. But I think what might be more helpful is to provide an example of 2 scenarios that are similar but will have different sound responses to communicate different emotional responses..
‘ow’: hurt yourself, accidental papercut, self pity
‘ow’: hurt, your sibling gives you a dead arm, you are annoyed
These sounds show pain of very different types, and will be using different spaces to make the sound and communicate different layers of emotion to the listener. Have a go at making the two sounds yourself, what can you feel that is different in your breathing, posture, throat, to help you act out the scenarios and make the sounds different?
Most exciting, here is the link to the emotion map where you can hear the different emotions as recorded by researchers: Listen Here I love that each sound has a % of several emotions showing the variation possible!
As singers we aren’t aiming at displaying 24 emotions in our singing (not all at the same time/in the same aria thankfully!) - but this should also explain why your voice will not sound like someone else’s. You can’t possibly hope to match the percentages of each emotion to deliver an identical performance in sound and communication.
So we’ve talked about the different spaces the sound will resonate in due to emotion - how/why is this important when we sing? If you agree we should have Thought:Breath:Sing then you need to think the emotion/s, breath into that space with those certain parts of your singing space more open or more closed, then sing.
Some examples of Emotion in Singing:
Happy music requires more space and upper resonance. Why? Because this is what we do naturally when we are happy, as observed in normal life.
Our Faces are animated, our eyebrows are raised, we smile, we breath into those upper spaces naturally and with ease.
To help, get your pencil and draw a smiley face over your music/lyrics. Do you have to smile? No. But a smile or brightening the face is the simplest way in to acting that emotion, plus it usually magically adds other things to our voices that are very helpful (automatic space made and widening of the pillars of fauces, etc) .
Here is an example of a voiceover artist demonstrating their Happy/Bubbly voice, you can hear animation in her face and the upper resonances added by her acting happy in order to play the part for her script..
Happy/Bubbly Voiceover artist Advert
Music that is romantic requires more richness. Why? Because when we are being more romantic, we use a sing-song smooth voice with softened changes in pitch, and a rich tone.
For my example for this sound in speech I have chosen a Marks and Spencer advert in which several actors start talking with one emotion, then change to the now famous Marks and Spencer ‘This is not just…’ sensual voice. As you listen, can you hear how they change the shapes and spaces they are using to show us the new emotion?
This Is Not Just...M and S Advert
The actors are deliberately speaking with a smooth legato melodic style of speech. The voices are using a mid level of tone not too high or two low, although using those areas occasionally), and full bodied resonance, in that sounds relaxed. They are opening into and using the full depth of their body to add richness to the sound they create, with relaxed muscles/joints to further allow resonance (the opposite to help clarify, would be a small closed off sound, something like a nasal restricted tone that is small and thin with reduced resonance).
In summary: The emotional content of the music you sing should be a main starting point in your practise so that you are singing into the spaces that you need to connect the text and emotion to the music. Technical proficiency in singing includes the use of emotion and colour, and cannot be disconnected.
To add colour, we must study and think of how we might act out and speak the lyrics. Perhaps using words or emotion faces drawn on our music can help guide us when studying, a bit like Stanislavski who wrote how actors should prepare their scripts. Notice where we naturally move our anatomy, where we close the space and open it, to help us guide the voice to add colour.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post about adding colour, what will you add to your practice? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.
As always, this is a discussion you can take to a trusted teacher or coach and use in your own practise with guidance and lots experimenting.
Adding colour is something highly personal, which will be different for every singer depending on their individual anatomy and interpretation. But it’s definitely something you can experiment with no matter your stage in vocal study.
singing lessons: why do we sing?
The Science and Psychology behind why we sing
Exploring some of the science behind why we sing.
There are lots of reasons that we as humans sing - as a teacher I’ve had pupils come for lessons for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes the reason they started lessons aren’t the same as the reasons they continue, but they are all welcome!
Singing has many benefits for us, some obvious, and some a little more hidden.
Which of these reasons do you recognise?
As a teacher, my job is to welcome you to lessons and help you reach your goals.
One of the first things I do is to ask you what your goals are, establishing some of the reasons that have brought you to my studio.
This is a valuable time for me to find out all about you. Some people wish to learn a certain song or have a goal of singing a certain type of music or for a particular performance, and others simply enjoy the process of learning about their voice and singing music with me each week.
When teaching adult learners it is unusual that someone joins me with no experience of music or singing, so it’s nice to know what that is.
How you describe your past experiences helps me understand what kind of experiences they were - were they all positive? Why did you stop? If there was a particular reason you might prefer not to talk about it, but it is usually apparent in the way you describe the past.
My job is to help you and your voice from our meeting onwards, without negativity or judgement. My studio is a positive space open to all.
So why do we sing? What makes us want to do that or encourages us to meet with others and sing together? Here are some of the psychological reasons why.
Deep breathing
Singing encourages calm, regular, deep breathing, and full exhalation. We know these things to all be helpful for both mind and body. They encourage a feeling of calm, relaxation, reduce stress and blood pressure
Accomplishment
Learning a skill, developing knowledge and ability, gives a sense of accomplishment and pride. We enjoy tasks with slow or fast development that challenge us
Complex task
Singing uses many parts of the brain all at once, particularly if you count performance and memorization as part of the process. Our brains enjoy complex tasks, and these are in turn good for our brains. It is an in-depth focussed activity that forces us to concentrate. If you are learning music to perform in a musical or opera you are also adding in movement and acting. We know complex tasks are good at keeping our brains working well as we age
Connection to others
The act of meeting with others, joining together to sing a song in rehearsal or performance, builds a feeling of connection and bonding that is positive for us.
Communication beyond language
A parent singing lullabies to their baby soothes the infant but also conveys that they matter. The act of singing a lullaby to your child releases the ‘love hormone’ Oxytocin in the parent, and decreases the stress hormone cortisone.
Music makes us feel good
Music has been shown to have a positive effect on people with depressions and anxiety, and to reduce cortisol levels
Conveys Emotion
Singing music helps us to process emotion - we access memories, we convey emotions, we work through our sadness/grief, and we celebrate with song.
‘we sing the blues not just because we are sad, but to give the emotion voice. I think all of us have had the experience of knowing the emotions of a performer by just hearing them sing or play’ - John Lennon, retired professor of Emporia State University
It amazes me that there are so many scientific, measurable benefits to singing! Teaching in schools and privately I have witnessed the joy and mood-boosting effects of singing and music and it is always a wonderful thing to be part of that.I hope you have enjoyed this list, if you wish a more complex explanation, follow the links to some of the science. Why do you enjoy singing? As ever, feel free to comment below.
nourish
Nourishing Mind, Body and your Music. An easy list of 7 things to improve mind and body, for free.
Oak sapling in a jar, Photographed and copyright of Lisa Moffat
It’s cold and dark, we are wrapped in blankets, drinking hot tea, trying to avoid turning the heating on… Here are some simple ways to nourish mind and body as a musician or performer that won’t break the bank.
1. Exercise
If you haven’t already started a fitness goal for the new year - don’t worry! It is totally acceptable to start Any. Day. Of. The. Year. Yes, who knew. It doesn’t have to be expensive, there are easy beginner yoga classes and workouts on youtube, and taking a brisk walk outside is easy and said to be as effective as running.
Taking a 30 minute brisk walk is an easy way of stepping away from your desk or music stand, and returning refreshed ready for your brain to learn more. Set a reminder on your phone to schedule this and make it a habit.
2. Sleep
Too much caffeine, not enough daylight, alcohol, screens, internet scrolling… what’s stopping you from getting a good night’s sleep? We all know our weakness that might be letting us down, make the changes you need to prepare for your best sleep.
Sleep not only helps us learn music, it is the time when our bodies repair - there is no reason not to try get more or better sleep.
3. Meditate
You don’t need training or classes for this, a quiet space or calming music, and 5 minutes are all it takes. Practice slow deep breathing, and letting your mind think of nothing.
Alternatively, some people enjoy exercise for its ability to free the mind - have you tried some Contemplative Running?… google it! (other search engines are available)
4. Eat the rainbow, and make sure protein is in balance with carbs and fats
When we are busy its easy for food planning to slip out of schedule, but it is even more important to support your mind and body when you rely on them to get you through the busy days.
5. Breathe deeply
Breathing calmly, deeply, and easily without effort are all good ways to foster a calm mind and body. There are lots of apps and programmes on technology - some free - to encourage good breathing habits and bring calm.
6. Declutter
You know that drawer that never closes properly?… the pile of paperwork that is never-ending? The music pile that has more added to it than is safe? Make a few minutes in a break to tidy it, move objects to the correct room they should live in, and generally declutter. It’s a five minute job that makes us all feel more calm, easy to do a little and often without feeling overcome.
7. Make Time for Hobbies and Interests
I seem to spend a lot of time writing in my blogs about making time for outside interests, but I think it is one of the most important things you can do. It gives you a new perspective, it challenges your brain and body in a new or different way from your 9-5 (or whatever hours you work as a musician/performer/student!)
It also gives you new experiences and perspectives on your performance. You will meet people from other backgrounds, age groups, and professions, you will work in a new way that might teach you new skills that help in your work. You might make friendships with people out-with your work that are deeper or more interesting.