How to Sing When You Have a Cold – Get 9 Tips!

As the winter sets in there is something this is a question I often get asked. How can I sing when I have a cold? In this post I’m going to go through the best and most popular remedies to get you back on your feet as soon as possible!

Before I start answering this question though:

Prevention

I think that the first thing to know is how to try and stop yourself from getting a cold. make sure you wrap up warm, especially in your throat area.

If this means that you to walk around with a scarf the entire winter, that’s fine and is good for your vocal health.

As well as this, I recommend that you get a flu/cold jab every year. It’s quick, easy, and painless and can save you loads of time in the future.

Is There Anything I Can Do to Get Rid of the Cold?

Whilst the actual cold may be harder to remove, what we can do is try to sing through it. These are some of the top tips and remedies I can give you. Feel free to try whatever one of them floats your boat.

It’s important to remember that when you have a cold you must listen to your body. If you are feeling tired then don’t try and just push on.

When you have a cold there is no such thing as: My bedtime is 11:00pm. I have gone to bed at 7:00 when I feel ill. There is no shame in it and rest is really an amazing way to get better.

That being said though, here are some tips and ways to help you clear up your cold and get rid of the mucus and phlegm that you are dealing with in order to be able to sing through it.

Top Tips to Get Singing through a Cold

Things to Try to Help You Get through Your Cold

Tip #1 Warm up

Although you may not be able to do your complete normal vocal warm up, give it a try to see where you are at. It’s important to bear in mind here that you shouldn’t be pushing yourself. Even though I always say that your vocal warm up shouldn’t be strained, it’s especially important now. The reason for warming up even though you aren’t really able to perform and sing is in order to give yourself a point that you can go from and see where you can improve your feel and quality of voice.

Check out how to warm up safely and easily>>

Tip #2 Steam

Steam breaks down the mucus and phlegm in your system and allows you to breathe better by clearing up your lungs from the blockages caused by the mucus there. It is probably the most powerful way to get rid of the mucus and gives you an instant improvement in your ability to breathe through your nose. As well as this, it also lines the vocal tract with some much needed moisture.

There are a number of different ways to steam:

Method 1: Humidifier

You can get hold of humidifier from amazon and truth be told there isn’t much of a difference between them. you aren’t trying to find out how much humidity there is in the air. you are trying to get better. Therefore I wouldn’t say that you should go for a high end model. I think it’s just a waste of money.

Pros of humidifier: You can keep the humidifier going the whole night whilst you are sleeping and this will fill up the whole room with the steam you need to open up your airways and clear up your throat.

Cons of humidifier: There are two main cons to this method. The first issue with this method is that it isn’t going to hit the affected area with full power. What I mean by this is that the steam covers the entire room and you don’t need the steam there. It may feel nice to have your feet nice and steamed?? But it won’t help your singing ability. You need it going into your lungs and with a room humidifier you are only accessing a small portion of the steam being produced. They are designed to humidify a room, not really help with you, the one who wants to sing with a cold.

On top of this reason there is one of hygiene. What you need to do to get the effect of the steam is to really breathe it in and get the room and steamy as you can. What happens is that you have to close your windows and doors. What this can do is trap the germs. I’m no doctor but I just don’t think that this is a particularly healthy thing to do when you have a cold. I think that fresh air really helps when you are having a cold. (This is just a personal preference and I stand corrected.)

Method 2: Hot Water and Towel over Your Head

This is a proper old school method where you fill a bowl with really hot water, put a towel over your head and shoulders and sit by a table over the water. The power of the steam here is really strong and you will feel something straight away if you are doing it right.

What I like about this method is that its free, quick, and easy and it definitely works. However, it also gets your eyes, ears and face which can be somewhat uncomfortable.

Method 3: Personal Vaporizer

What this is a container with a face mask on the top. In order to use it you simply fill it up with hot water and put over your mouth and nose. This way, all the steam will go directly into your lungs and give you the full benefit of the steam. Whilst you do have to buy this and they come in at about $30, they are the complete solution and really help you sing when you have a cold.

Method 4: Shower

Taking a shower is one of the easiest ways to steam and clear up your cold. Many people sing in the shower because the steam is really good at lining your vocal tract and giving it extra lubrication.

What I Use

My personal preference is the hot water with towel over your head and the simple reason is that this is what I’ve been doing for years and it’s worked well. As well as this, I find that it opens up all the pores in my face and cleans them out.

This is just a small side benefit though and has nothing to do with singing. However, if you have never done so in the past, I would definitely recommend that you get hold of one. You’ll get the maximum amount of steam and it will really make the biggest difference to your singing.

More than this, you can use this even when you don’t have a cold as it’s a really powerful little pick me up.

Tip #3 Hydration

Tip #4 Salt Gargle

You can use a salt gargle and it really attacks the mucus. However, don’t just use any salt gargle. Use the following recipe and it makes it way nicer to deal with.

• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ honey or maple syrup.

Method: Put in one cup of warm water and stir until everything is dissolved. Gargle silently and don’t rinse for 5-10 mins.

This gives you the maximum effect of the gargle and this recipe is way nicer than just plain salt water.

 Tip #5 Bromelain

This is a enzyme that you find in pineapples and is used in order to reduce swelling. When you have a cold, there is going to be swelling, particularly in your vocal tract. By taking bromelain you will reduce the inflammation and therefore be able to sing more easily.

You can get bromelain in pills but you can also get a good dosage of it by eating pineapple, kiwi, ginger, asparagus, sauerkraut, as well as some others as well.

Personally, I would never recommend taking pills unless you consult with your doctor first. You can get a good amount from these fruits so why mess around with pills.

Tip #6 Other Medication

There are some other medical remedies that you can use as well if you want to go down this route. They include D-Hist, Loquat syrup, and throat coat tee. There are some others but in truth, I really don’t know a huge amount about them so I can’t really recommend any of them. I included these because I do know of some singers that use them and find that they really help.

Tip #7 Vocal Fry

I often find that by doing a vocal fry you can dislodge some of the mucus. I think that it has something to do with the low frequency that you use when you sing in the vocal fry that it dislodges the mucus. This isn’t a particular long – term solution as it isn’t actually removing it, it’s just moving it out the way.

Tip #8 Use a Neti Pot

Tip #9 Have a Back Up Plan

Let’s say you have no choice but to perform. There is a concert/gig that you have been booked for and there is no way you can get out of it. Now what do you do? First of all, try some of the previous steps and hope they work. They will definitely improve your ability to sing with a cold. However, they won’t get you feeling as good as you are when you aren’t sick.

In this situation it is always good to sing a bit more quietly, lower the tone a bit, and if you can, get the rest of the band to play a few tones down from what they normally do. Even if the musicians can’t do so (in which case it’s probably a good idea to get some new ones) in this case you are probably playing with guitarists and keyboardists. Here it’s easy to change down by just moving the capo and transposing on the keyboard.

As well as this, you can also have a slightly different way of singing. Instead of hitting the high notes, sing alternative ones on the same chord. You might even like the way they sound better than the note you intended to sing.

Things to Avoid to Help You Sing With a Cold

Unfortunately, there are some things here that are almost going to sound counter intuitive. However, it’s important to bear in mind that being able to sing with a cold and clearing up your cold are two different things. What I mean by this is that whereas with a cold you are trying to clear up everything, we want to keep some moisture in the vocal tract to let you sing without straining.

You need to have lubrication in your vocal cords in order to sing without drying out. But when you have a cold you have way too much. What we want to do is find a happy medium where we still have some moisture but not too much.

So, what are the things you should avoid when singing:

Medications

Although this may sound counter intuitive, unfortunately, because these medicines dry out your vocal cords which in turn leads to swollen cords if you try to sing without any moisture there. It’s actually easier to sing with the added mucus and phlegm. It just doesn’t sound good and the way it should. Things to avoid include:

Antihistamines

These appear in most nose sprays as well as some other medication. These will dry out the respiratory tract and get rid of the mucus. However, they also dry everything out too, including your vocal cords.

Cough medicines

Most of these are not too bad. What they do is essentially keep the mucus flowing out of your body. This is fine but you have to remember that you drink way more fluids than you normally do.

Decongestants

These unfortunately will definitely dry out your throat. You should try to give these a miss if you can manage without.

Ascorbic Vitamin C

There are two types of vitamin C, ascorbic and non-ascorbic. Ascorbic acid is something that you’ll find on most vitamin C bottles is actually something man-made and doesn’t occur naturally. Although the addition of this acid is in general good for you, there is often a side effect and that is that it dries out your throat. This is the reason that you should always choose the non-ascorbic variety.

Coughing Excessively Hard

Whilst I’m not telling you not to cough, I am saying that you have to cough gently and without any kind of force. Again here, the reason is that when you cough you are forcing the vocal cords to smash together. This can make them swell up and just exacerbate your ability to sing.

Eucalyptus oil

Although many people use this when they have colds and it most definitely works when you add a few drops to the steam that you are preparing, I can’t advise using it. The reason for this is the same. It just dries you out as well. This is only slightly bad though. If you are really struggling and want to breathe it in, then go ahead.

In Closing

Singing with a cold is a real pain. But sometimes you just have to and there isn’t a choice. Use the methods mentioned here to help you get through it. I hope you have enjoyed this post and look forward to any comments you many have. Till next time!