Get Ready: Be Prepared!

Sheri Gould has taught voice privately for over 25 years. A worship leader and music director since 1986, she was the director of Good News Productions, an evangelistic outreach program combining music, drama and dance.

A contributor to Worship Musician magazine, she leads sessions at Christian Musician Summit, Karitos Conference, Northeast Worship Institute, His Call Ministries' Throne Zone Conference and is presently working on her first book, "The Worshipping Vocalist".

Being prepared can make all the difference in a smooth and powerful worship experience. Since there are many phases of preparation, we're going to touch on some of the most important.

Vocal Training
Few people in the church today feel they have the time, the money or the inclination to get professional voice training. But there are so many great reasons to do so.

"With proper training you can also discover your true range and ability."

Training can help facilitate your ability to accomplish all that you want to vocally and do it without straining or damaging your voice. With proper training you can also discover your true range and ability.

It's important to select a good coach! Be careful to check into the qualifications of the coach you choose. Just because they speak at conferences, have nice voices, teach, have websites and DVD sets or charge a lot of money doesn't mean they're really qualified to teach. Look for coaches that have a real background in vocal training and education from a qualified university. These are the pros that have been uniquely trained to teach and not just perform.

Basic Vocal Care
If you train with a great coach, you will learn how to properly warm up your voice and take good care of it. It's important not to strain your voice through misuse or abuse, especially the night before you're scheduled to sing. Be cautious not to stay up too late, talk for long periods of time at an elevated level or let yourself become dehydrated. Vocal rest, sleep and hydration are all vital to being prepared vocally.



Drinking the proper amount of fluid is imperative but also having the proper humidity, especially at night is also important. You should always breathe through your nose as this warms, moistens and cleans the air before it hits the vocal cords. Try to stay away from menthol, lemon or alcohol — these can all dry out your vocal cords. If you need something to soothe your throat, try a menthol-free throat lozenge or the herbal tea "Throat Coat".

Abuse and misuse of the voice takes many forms. The most common is simply overuse. Many people have jobs that require them to speak all day. After work, they rush home to grab dinner and head off to a two-hour choir rehearsal. They haven't abused their voices per se, they've overused them.

The same may be true for the worship leader who sings three services on Sunday after an all-day rehearsal on Saturday. He may be singing or talking with proper technique, but he's simply doing too much of it.

Sometimes people abuse their voices by singing improperly or contorting their voices during worship and prayer. One type of abuse: yelling. Your vocal cords are designed to last a lifetime with proper care, but can very easily sustain significant damage. Take care to make sure you use your voice properly and don't overdo it!

Be Rehearsed
Whether you're a lead or a background singer, it's your job to be prepared when you're expected to perform.

You need to be warmed up. Start this as soon as you wake up and make it a part of your routine. The steamy hot shower is a great place to get started! You have the benefit of super-moist air and it's inspiring — who doesn't sound great in the shower?

Always take your warm up slowly so you don't create strain and ultimately cause phlegm to form on the cords. Phlegm is annoying and if not removed gently, will simply continue to return. Phlegm acts as a bandage to cords that have been hurt in some way, if you cough or clear your throat to remove the phlegm, it will come back. Try continued swallowing and refrain from using your voice (if you can) until the phlegm abates. Then, be gentler with your voice.

Know your music! Whenever possible, have your music and your specific part memorized. Make sure that the vocal part of your team takes time to perfect their blend.

The best way to achieve blend is without the addition of microphones or musical instruments. Everyone can hear and the group can determine who is singing too loudly or too softly. It is NOT the sound tech's job to give you the perfect blend! She can't fix a bad blend (although it's fair to say that she can wreck a good one)! Make sure that you have a great blend before you get onto a platform and it will make the audio team's job a lot easier.


Monitors and Microphones
Being able to hear yourself is key to any singer. There are several ways to go about this on a platform.

The standard method has been with floor monitors (wedges). These have some advantages, but they're bulky, threaten your hearing and can only be positioned it certain ways.

In-ear personal monitors can be provided to every singer; and they're nearly invisible. This decreases the overall volume level on the stage and makes it easier for the audio team to mix. The IEMs can be controlled individually allowing performers to adjust their own volume and mix, if your gear includes a monitor mixer. I generally suggest that all background vocalists have the same mix. They're able to control their individual volume level, but the same vocal mix will give them the great blend they perfected in rehearsal.

Most of the time singers sing with whatever is put in front of them. No other musician leaves such things to chance so regularly. Imagine a guitar player showing up to play with whatever guitar was provided! It wouldn't happen!

We singers just take for granted that it will all work out. There are so many different kinds of microphones out there and some of them will work with your voice much better than others. Many of the worship conferences that I speak at now have booths where you can take the opportunity to try out different microphones to see which best suits your voice. Most microphones are really very reasonable in price and probably less expensive than you think. Even the microphone, by which all others are compared to, the SM58®, still retails for under $100 at most places.

So think about investing in your own 'instrument'. Get some training, take good care of your voice, try some personal monitors and buy yourself a decent microphone—your audience and your audio team will love you for it!

Our thanks to Sheri for her virtual voice coaching. You can meet her in person at a wide range of Christian music conferences and workshop throughout the year. Or visit her online at: www.myspace.com/dougandsherigould.