Clearing Your Throat

Weekly Teaching Tip – May 21, 2012

Q: What’s the proper way to clear my throat?

A: Some say that you should never clear your throat, but excess mucous inhibits free vocal cord coordination. The trick is to find a way to clear your throat without irritating it. Do a gentle “whispered cough” (without tone) and then swallow. Repeat. If this doesn’t work, you need to deal with the excess mucous production. Squeeze a 1/4 of a lemon in a tall glass of water and sip over about 20 minutes. This should cut through a lot of the excess mucous. Furthermore, watch your dairy intake… especially cheese. You should never eat it on the day of a performance!