In this episode of Vocal Tips in 10, I’m pulling back the curtain on the exact tools I use to keep my voice in top shape—whether I’m singing, teaching, or recovering from illness. From hydration to tension relief, these aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re the go-to tools I rely on daily and recommend to the singers I work with.
I walk through why each item matters, how to use them effectively, and how they can help you feel more supported and resilient as a vocalist. Whether you're building your vocal toolkit or just curious about what’s worth investing in, this episode has you covered.
00:00 – Introduction to Essential Singing Tools
01:48 – Hydration and Vocal Health Tools
04:39 – Vocal Techniques and Tools
06:01 – Tension Relief and Body Care
08:00 – Throat Care and Final Thoughts
Here are the tools I mentioned in the episode—these are products I personally use and trust:
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Hello friends, thank you for being here. Today I am sharing with you some of my favorite tools as a singer. Everything from what is my personal favorite throat drop to the water bottle that I like, to the tools that I use to relieve tension. Just in the past handful of days, I've gotten so many questions about these things and I get asked all the time. So I thought I'm gonna do an episode about this and share with you some of my favorites.
I will have everything that I talk about linked and listed in the show notes below. Just so you know, number one, I'm not affiliated with anything I'm gonna be mentioning other than the singing straw. It is one of my favorite tools. I am an affiliate for the singing straw, which means I get, I forget, like 15 % or something every time you buy one. So I'm not recommending it so I can get a few bucks.
I'm only recommending things that I just personally find really helpful and that are tried and true for me. The other thing I want to say is I'm not married to any of the brands. So I'm going to show you my favorite steamer, for example. Does it mean you have to go out and buy that exact one? Nope. If you've got one that works well for you or one that fits better for you for whatever reason.
That is fab. Just wanted to share some of my favorites. So I'm gonna jump right in and share with you the most basic one, but I just would be telling you big old lies if I didn't share my monster drinking cup. And I'm not even gonna give you the brand. The brand is very fancy schmancy and if you hang it upside down or turn it upside down, it doesn't leak, which is pretty awesome. But that is not the thing that you need to get. You just need a big old honkin' water bottle.
I will also tell you that inside my water bottle is electrolytes. I use Element, L-M-N-T. Those are not necessarily the best for everybody. I am a person that needs as much sodium as I can get as well. My body just doesn't really hold onto it.
So Element is a great choice for me. It tastes good and it just makes me hold on to that hydration more. And then I always use ones that have a straw. Because then I'm able to do straw phonation using this exact same cup. So I've got like multiple uses with my one tool here. So I know that's basic.
but I don't go anywhere without it.
The next thing I have to have, especially since I have moved to Colorado, I've been here the past almost two years, it is very dry here, is a steamer and a nebulizer. So I'm gonna show you the brands that I use, the difference between steamer and nebulizer. A steamer is larger particles that are heated up into steam. So it's this warm moisture that you breathe in into the mouth or into the nose, the nasal passages, that gets direct moisture to your vocal folds.
A nebulizer is not heated up and they are even smaller particles. A nebulizer uses saline solution. A steamer uses distilled water. The steamer that I use is the My Pure Mist. I love this guy. I get sick about one time a year. Hold on, I'm gonna knock on wood. But I do. And it always turns into respiratory. This year it was in January. I got bronchitis. And every morning, every night, every afternoon, I had a date with my friend.
the MyPureMist Steamer. It feels so good. So I not only get relief at the voice, at the throat, I wear this whole mask so it covers my nasal passages too, but just the warmth just feels relaxing to my whole body.
Then I also use a nebulizer. I will tell you how I use the two. I use the steamer more rehabilitatively. So if I'm not feeling great, if I'm feeling dry, if I'm feeling irritated, I'm a steamer gal and I'm gonna use that more like in the morning or in the evening at the end of my day. And then I use my nebulizer right before I sing. So I am holding for those of you on YouTube, my vocal mist carry case because my vocal mist nebulizer I left at the studio I was just at two days ago.
I use the nebulizer right before I sing. I breathe in that saline solution, get some of that wonderful hydration directly to my vocal folds, and then I jump in and sing. So vocal mist is what I use. I'm going to have it linked below, but I forgot my actual ⁓ nebulizer at the studio, so I'm just showing you my carrying case here. I mentioned at the start, the singing straw for me.
I use a straw in water a lot. Again, for me, a straw in water, so my big old cup, is more rehabilitative if I'm feeling tired, if I am feeling like I have overdone it, if I am getting over illness or trying to fight off illness. Vocalizing through a straw into water is just the best thing you can do. Nothing's gonna beat that because as you're vocalizing into the water, and I can do a different episode about this, guys, but it's not just jam the straw all the way down. There's nuance to this.
But as you've got things set up ideally and you're vocalizing through that straw into water, you get a genuine massage of the vocal fold and laryngeal tissue. It feels so good if you've got a lot of tension, if you've got irritation smelling, you just can't beat it. And then you have to also have a straw and water available. Like try to do that in your car on the way to the gig or try to do that in the bathroom. And so I would say the next most frequent SOVT that I use and tool that I use
is a singing straw set. I have all of them. I have the original, I have the pro, and then this is the silicone. The silicone since it has come out has been my jam, and it is genuinely just three silicone small straws. For my voice, I will tell you guys, the really tiny, like people who are just like, use a coffee stirrer. I don't care if all the planets align. That is too small for me. It's too much resistance.
I have too big a vocal folds. You've got to find that right balance when you are singing through a straw, whether into water or using a smaller diameter and singing into the air. You've got to find that right balance of back pressure without too much resistance.
And these little guys, you can stick in the back of your pants pocket to jump into a stall if you're at some grimy club, been there, done that to warm up your voice without needing a bunch of extra space. It's quiet.
I just use them all the time and I do recommend to these all the time.
And I'm gonna share just a few more with you guys. could share so many more than this, but to be mindful of time and to just give you some of my favorites. And I'm trying to do a mix of things that directly affect the vocal folds, like the singing straw, two things that just help me relieve tension in my body and feel better in my body. And so those are some of the next tools that I'm gonna show you. One of them is a facial roller.
And what I like about the facial roller is one, it feels cool, so it always feels good.
I roll it right on, I'm doing it right now, right on my masseter muscle, right on my jaw. I can decide how much pressure I wanna give, These things are cheap. I think I paid like, I don't know, 12 bucks or something I use this thing all the time. I'm sure I should also use it to, what is it supposed to do?
restore collagen in our face. I don't. I just rub my jaw with mine and it feels really, really good.
And then two more tension release tools. One is a Big Daddy. I've had it here sitting beside me. This is a foam roller and I have the biggest one. And I will tell you what I do with this. I spend so much time over a piano, on the computer, right? Teaching online, bent over an instrument, then on my phone, Like all of us do, I spent so much time bent over that I get a good amount of tension in my neck and my shoulders. And sometimes,
I teach seven and eight hour days. And so what I will do when I have a break between sessions, I will take five minutes, take this big foam roller, I lay it on the ground. I lay on my foam roller lengthwise. So I put it at the top of my head, so it supports my head down to my tailbone. And then I lay my arms on the floor and it really opens up my chest.
It feels so good. It really helps me. And then I'll take it and actually roll my back with it. So I use my foam roller all the time. And then the last one, these are so weird. One of my mentors, the fabulous Dr. Kari Ragan turned me onto these and now I can't live without them. They are gauze, which I use to go in and release my masseter to work on internal work on my jaw. I use it to stretch my tongue. But instead of a strip of gauze, they are little gauze fingertips.
They are fantastic and all you do is if I'm gonna work my jaw, I put my finger in and stick the finger in my mouth so you get good grip. You're not sticking your actual hands into your mouth. And if I wanna work my tongue, I put it on my pointer and my thumb on each side and then I can easily grab my tongue and do my stretches. I love these guys. And again, they are cheap. You can get like a gaggle of them, however many that is for not very much money.
And then the last thing I wanna share, just because all the time people ask me my favorite throat drop. And I have slippery elm throat drops here. I use Grether's, I use all kinds. I will tell you my favorite, they're about the cheapest ones you can get. Whenever you're looking for a throat drop, my recommendation would be, unless you're sick and you need something else, if it's just to give hydration to the throat, you're looking for glycerin.
and or pectin. Both of those are ingredients that simply moisturize. That's it. So I love, I'm gonna put a picture of them here for you guys watching on YouTube. And for those of you listening, they'll be linked below. Luden's cherry throat drops. And I'm a kid from the 80s and Luden's cherry, would be like, yes, that is a score of being sick because they take like a cherry lifesaver. And in all honesty, you guys, hard candy like that is enough to make you salivate more and help soothe your throat.
if you're in need of that, but Luden's cherries specifically have pectin. So they're super moisturizing, they're soothing, they don't have anything else in them that could potentially irritate me, These are just a handful of my favorites. Remember, you aren't just a voice floating around, you're a whole person. So tools that can help you voice, body, and mind.
help you as a singer.
I so appreciate you guys listening and I sure hope to see you in the next episode.
