Warming up by speaking through a straw: semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not a singer, so I had not heard of semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) – which I mentioned in my previous post. They are discussed in an undated article by Lori Ellen Sutton at OperaCarolina titled How voicing through a straw can save your vocal folds. She links to a five-minute YouTube video by Dr. Ingo Titze. There is another article by Julia Belluz at Vox on June 20, 2015 titled How blowing into a straw can save your voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, there is another six-minute YouTube video by Jim Chandler at Rock Your Best Vocals on April 9, 2021 titled MYTH BUSTER SPECIAL: “Straw Singing” is BUTTS**T – WARNING!!! He discusses how, as shown above, you can take apart a ballpoint pen to use instead of a straw.  

 

Still another article by Stacey Menton on January 17, 2023 titled Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises has a thirteen-minute YouTube video. Yet another long article by Philippe Hall at SingingRevealed on March 2, 2023 is titled Best Vocal Exercises! Using SOVT’s Semi Occluded Vocal Tract.

 

Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) have been discussed in numerous magazine articles. A recent one by Adrian Castillo-Allendes, Lady Catherine Cantor-Cultiva and Eric J. Hunter in the Journal of Voice for November 2021 titled Acoustic effects of vocal warm-up: A 7-week longitudinal case study has over fifty references!

 

To nail your next speech, follow these eight tips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Jessica Doyle-Mekkes at the Reader’s Digest on December 8, 2023 titled Follow these 8 public speaking tips to nail your next presentation. She is the head of musical theatre at the East Carolina State University.

 

Her eight tips are to:

 

Practice, practice, practice

Breathe deeply

Record yourself [audio]

Video record yourself

Warm up your voice

Hydrate

Get steamy

Talk yourself into it

 

Under Warm up your voice she says:

 

“…My favorite vocal warm-ups are Semi Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises (SOVTEs). If you think of speaking like sitting on a swing and pumping your legs to get going, SOVTEs are like someone giving you a push. They’re great for getting your voice going in the morning, if you’re feeling under the weather and before a speaking event.

 

To do it: Grab a straw, place it in your mouth and wrap your lips around it. Then hum. Be sure all the air is going through the straw. You can hum sirens (from the bottom of your range to the top), hills (small sirens that get larger each time) or use the melody of a song. Aim for two to three minutes, five times per day.”

 

Then Jessica said to Hydrate and to Get steamy. On September 20, 2023 I blogged about Recent and definitive advice on preventing hoarseness (dysphonia). That article similarly said:

 

“Drink plenty of water, especially in dry areas

and to Humidify your home”

 

An image of a hammer from Wikimedia Commons was colored in.