Engelbert Humperdinck Quotes

When I do a T.V. show, I hear all these artists in their dressing rooms doing scales - I've never done it because I've never had voice training. What I do to prepare is get in my car and sing along to the radio for about 20 minutes.

I find an apple before singing really, really helps... It's like there's something in the pectin in the apple that helps get rid of vocal clicks.

It's not like you have two sets of vocal cords. You only have one, and if you exhaust it from talking, then you're also affecting your singing.

Well, any time I'm preparing for a performance or even a rehearsal, it's as if in a way, like any other athletes, these are muscles that support the vocal cords which are just I believe cartilage. It demands a kind of constant warming up and a constant feeling of where is the voice today.

You do have to be a bit careful with your voice. It is an instrument.

I am fussy, about my diet and straining my voice. I know, sounds a bit over the top. But I'm not as bad as I used to be. These days I don't drink alcohol for five days before a show - very dehydrating for the vocal cords, and all that acid reflux. I used to ban it for a fortnight. Nightmare.

I've found that if I limit my talking, just everyday talking, a couple of days before I have to sing, my voice is stronger. That really is about the only precaution that I take: I try to rest it as much as possible and keep the nutritional value of my food up.

I sing 'Nessun Dorma' when I warm up backstage.

I always want to pick songs that are really crazy rangy, and sometimes those low notes aren't there. But I started taking it way more seriously after a certain point, and I started doing vocal warm-ups every day, even when I wasn't singing, sometimes twice a day.

Before I play a show, I put on lavender oil - it's sort of a ritual.

I don't speak during the day. I warm up physically and, obviously, vocally, constantly. And I try to live like a nun.

And singing is a physical thing - your vocal cords are these muscles.

I've never really focused on if I had good habits when I sang or if I had bad habits, or if I was breathing correctly. So, I started doing vocal exercises and would stretch out before I sang, stuff to help my breathing. It's funny, you breathe your whole life then you find out you're not doing it correctly.

When I was about forty-three years of age, I had a private secretary with a beautiful baritone voice. I told him I would give anything in the world if I could only carry a tune. He laughed and said, 'Anybody who has a voice and perseverance can sing.'

I think that people who have Vegas throat are people who sing from their throats only.

There is one thing I should say, and it's important: Young Broadway singers and anybody who is an orator of any kind - lawyers who have to speak in court or pastors or anyone who has a lot of stress on their vocal cords: You should do the maintenance. You should do whatever it takes to feel fresh and good.

Over the years, I was lucky; right from the beginning, I studied with a lady who had a lot of... she was a classical singer, and of course, they're a little bit more into, you know, preserving the voice, making sure your instrument is ready to perform.

Before every show, I eat half a rotisserie chicken.

My voice needed oiling, and then it took off.

You need to make sure you're doing vocal warmups and drinking tea - and if you have a really emotional scene, you have to make sure to take care of yourself afterwards.

If you join a choir, it's a wonderful outlet.

It is pandemonium backstage. I straighten ties, see if their shoes are laced - and I always have to remember to check their flies just before they walk out.

I have to have sound in my ears for 10 minutes prior. I come to the theater early, two hours, just to calm down and warm up.

I always get less nervous when we get into rehearsals because it just gives me a better idea of how it's gonna go.

I don't push my voice; I try to keep a good technique, a natural way of singing, to sing from the breath, which is the main thing.