Roger Daltrey Quotes

I like to keep my voice going. I don't want it to lose its chops. You know, as you age, it's easier for you to lose it.

But I'm pretty lucky with my voice. When I first started touring I went to see a woman to give me some coaching on how not to lose my voice. And she was just saying really your voice is a muscle so if you're using it all the time you should actually come back from tour with a stronger voice than you left with. And that's really how I find it.

When I was 12 and started to take singing lessons from a woman, she told me that I would probably spend the rest of my life taking care of my voice.

Essentially, your voice is an instrument; it's a muscle, and you have to treat it like a muscle, and so you have to work it.

You can't treat your voice badly and expect it to stay around.

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.

I remember Pavarotti telling me, 'Oh, Neil, after seventy, the voice is going to go.' But I've been lucky. You almost have to learn how to sing all over again. You use your diaphragm more. You have to choose the notes and pace yourself.

And my voice now is a struggle, it's a daily struggle to keep it up. Gravity has begun to fight the vocal cords the way it does with everybody. So I have a vocal therapist, and we record the sessions and I use them on tour every day.

But actually just yesterday we raised the key of one of my songs two steps up, so my voice is obviously responding. It's a muscle, and the more you use it, the more you use it right, the more you should get out of it. So yes, I sing.

I don't take care of my voice at all, which is one reason that I sound as bad as I do.

Seventy per cent humidity is ideal for vocal cords.

As a singer, you can't hear what's coming out of your throat; you're only hearing it from the inside, so you need a trusted person who knows how your voice works. It's like a car. You take it to the same mechanic because they know it inside out, and every time you get it back, it works fantastic.

It's very much like opera singers. They do the same thing. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, the thing they think about is their voice and how to take care of it.

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.'

Along the way, everyone's been saying, 'Make sure you take care of your voice because you're going to want to do it the rest of your life.' And it's absolutely true.

The voice muscle doesn't last forever. I have a lot of friends who are classical and opera singers. My friend Beverly Sills stopped singing in her 50s, so I'm careful with mine. But I'll keep going as long as it lets me.

I find that touring keeps your voice in great shape.

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.

I'm a geek when it comes to my voice. I know if it hurts, something's wrong. You shouldn't feel it! It's very important to look after your voice.

I do a lot of vocal exercises and drink hot tea, which I hate.

I feel like the kindest thing that I do to my voice is sing.

I don't pamper my voice. It's part of my body. If my body is rested and healthy, my voice is rested and healthy.

As you get older, your voice changes, as well. Your voice should be able to last as long as you last.

Even if I don't have the money to take vocal lessons, I'll practice in the house by myself singing out loud.

I do a lot of vocal hygiene.