If you’re an aspiring music artist who relies heavily on your vocals, or you’re just someone who loves singing, you might want to read this. It’s been said by a lot of people that drinking cold water is not a good idea if you’re a singer. But how much truth is there in this myth? And what do you really have to know about it? Quite a handful, apparently.

To provide a clear validation or disproof of the cold-water-and-poor-singing-voice-relationship myth, it’s best to keep the explanation as simple as possible. First of all, it’s important to remember and establish that the vocal folds – where sound is generated – are muscles. As such, the vocal folds are bound to the realities and limits like that of other muscles in our body. One of these realities is that muscles find it difficult to perform when there is tension. And so, if the vocal folds are experiencing tension, like when singing for example, their performance gets affected negatively. It is out of this reason that proper hydration is necessary for singers because water serves as the cushion of the vocal folds, thus tension is lessened.

_{Photo from theopenmusic.com}

However, the impact of water on the vocal folds can vary depending on its temperature. If you drink water that is too hot, the muscles become too relaxed, and can also trigger mucous production which diminishes the quality of a person’s speaking and singing voice. As for drinking cold water, this creates a lot of muscle tension, and as a result restricts a person’s speaking and singing capacity. Therefore, drinking cold water does lessen the quality of your singing voice, and lukewarm water is what’s ideal for those who sing. Of course, this is on top of keeping properly hydrated which means consuming six to eight glasses of water every day. As an additional reminder, you should not wait until you get thirsty before you drink lukewarm water if you’re a singer.

So the next time you dine in at a restaurant, be sure to remind the waiter not to put ice on your glass of water. Your career (if you have one) is what’s at stake anyway.