The singers will be better able to hit high pitched notes before drinking cold water.

Caring for vocal health

Singers make a living with their voice. Hence, they take great care of their voice. For example, they avoid consuming too much of dairy products. They also drink a lot of water and avoid alcohol. Lastly, they try not to smoke.

Dairy products are normally more difficult to digest and as a result the body will produce a lot of mucus. This mucus enters our vocal chords and can negatively affect a singer’s voice. The additional phlegm will also irritate the throat causing the singer to cough and sneeze - and this can cause trauma to the vocal cords. In fact,singers are usually told to swallow their phlegm rather than to clear their throats.

It is important that a singer drinks enough water. Drinking water keeps the body hydrated and the vocal cords, lubricated. This reduces the amount of friction in a singer’s vocal cords and prevents them from  becoming inflamed.

A professional singer should drink more than 8 glasses of water everyday. She should not drink hot water: hot water causes blood vessels in the throat to swell, negatively affecting her vocal chords. When a singer drinks cold water, her blood vessels contract and the her throat becomes dry. Lukewarm water is most appropriate for singers.

The hypothesis holds true: the singers were less able to hit high pitched notes after drinking cold water.

For a singer to keep his/her vocal cords healthy, he should drink an ample amount of lukewarm water in order to ensure that there is minimal build up of mucus in his/her throat. He should not consume too much of dairy products. He should also not drink alcohol or smoke. Lastly, he should avoid caffeinated drinks such as coffee and tea..
 

Get the singers to consume dairy products for a week. Then, conduct the experiment.

Use children of different ages and genders. How do their results compare?