Sweet Dreams

"Sleep now, O sleep now, O you unquiet heart." -James Joyce, Chamber Music

The University of Minnesota football team is having its best season in decades. Besides their practice schedule, their training regimen, and the hours spent watching game film, they believe their success is also due to another factor: sleep.

On the advice of Dr. Michael Howell of the M Health Fairview Sleep Center, players and coaches are placing an emphasis on achieving quality sleep, which includes a daily nap. “Anything that gives you a 5 to 8 percent edge in high-performance athletics goes a very, very long way—and that's what we can expect with people sleeping better,” Howell said.

Vocal pedagogues have long been making comparisons between sports athletes and singers, since both have to train for intense physical activities that directly depend on a healthy body. For both groups, strenuous activity must be followed by a sufficient amount of rest for appropriate recovery. Even 25 years ago, author Barbara Doscher understood the importance of rest for both athletes and vocal athletes, writing in her seminal book The Functional Unity of the Singing Voice, "The one thing an athlete cannot do without is rest, particularly the night before a game or a performance."

Voice researchers Bridget Rose, Michelle Horman, and Robert Thayer Sataloff also advocate getting more sleep prior to heavy voice use, which may include a nap on the day of an important speaking or singing engagement. As they report, "General body fatigue is reflected in the voice. Optimal vocal efficiency might not be possible when the performer or speaker is tired."

Voice teacher and certified personal trainer Claudia Friedlander points out that most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep each night to support good health and energy. In Complete Vocal Fitness, she says that when we are sleep deficient, we compromise our immune systems and are more vulnerable to viruses, infections, and various diseases. "In addition to supporting your physical health, adequate sleep promotes optimal brain function, improving your abilities to retain new learning and make effective decisions," she says. "Rather than burning the midnight oil to memorize your score or plot your next career move, get a good night's rest. You'll improve your productivity as well as your chances of maintaining your health."

A survey discussed in Vocal Health and Pedagogy: Science, Assessment, and Treatment asked singers about the most common vocal consequences they notice in themselves when they have gotten poor sleep. Most reported difficulty with breath support and that their voices would get tired more easily. They also reported a significantly reduced ability to maintain focus and concentration and an increase in overall frustration and irritability (Getsy, Sataloff, and Wang, "Sleep and the Vocal Performer").

Now, maybe it's not helpful to lecture students about getting enough sleep when many of you have class from 9am-5pm and then rehearsal or work from 6pm-11pm or later. And then you're expected to practice, do homework, exercise, buy groceries, etc. Then you get up the next day and do it all over again, hoping to recover sometime over the weekend or at the end of the semester. But it's important to understand exactly how a lack of quality sleep can impact your ability to perform vocally on a regular basis. And if you are experiencing vocal difficulties, it might not be the fault of your technique or your abilities. You might just need more sleep.

So go take a nap.

(And then go practice.)

-William Shakespeare