Herbs for Singing Voice, from Slippery Elm to Osha Root

Open the gig bag of a working vocalist and you tend to find the same few things: a water bottle, a box of tea bags, a jar of honey, maybe a tin of lozenges. The herbs for singing voice that turn up again and again are slippery elm, licorice root and marshmallow root, usually blended into one tea. Further back in the record there is a mountain root that Indigenous healers in the Southwest reached for when a voice went rough. That root is osha, sold by Mara as Bear Root.

Herbs for singing voice that singers keep in the bag

The most common pick is a boxed throat tea that blends three roots and barks: licorice root, slippery elm and marshmallow root. Vocal coaches keep it ready for clients, and plenty of singers keep a cup on stage next to their water.

Vocal coach Cari Cole puts that throat tea on her published gig bag checklist too, with honey stirred in and slippery elm capsules added to the cup for extra slickness. She also packs essential oil lozenges.

Singers on the Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy forum list a wider spread. One drinks an herbal tea before a 7am warmup. Others mention chamomile or lemon tea with honey, green tea, and carbonated water with lemon between songs. Tamplin himself steers students away from coating teas, and tells them room temperature water is by far the best thing to sing on. So even inside one forum, singers disagree about the tea.

Herbs for singers, one by one

Slippery elm

Slippery elm is the inner bark of Ulmus rubra, a North American elm. Mixed with water, the inner bark turns gummy and slick. NativeTech, a site on Native American technology, records the bark going into medicines for sore throats, and the Chippewa using the bark itself to cut flat dolls and patch containers.

Licorice root

Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is cultivated across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health traces its use back to Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, Arab and Chinese cultures, where it was used in traditional medicine for coughing.

Marshmallow root

Marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis) is the third root in those throat tea blends, sharing the box with slippery elm and licorice.

Osha, the root the Southwest reached for

Osha (Ligusticum porteri) is a member of the carrot and parsley family and a relative of lovage. It grows high up, at about 1,500 to 3,500 metres. Its regional names include chuchupate, the name used by Hispanic ranchers in New Mexico, and Colorado cough root, a name listed in herbal references.

The voice history is specific. In a 2017 University of Kansas thesis on osha ethnobotany, Natasha Myhal records, from Clifford (2016), that the Diné used the root for a gravelly voice. The Diné credit the bear with leading them to the medicine. The same thesis cites Camazine and Bye (1980): the Zuni used osha root for sore throats, body aches and in curing ceremonies. Herbal references add that the Jicarilla Apache made a decoction of it for sore throats and smoked it in ceremonial blends with tobacco.

None of the tea-shelf herbs above has a record that ties it to the voice this closely. Slippery elm and licorice are recorded for throats and coughs in general. Osha is recorded, by name and by people, for a voice that had gone rough. For a singer choosing one root to learn about, that history is the reason to start here. The full story of osha root covers where it grows, the bear legend and how it is harvested.

How singers use Bear Root before a rehearsal or gig

Bear Root is Mara's osha root tincture, an alcohol extract of Ligusticum porteri, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract. It comes in a 50 ml dark Miron glass dropper bottle that sits in the side pocket of a gig bag or a mic case without taking up room.

There are two ways to take it:

• Under the tongue. Squeeze 1 to 2 droppers under the tongue, hold for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow. This takes under a minute in a green room or the car before soundcheck.
• In a drink. Stir 1 to 2 droppers into a warm tea or straight into your water bottle before rehearsal, and sip through the set.

The taste is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite from the root. In a mug of chamomile or a bottle of water the bite softens. If you prefer it in a cup, the Bear Root tea guide has a few ways to make one with the tincture.

Take it any time of year, before a Tuesday choir rehearsal, a recording session or the third night of a tour. At 1 to 2 droppers a day, one bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.

Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture

50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.

Add to bag

Herbs for vocal cords, and which form fits a gig bag

Most singers meet these herbs as tea bags, and tea bags need a kettle, a mug and five minutes of steeping. Backstage at a pub gig there is often no kettle at all. Here is how the common forms compare when you are packing for a show:

• Tea bags. Light to carry, but they need hot water and time, and a box crushes in a bag.
• Capsules. Easy to pack, but you swallow them with water and taste nothing.
• Tincture. One small bottle, no kettle, ready under the tongue or in any drink in seconds.

Glass matters for a tincture that rides around in a bag under stage lights. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. Dark Miron glass is the gold standard, because it keeps light off the extract, and it is what Bear Root is bottled in.

Bear Root considerations

Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.

Questions singers ask

What herbal tea do singers drink before a show?

A throat tea blending licorice root, slippery elm and marshmallow root is the one vocal coaches mention most. Singers on vocal forums also list chamomile, lemon tea with honey and green tea.

Is osha root the same as bear root?

Yes. Bear root is a common name for osha (Ligusticum porteri), from the story that bears dig up the root and chew it when they wake from hibernation. Other names include Colorado cough root and chuchupate.

How do you take an osha tincture before singing?

Hold 1 to 2 droppers under the tongue for 20 to 30 seconds and swallow, or stir them into a warm tea or your water bottle before rehearsal.

What does osha taste like?

Earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite. Osha is a relative of lovage and sits in the same plant family as celery.