I sang at a wedding yesterday, and I was full of cold. I admit that there are worse things than the common cold. I'd take a cold any day over many other diseases, but I would say that a cold can be a major inconvenience. Especially for a singer, a cold runs you down and literally clogs and mucks up your instrument. Still, many singers insist on slugging through, and I did.
I only needed to sing Schubert's "Ave Maria," which is not a taxing song. A few days after coming down with my cold, I noticed, with surprise, that my voice was more or less still intact, as opposed to last November, when a more severe cold caused me to lose my speaking voice for several days, and my singing voice for several weeks. So, I had hope, even preferring to sing the song a whole step higher (in C, rather than B-flat), where it sounded much better in my real voice.
Mr. P, who played the guitar with me, recommended instead that we sing it in A, which was much easier for him to play, but middle voice for me. I finally agreed after noticing that my usual high voice felt pinched and kept falling flat. When I finally got up to sing during the wedding, my head was compacted with congestion, and my heart was pounding; I was not sure what was going to come out. Somehow, something came out, though rather straight toned and held in, from my distorted opinion. When I sat down, Mr. P smiled and said it was "gorgeous," and afterwards, a few wedding guests even told me what a "beautiful" voice I had. So, there you have it. I slogged through!
Here are a few useful tips I found for singing with a cold. The site is more for pop singers, but the advice is applicable for classical singers, too. Also, you can check out the singing with a cold FAQ from the same site. I think there are no hard rules for singing with a cold. You just need to use your judgment.
